diff --git a/wp-includes/default-widgets.php b/wp-includes/default-widgets.php
index f750840825..d8f67e3fe3 100644
--- a/wp-includes/default-widgets.php
+++ b/wp-includes/default-widgets.php
@@ -355,7 +355,7 @@ class WP_Widget_Text extends WP_Widget {
 		$text = apply_filters( 'widget_text', $instance['text'] );
 		echo $before_widget;
 		if ( !empty( $title ) ) { echo $before_title . $title . $after_title; } ?>
-			<div class="textwidget"><?php echo $text; ?></div>
+			<div class="textwidget"><?php echo $instance['filter'] ? wpautop($text) : $text; ?></div>
 		<?php
 		echo $after_widget;
 	}
@@ -367,6 +367,7 @@ class WP_Widget_Text extends WP_Widget {
 			$instance['text'] =  $new_instance['text'];
 		else
 			$instance['text'] = wp_filter_post_kses( $new_instance['text'] );
+		$instance['filter'] = isset($new_instance['filter']);
 		return $instance;
 	}
 
@@ -377,6 +378,7 @@ class WP_Widget_Text extends WP_Widget {
 ?>
 			<p><label for="<?php echo $this->get_field_id('title'); ?>"><?php _e('Title:'); ?> <input class="widefat" id="<?php echo $this->get_field_id('title'); ?>" name="<?php echo $this->get_field_name('title'); ?>" type="text" value="<?php echo attribute_escape($title); ?>" /></label></p>
 			<textarea class="widefat" rows="16" cols="20" id="<?php echo $this->get_field_id('text'); ?>" name="<?php echo $this->get_field_name('text'); ?>"><?php echo $text; ?></textarea>
+			<p><label for="<?php echo $this->get_field_id('filter'); ?>"><input id="<?php echo $this->get_field_id('filter'); ?>" name="<?php echo $this->get_field_name('filter'); ?>" type="checkbox" <?php checked($instance['filter']); ?> />&nbsp;<?php _e('Automatically add paragraphs.') ?></label></p>
 <?php
 	}
 }