diff --git a/compiler/commands.nim b/compiler/commands.nim
index 605e2930c1..994b224f1b 100644
--- a/compiler/commands.nim
+++ b/compiler/commands.nim
@@ -919,6 +919,8 @@ proc processSwitch*(switch, arg: string, pass: TCmdLinePass, info: TLineInfo;
       excl(conf.notes, hintProcessing)
       excl(conf.mainPackageNotes, hintProcessing)
     else: localError(conf, info, "expected: dots|filenames|off, got: $1" % arg)
+  of "unitsep":
+    conf.unitSep = if switchOn(arg): "\31" else: ""
   of "listfullpaths":
     # xxx in future work, use `warningDeprecated`
     conf.filenameOption = if switchOn(arg): foAbs else: foCanonical
diff --git a/compiler/msgs.nim b/compiler/msgs.nim
index 6a8c45db5b..053b5c928c 100644
--- a/compiler/msgs.nim
+++ b/compiler/msgs.nim
@@ -289,10 +289,6 @@ proc `??`* (conf: ConfigRef; info: TLineInfo, filename: string): bool =
   # only for debugging purposes
   result = filename in toFilename(conf, info)
 
-const
-  UnitSep = "\31"
-    # this needs care to avoid issues similar to https://github.com/nim-lang/Nim/issues/17853
-
 type
   MsgFlag* = enum  ## flags altering msgWriteln behavior
     msgStdout,     ## force writing to stdout, even stderr is default
@@ -309,7 +305,7 @@ proc msgWriteln*(conf: ConfigRef; s: string, flags: MsgFlags = {}) =
   ## This is used for 'nim dump' etc. where we don't have nimsuggest
   ## support.
   #if conf.cmd == cmdIdeTools and optCDebug notin gGlobalOptions: return
-  let sep = if msgNoUnitSep notin flags: UnitSep else: ""
+  let sep = if msgNoUnitSep notin flags: conf.unitSep else: ""
   if not isNil(conf.writelnHook) and msgSkipHook notin flags:
     conf.writelnHook(s & sep)
   elif optStdout in conf.globalOptions or msgStdout in flags:
@@ -409,7 +405,7 @@ proc quit(conf: ConfigRef; msg: TMsgKind) {.gcsafe.} =
         styledMsgWriteln(fgRed, """
 No stack traceback available
 To create a stacktrace, rerun compilation with './koch temp $1 <file>', see $2 for details""" %
-          [conf.command, "intern.html#debugging-the-compiler".createDocLink], UnitSep)
+          [conf.command, "intern.html#debugging-the-compiler".createDocLink], conf.unitSep)
   quit 1
 
 proc handleError(conf: ConfigRef; msg: TMsgKind, eh: TErrorHandling, s: string) =
@@ -550,13 +546,13 @@ proc liMessage*(conf: ConfigRef; info: TLineInfo, msg: TMsgKind, arg: string,
         msgWrite(conf, ".")
       else:
         styledMsgWriteln(styleBright, loc, resetStyle, color, title, resetStyle, s, KindColor, kindmsg,
-                         resetStyle, conf.getSurroundingSrc(info), UnitSep)
+                         resetStyle, conf.getSurroundingSrc(info), conf.unitSep)
         if hintMsgOrigin in conf.mainPackageNotes:
           # xxx needs a bit of refactoring to honor `conf.filenameOption`
           styledMsgWriteln(styleBright, toFileLineCol(info2), resetStyle,
             " compiler msg initiated here", KindColor,
             KindFormat % $hintMsgOrigin,
-            resetStyle, UnitSep)
+            resetStyle, conf.unitSep)
   handleError(conf, msg, eh, s)
 
 template rawMessage*(conf: ConfigRef; msg: TMsgKind, args: openArray[string]) =
diff --git a/compiler/options.nim b/compiler/options.nim
index 9cbb747c97..e6c667d924 100644
--- a/compiler/options.nim
+++ b/compiler/options.nim
@@ -283,6 +283,7 @@ type
     arcToExpand*: StringTableRef
     m*: MsgConfig
     filenameOption*: FilenameOption # how to render paths in compiler messages
+    unitSep*: string
     evalTemplateCounter*: int
     evalMacroCounter*: int
     exitcode*: int8
diff --git a/doc/advopt.txt b/doc/advopt.txt
index ea3370880f..e627d4768f 100644
--- a/doc/advopt.txt
+++ b/doc/advopt.txt
@@ -41,6 +41,8 @@ Advanced options:
                             defaults to `abs` (absolute)
   --processing:dots|filenames|off
                             show files as they're being processed by nim compiler
+  --unitsep:on|off          use the ASCII unit separator (31) between error
+                            messages, useful for IDE-like tooling
   --declaredLocs:on|off     show declaration locations in messages
   --spellSuggest|:num       show at most `num >= 0` spelling suggestions on typos.
                             if `num` is not specified (or `auto`), return
diff --git a/tests/misc/trunner.nim b/tests/misc/trunner.nim
index 3297b3a244..b6b3028363 100644
--- a/tests/misc/trunner.nim
+++ b/tests/misc/trunner.nim
@@ -249,7 +249,7 @@ tests/newconfig/bar/mfoo.nims""".splitLines
     var expected = ""
     for a in files:
       let b = dir / a
-      expected.add &"Hint: used config file '{b}' [Conf]\31\n"
+      expected.add &"Hint: used config file '{b}' [Conf]\n"
     doAssert outp.endsWith expected, outp & "\n" & expected
 
   block: # mfoo2.customext
@@ -257,7 +257,7 @@ tests/newconfig/bar/mfoo.nims""".splitLines
     let cmd = fmt"{nim} e --hint:conf {filename}"
     let (outp, exitCode) = execCmdEx(cmd, options = {poStdErrToStdOut})
     doAssert exitCode == 0
-    var expected = &"Hint: used config file '{filename}' [Conf]\31\n"
+    var expected = &"Hint: used config file '{filename}' [Conf]\n"
     doAssert outp.endsWith "123" & "\n" & expected
 
 
diff --git a/tests/osproc/treadlines.nim b/tests/osproc/treadlines.nim
index 200a7c299b..bb6a7f129a 100644
--- a/tests/osproc/treadlines.nim
+++ b/tests/osproc/treadlines.nim
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 discard """
   output: '''
-Error: cannot open 'a.nim'\31
-Error: cannot open 'b.nim'\31
+Error: cannot open 'a.nim'
+Error: cannot open 'b.nim'
 '''
   targets: "c"
 """