diff --git a/youtube_dl/YoutubeDL.py b/youtube_dl/YoutubeDL.py
index c71e94518..a7bf5a1b0 100755
--- a/youtube_dl/YoutubeDL.py
+++ b/youtube_dl/YoutubeDL.py
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ import sys
 import time
 import tokenize
 import traceback
+import random
 
 from .compat import (
     compat_basestring,
@@ -159,6 +160,7 @@ class YoutubeDL(object):
     playlistend:       Playlist item to end at.
     playlist_items:    Specific indices of playlist to download.
     playlistreverse:   Download playlist items in reverse order.
+    playlistrandom:    Download playlist items in random order.
     matchtitle:        Download only matching titles.
     rejecttitle:       Reject downloads for matching titles.
     logger:            Log messages to a logging.Logger instance.
@@ -842,6 +844,9 @@ class YoutubeDL(object):
             if self.params.get('playlistreverse', False):
                 entries = entries[::-1]
 
+            if self.params.get('playlistrandom', False):
+                random.shuffle(entries)
+
             for i, entry in enumerate(entries, 1):
                 self.to_screen('[download] Downloading video %s of %s' % (i, n_entries))
                 extra = {
diff --git a/youtube_dl/__init__.py b/youtube_dl/__init__.py
index 2b156342a..5c5b8094b 100644
--- a/youtube_dl/__init__.py
+++ b/youtube_dl/__init__.py
@@ -344,6 +344,7 @@ def _real_main(argv=None):
         'playliststart': opts.playliststart,
         'playlistend': opts.playlistend,
         'playlistreverse': opts.playlist_reverse,
+        'playlistrandom': opts.playlist_random,
         'noplaylist': opts.noplaylist,
         'logtostderr': opts.outtmpl == '-',
         'consoletitle': opts.consoletitle,
diff --git a/youtube_dl/options.py b/youtube_dl/options.py
index 3abf621c0..349f44778 100644
--- a/youtube_dl/options.py
+++ b/youtube_dl/options.py
@@ -470,6 +470,10 @@ def parseOpts(overrideArguments=None):
         '--playlist-reverse',
         action='store_true',
         help='Download playlist videos in reverse order')
+    downloader.add_option(
+        '--playlist-random',
+        action='store_true',
+        help='Download playlist videos in random order')
     downloader.add_option(
         '--xattr-set-filesize',
         dest='xattr_set_filesize', action='store_true',