diff --git a/src/Main/bootstrap.cxx b/src/Main/bootstrap.cxx
index e1648b2ce..db16c69db 100644
--- a/src/Main/bootstrap.cxx
+++ b/src/Main/bootstrap.cxx
@@ -63,6 +63,7 @@
 #include "main.hxx"
 #include <Include/version.h>
 #include <Main/globals.hxx>
+#include <Main/fg_init.hxx>
 #include <Main/options.hxx>
 #include <Main/fg_props.hxx>
 #include <GUI/MessageBox.hxx>
@@ -312,6 +313,10 @@ int main ( int argc, char **argv )
     setlocale(LC_NUMERIC, "C");
     setlocale(LC_COLLATE, "C");
 
+    if (flightgear::Options::checkForArg(argc, argv, "uninstall")) {
+        return fgUninstall();
+    }
+
     bool fgviewer = flightgear::Options::checkForArg(argc, argv, "fgviewer");
     int exitStatus = EXIT_FAILURE;
     try {
diff --git a/src/Main/fg_init.cxx b/src/Main/fg_init.cxx
index 8bd45ded9..c6fc1cce6 100644
--- a/src/Main/fg_init.cxx
+++ b/src/Main/fg_init.cxx
@@ -1195,3 +1195,43 @@ void fgInitPackageRoot()
     globals->setPackageRoot(pkgRoot);
 
 }
+
+int fgUninstall()
+{
+    SGPath dataPath = SGPath::fromEnv("FG_HOME", platformDefaultDataPath());
+    simgear::Dir fgHome(dataPath);
+    if (fgHome.exists()) {
+        if (!fgHome.remove(true /* recursive */)) {
+            fprintf(stderr, "Errors occurred trying to remove FG_HOME");
+            return EXIT_FAILURE;
+        }
+    }
+
+    if (fgHome.exists()) {
+        fprintf(stderr, "unable to remove FG_HOME");
+        return EXIT_FAILURE;
+    }
+
+#if defined(SG_WINDOWS)
+    SGPath p = flightgear::defaultDownloadDir();
+    // we don't want to remove the whole dir, let's nuke specific
+    // subdirs which are (hopefully) safe
+
+    SGPath terrasyncPath = p / "TerraSync";
+    if (terrasyncPath.exists()) {
+        simgear::Dir dir(terrasyncPath);
+        if (!dir.remove(true /*recursive*/)) {
+            fprintf(stderr, "Errors occurred trying to remove Documents/FlightGear/TerraSync");
+        }
+    }
+
+    SGPath packagesPath = p / "Aircraft";
+    if (packagesPath.exists()) {
+        simgear::Dir dir(packagesPath);
+        if (!dir.remove(true /*recursive*/)) {
+            fprintf(stderr, "Errors occurred trying to remove Documents/FlightGear/Aircraft");
+        }
+    }
+#endif
+    return EXIT_SUCCESS;
+}
diff --git a/src/Main/fg_init.hxx b/src/Main/fg_init.hxx
index 8b741c261..cafba02c7 100644
--- a/src/Main/fg_init.hxx
+++ b/src/Main/fg_init.hxx
@@ -74,6 +74,10 @@ void fgStartNewReset();
 // setup the package system including the global root
 void fgInitPackageRoot();
 
+// wipe FG_HOME. (The removing of the program data is assumed to be done
+// by the real installer).
+int fgUninstall();
+
 #endif // _FG_INIT_HXX