diff --git a/admin/settings/plugins.php b/admin/settings/plugins.php
index cf1d55587af..6ee66089391 100644
--- a/admin/settings/plugins.php
+++ b/admin/settings/plugins.php
@@ -74,6 +74,7 @@ if ($hassiteconfig) {
     $temp->add(new admin_setting_manageauths());
     $temp->add(new admin_setting_heading('manageauthscommonheading', get_string('commonsettings', 'admin'), ''));
     $temp->add(new admin_setting_special_registerauth());
+    $temp->add(new admin_setting_configcheckbox('loginpageautofocus', get_string('loginpageautofocus', 'admin'), get_string('loginpageautofocus_help', 'admin'), 0));
     $temp->add(new admin_setting_configselect('guestloginbutton', get_string('guestloginbutton', 'auth'),
                                               get_string('showguestlogin', 'auth'), '1', array('0'=>get_string('hide'), '1'=>get_string('show'))));
     $temp->add(new admin_setting_configtext('alternateloginurl', get_string('alternateloginurl', 'auth'),
diff --git a/lang/en/admin.php b/lang/en/admin.php
index e967be0f496..6c00be649da 100644
--- a/lang/en/admin.php
+++ b/lang/en/admin.php
@@ -655,6 +655,8 @@ $string['log'] = 'Logs';
 $string['logguests'] = 'Log guest access';
 $string['logguests_help'] = 'This setting enables logging of actions by guest account and not logged in users. High profile sites may want to disable this logging for performance reasons. It is recommended to keep this setting enabled on production sites.';
 $string['loginhttps'] = 'Use HTTPS for logins';
+$string['loginpageautofocus'] = 'Autofocus login page form';
+$string['loginpageautofocus_help'] = 'Enabling this option improves usability of the login page, but automatically focusing fields may be considered an accessibility issue.';
 $string['loglifetime'] = 'Keep logs for';
 $string['longtimewarning'] = '<b>Please note that this process can take a long time.</b>';
 $string['maintenancemode'] = 'In maintenance mode';
diff --git a/lib/javascript-static.js b/lib/javascript-static.js
index f8479204633..a3d19461890 100644
--- a/lib/javascript-static.js
+++ b/lib/javascript-static.js
@@ -739,6 +739,34 @@ M.util.get_string = function(identifier, component, a) {
     return stringvalue;
 };
 
+/**
+ * Set focus on username or password field of the login form
+ */
+M.util.focus_login_form = function(Y) {
+    var username = Y.one('#username');
+    var password = Y.one('#password');
+
+    if (username == null || password == null) {
+        // something is wrong here
+        return;
+    }
+
+    var curElement = document.activeElement
+    if (curElement == 'undefined') {
+        // legacy browser - skip refocus protection
+    } else if (curElement.tagName == 'INPUT') {
+        // user was probably faster to focus something, do not mess with focus
+        return;
+    }
+
+    if (username.get('value') == '') {
+        username.focus();
+    } else {
+        password.focus();
+    }
+}
+
+
 //=== old legacy JS code, hopefully to be replaced soon by M.xx.yy and YUI3 code ===
 
 function checkall() {
diff --git a/login/index.php b/login/index.php
index b0791ed5bf1..00616f3265b 100644
--- a/login/index.php
+++ b/login/index.php
@@ -327,6 +327,10 @@ if (isloggedin() and !isguestuser()) {
     echo $OUTPUT->box_end();
 } else {
     include("index_form.html");
+    if (!empty($CFG->loginpageautofocus)) {
+        //focus username or password
+        $PAGE->requires->js_init_call('M.util.focus_login_form', null, true);
+    }
 }
 
 echo $OUTPUT->footer();