diff --git a/CHANGELOG b/CHANGELOG
index 3a18395..6e8104e 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG
+++ b/CHANGELOG
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ This file contains a log of major changes in dehydrated
 ## Added
 - Implemented support for certificate profile selection
 - Added a configuration parameter to allow for timeouts during order processing (`ORDER_TIMEOUT`, defaults to 0 = no timeout)
+- Allowed for automatic deletion of old files (`AUTO_CLEANUP_DELETE`, disabled by default)
 
 ## Changed
 - Renew certificates with 32 days remaining (instead of 30) to avoid issues with monthly cronjobs (`RENEW_DAYS=32`)
diff --git a/dehydrated b/dehydrated
index a93d443..dbf9975 100755
--- a/dehydrated
+++ b/dehydrated
@@ -395,6 +395,7 @@ load_config() {
   IP_VERSION=
   CHAINCACHE=
   AUTO_CLEANUP="no"
+  AUTO_CLEANUP_DELETE="no"
   DEHYDRATED_USER=
   DEHYDRATED_GROUP=
   API="auto"
@@ -1966,8 +1967,8 @@ command_sign_domains() {
 
   [[ -n "${HOOK}" ]] && ("${HOOK}" "exit_hook" || echo 'exit_hook returned with non-zero exit code!' >&2)
   if [[ "${AUTO_CLEANUP}" == "yes" ]]; then
-    echo "+ Running automatic cleanup"
-    command_cleanup noinit
+    echo " + Running automatic cleanup"
+    PARAM_CLEANUPDELETE="${AUTO_CLEANUP_DELETE:-no}" command_cleanup noinit | _sed 's/^/ + /g'
   fi
 
   exit "${exit_with_errorcode}"
diff --git a/docs/examples/config b/docs/examples/config
index 0bc49ce..c74ba27 100644
--- a/docs/examples/config
+++ b/docs/examples/config
@@ -125,6 +125,9 @@
 # Automatic cleanup (default: no)
 #AUTO_CLEANUP="no"
 
+# Delete files during automatic cleanup instead of moving to archive (default: no)
+#AUTO_CLEANUP_DELETE="no"
+
 # ACME API version (default: auto)
 #API=auto