diff --git a/copyparty/__main__.py b/copyparty/__main__.py
index c2daf91c..97a2b178 100644
--- a/copyparty/__main__.py
+++ b/copyparty/__main__.py
@@ -1521,6 +1521,7 @@ def add_ftp(ap):
     ap2.add_argument("--ftp-wt", metavar="SEC", type=int, default=7, help="grace period for resuming interrupted uploads (any client can write to any file last-modified more recently than \033[33mSEC\033[0m seconds ago)")
     ap2.add_argument("--ftp-nat", metavar="ADDR", type=u, default="", help="the NAT address to use for passive connections")
     ap2.add_argument("--ftp-pr", metavar="P-P", type=u, default="", help="the range of TCP ports to use for passive connections, for example \033[32m12000-13000")
+    ap2.add_argument("--ftp-banner", metavar="T", type=u, default="welcome to the party", help="bannertext to send when someone connects; \\n is newline, can be @filepath (loaded into memory on startup); if it has a newline then banner must be longer than 75 chars")
 
 
 def add_webdav(ap):
diff --git a/copyparty/ftpd.py b/copyparty/ftpd.py
index ccbd423c..0cdc2c33 100644
--- a/copyparty/ftpd.py
+++ b/copyparty/ftpd.py
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ from .util import (
     fsenc,
     ipnorm,
     pybin,
+    read_utf8,
     relchk,
     runhook,
     sanitize_fn,
@@ -624,11 +625,17 @@ class Ftpd(object):
 
             hs.append([h1, self.args.ftps])
 
+        zs = self.args.ftp_banner.replace("\\n", "\n")
+        if zs.startswith("@"):
+            zs = read_utf8(None, zs[1:], False)
+        banner = zs.replace("\r", "").replace("\n", "\r\n").strip()
+
         for h_lp in hs:
             h2, lp = h_lp
             FtpHandler.hub = h2.hub = hub
             FtpHandler.args = h2.args = hub.args
             FtpHandler.authorizer = h2.authorizer = FtpAuth(hub)
+            FtpHandler.banner = banner
 
             if self.args.ftp_pr:
                 p1, p2 = [int(x) for x in self.args.ftp_pr.split("-")]