diff --git a/caddyhttp/requestid/requestid.go b/caddyhttp/requestid/requestid.go
index c3f69267f..b03c449f6 100644
--- a/caddyhttp/requestid/requestid.go
+++ b/caddyhttp/requestid/requestid.go
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ package requestid
 
 import (
 	"context"
+	"log"
 	"net/http"
 
 	"github.com/google/uuid"
@@ -24,12 +25,29 @@ import (
 
 // Handler is a middleware handler
 type Handler struct {
-	Next httpserver.Handler
+	Next       httpserver.Handler
+	HeaderName string // (optional) header from which to read an existing ID
 }
 
 func (h Handler) ServeHTTP(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) (int, error) {
-	reqid := uuid.New().String()
-	c := context.WithValue(r.Context(), httpserver.RequestIDCtxKey, reqid)
+	var reqid uuid.UUID
+
+	uuidFromHeader := r.Header.Get(h.HeaderName)
+	if h.HeaderName != "" && uuidFromHeader != "" {
+		// use the ID in the header field if it exists
+		var err error
+		reqid, err = uuid.Parse(uuidFromHeader)
+		if err != nil {
+			log.Printf("[NOTICE] Parsing request ID from %s header: %v", h.HeaderName, err)
+			reqid = uuid.New()
+		}
+	} else {
+		// otherwise, create a new one
+		reqid = uuid.New()
+	}
+
+	// set the request ID on the context
+	c := context.WithValue(r.Context(), httpserver.RequestIDCtxKey, reqid.String())
 	r = r.WithContext(c)
 
 	return h.Next.ServeHTTP(w, r)
diff --git a/caddyhttp/requestid/requestid_test.go b/caddyhttp/requestid/requestid_test.go
index 80968221f..e68c8d2c0 100644
--- a/caddyhttp/requestid/requestid_test.go
+++ b/caddyhttp/requestid/requestid_test.go
@@ -15,34 +15,53 @@
 package requestid
 
 import (
-	"context"
 	"net/http"
+	"net/http/httptest"
 	"testing"
 
-	"github.com/google/uuid"
 	"github.com/mholt/caddy/caddyhttp/httpserver"
 )
 
-func TestRequestID(t *testing.T) {
-	request, err := http.NewRequest("GET", "http://localhost/", nil)
+func TestRequestIDHandler(t *testing.T) {
+	handler := Handler{
+		Next: httpserver.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) (int, error) {
+			value, _ := r.Context().Value(httpserver.RequestIDCtxKey).(string)
+			if value == "" {
+				t.Error("Request ID should not be empty")
+			}
+			return 0, nil
+		}),
+	}
+
+	req, err := http.NewRequest("GET", "http://localhost/", nil)
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatal("Could not create HTTP request:", err)
 	}
+	rec := httptest.NewRecorder()
 
-	reqid := uuid.New().String()
-
-	c := context.WithValue(request.Context(), httpserver.RequestIDCtxKey, reqid)
-
-	request = request.WithContext(c)
-
-	// See caddyhttp/replacer.go
-	value, _ := request.Context().Value(httpserver.RequestIDCtxKey).(string)
-
-	if value == "" {
-		t.Fatal("Request ID should not be empty")
-	}
-
-	if value != reqid {
-		t.Fatal("Request ID does not match")
-	}
+	handler.ServeHTTP(rec, req)
+}
+
+func TestRequestIDFromHeader(t *testing.T) {
+	headerName := "X-Request-ID"
+	headerValue := "71a75329-d9f9-4d25-957e-e689a7b68d78"
+	handler := Handler{
+		Next: httpserver.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) (int, error) {
+			value, _ := r.Context().Value(httpserver.RequestIDCtxKey).(string)
+			if value != headerValue {
+				t.Errorf("Request ID should be '%s' but got '%s'", headerValue, value)
+			}
+			return 0, nil
+		}),
+		HeaderName: headerName,
+	}
+
+	req, err := http.NewRequest("GET", "http://localhost/", nil)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal("Could not create HTTP request:", err)
+	}
+	req.Header.Set(headerName, headerValue)
+	rec := httptest.NewRecorder()
+
+	handler.ServeHTTP(rec, req)
 }
diff --git a/caddyhttp/requestid/setup.go b/caddyhttp/requestid/setup.go
index 4da5a3683..689f99e33 100644
--- a/caddyhttp/requestid/setup.go
+++ b/caddyhttp/requestid/setup.go
@@ -27,14 +27,19 @@ func init() {
 }
 
 func setup(c *caddy.Controller) error {
+	var headerName string
+
 	for c.Next() {
 		if c.NextArg() {
-			return c.ArgErr() //no arg expected.
+			headerName = c.Val()
+		}
+		if c.NextArg() {
+			return c.ArgErr()
 		}
 	}
 
 	httpserver.GetConfig(c).AddMiddleware(func(next httpserver.Handler) httpserver.Handler {
-		return Handler{Next: next}
+		return Handler{Next: next, HeaderName: headerName}
 	})
 
 	return nil
diff --git a/caddyhttp/requestid/setup_test.go b/caddyhttp/requestid/setup_test.go
index aea123694..9c420787b 100644
--- a/caddyhttp/requestid/setup_test.go
+++ b/caddyhttp/requestid/setup_test.go
@@ -45,7 +45,15 @@ func TestSetup(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func TestSetupWithArg(t *testing.T) {
-	c := caddy.NewTestController("http", `requestid abc`)
+	c := caddy.NewTestController("http", `requestid X-Request-ID`)
+	err := setup(c)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Errorf("Expected no error, got: %v", err)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestSetupWithTooManyArgs(t *testing.T) {
+	c := caddy.NewTestController("http", `requestid foo bar`)
 	err := setup(c)
 	if err == nil {
 		t.Errorf("Expected an error, got: %v", err)