diff --git a/src/config-schema.coffee b/src/config-schema.coffee
index 15e5223b8..36c5fc5ba 100644
--- a/src/config-schema.coffee
+++ b/src/config-schema.coffee
@@ -108,6 +108,10 @@ module.exports =
         description: 'Automatically update Atom when a new release is available.'
         type: 'boolean'
         default: true
+      openPendingPaneItems:
+        description: 'Open pane items in pending state, such that only one pending item is open per pane.'
+        type: 'boolean'
+        default: true
 
   editor:
     type: 'object'
diff --git a/src/workspace.coffee b/src/workspace.coffee
index 79cfb3e8e..4ed620481 100644
--- a/src/workspace.coffee
+++ b/src/workspace.coffee
@@ -414,6 +414,9 @@ class Workspace extends Model
     split = options.split
     uri = @project.resolvePath(uri)
 
+    if not atom.config.get('core.openPendingPaneItems')
+      options.pending = false
+
     # Avoid adding URLs as recent documents to work-around this Spotlight crash:
     # https://github.com/atom/atom/issues/10071
     if uri? and not url.parse(uri).protocol?