diff --git a/doc/config.rst b/doc/config.rst
index 98b8a0cfa..649490cd2 100644
--- a/doc/config.rst
+++ b/doc/config.rst
@@ -770,6 +770,12 @@ the `Dublin Core metadata <http://dublincore.org/>`_.
    output is usually not wise.  This defaults to ``'epub'``, a theme designed to
    save visual space.
 
+.. confval:: epub_theme_options
+
+   A dictionary of options that influence the look and feel of the selected
+   theme.  These are theme-specific.  For the options understood by the builtin
+   themes, see :ref:`this section <builtin-themes>`.
+
 .. confval:: epub_title
 
    The title of the document.  It defaults to the :confval:`html_title` option
diff --git a/doc/theming.rst b/doc/theming.rst
index 802b211f4..334f6ffe7 100644
--- a/doc/theming.rst
+++ b/doc/theming.rst
@@ -200,10 +200,14 @@ These themes are:
 * **traditional** -- A theme resembling the old Python documentation.  There are
   currently no options beyond *nosidebar* and *sidebarwidth*.
 
-* **epub** -- A theme for the epub builder.  There are currently no options.
-  This theme tries to save visual space which is a sparse resource on ebook
-  readers.
+* **epub** -- A theme for the epub builder.  This theme tries to save visual
+  space which is a sparse resource on ebook readers.  The following options
+  are supported:
 
+  - **relbar1** (true or false, default true): If this is true, the
+    `relbar1` block is inserted in the epub output, otherwise it is omitted.
+  - **footer**  (true or false, default true): If this is true, the
+    `footer` block is inserted in the epub output, otherwise it is ommitted.
 
 Creating themes
 ---------------
diff --git a/sphinx/builders/epub.py b/sphinx/builders/epub.py
index 3ee4de5f1..ba1eff5b4 100644
--- a/sphinx/builders/epub.py
+++ b/sphinx/builders/epub.py
@@ -174,7 +174,7 @@ class EpubBuilder(StandaloneHTMLBuilder):
         self.playorder = 0
 
     def get_theme_config(self):
-        return self.config.epub_theme, {}
+        return self.config.epub_theme, self.config.epub_theme_options
 
     # generic support functions
     def make_id(self, name):
diff --git a/sphinx/config.py b/sphinx/config.py
index d4aacb225..37b2dcbd5 100644
--- a/sphinx/config.py
+++ b/sphinx/config.py
@@ -122,6 +122,7 @@ class Config(object):
         # Epub options
         epub_basename = (lambda self: make_filename(self.project), None),
         epub_theme = ('epub', 'html'),
+        epub_theme_options = ({}, 'html'),
         epub_title = (lambda self: self.html_title, 'html'),
         epub_author = ('unknown', 'html'),
         epub_language = (lambda self: self.language or 'en', 'html'),
diff --git a/sphinx/themes/epub/layout.html b/sphinx/themes/epub/layout.html
index 24395a66a..1f5ad077f 100644
--- a/sphinx/themes/epub/layout.html
+++ b/sphinx/themes/epub/layout.html
@@ -14,3 +14,12 @@
 {% block sidebar2 %}{% endblock %}
 {% block relbar2 %}{% endblock %}
 {% block linktags %}{% endblock %}
+
+{# redefine relbar1 and footer to only call super if options are true #}
+{%- block relbar1 %}
+{% if theme_relbar1|tobool %}{{ super() }}{% endif %}
+{%- endblock %}
+{%- block footer %}
+{% if theme_footer|tobool %}{{ super() }}{% endif %}
+{%- endblock %}
+
diff --git a/sphinx/themes/epub/theme.conf b/sphinx/themes/epub/theme.conf
index d5806ec50..11f098ec9 100644
--- a/sphinx/themes/epub/theme.conf
+++ b/sphinx/themes/epub/theme.conf
@@ -2,3 +2,7 @@
 inherit = basic
 stylesheet = epub.css
 pygments_style = none
+
+[options]
+relbar1 = true
+footer = true