diff --git a/doc/cephfs/client-config-ref.rst b/doc/cephfs/client-config-ref.rst
index a789a6d4d16..ce5562fae40 100644
--- a/doc/cephfs/client-config-ref.rst
+++ b/doc/cephfs/client-config-ref.rst
@@ -147,6 +147,12 @@
 :Type: Integer
 :Default: ``131072`` (128KB)
 
+``client_reconnect_stale``
+
+:Description: Automatically reconnect stale session.
+:Type: Boolean
+:Default: ``false``
+
 ``client_snapdir``
 
 :Description: Set the snapshot directory name.
diff --git a/src/client/Client.cc b/src/client/Client.cc
index ca1b0b70e98..686577dcb43 100644
--- a/src/client/Client.cc
+++ b/src/client/Client.cc
@@ -12739,8 +12739,16 @@ void Client::ms_handle_remote_reset(Connection *con)
 	  break;
 
 	case MetaSession::STATE_OPEN:
-	  ldout(cct, 1) << "reset from mds we were open; mark session as stale" << dendl;
-	  s->state = MetaSession::STATE_STALE;
+	  {
+	    const md_config_t *conf = cct->_conf;
+	    if (conf->client_reconnect_stale) {
+	      ldout(cct, 1) << "reset from mds we were open; close mds session for reconnect" << dendl;
+	      _closed_mds_session(s);
+	    } else {
+	      ldout(cct, 1) << "reset from mds we were open; mark session as stale" << dendl;
+	      s->state = MetaSession::STATE_STALE;
+	    }
+	  }
 	  break;
 
 	case MetaSession::STATE_NEW:
diff --git a/src/common/config_opts.h b/src/common/config_opts.h
index 9ff99d541c6..9e6a1448ab3 100644
--- a/src/common/config_opts.h
+++ b/src/common/config_opts.h
@@ -423,6 +423,7 @@ OPTION(client_trace, OPT_STR, "")
 OPTION(client_readahead_min, OPT_LONGLONG, 128*1024)  // readahead at _least_ this much.
 OPTION(client_readahead_max_bytes, OPT_LONGLONG, 0)  // default unlimited
 OPTION(client_readahead_max_periods, OPT_LONGLONG, 4)  // as multiple of file layout period (object size * num stripes)
+OPTION(client_reconnect_stale, OPT_BOOL, false)  // automatically reconnect stale session
 OPTION(client_snapdir, OPT_STR, ".snap")
 OPTION(client_mountpoint, OPT_STR, "/")
 OPTION(client_mount_uid, OPT_INT, -1)