diff --git a/macos/Sources/Features/Terminal/TerminalController.swift b/macos/Sources/Features/Terminal/TerminalController.swift
index 86fb02442..81b86a215 100644
--- a/macos/Sources/Features/Terminal/TerminalController.swift
+++ b/macos/Sources/Features/Terminal/TerminalController.swift
@@ -111,6 +111,8 @@ class TerminalController: NSWindowController, NSWindowDelegate,
     //MARK: - Methods
     
     func configDidReload() {
+        guard let window = window as? TerminalWindow else { return }
+        window.focusFollowsMouse = ghostty.config.focusFollowsMouse
         syncAppearance()
     }
     
@@ -197,9 +199,9 @@ class TerminalController: NSWindowController, NSWindowDelegate,
             window.isOpaque = true
             window.backgroundColor = .windowBackgroundColor
         }
-        
+
         window.hasShadow = ghostty.config.macosWindowShadow
-        
+
         guard window.hasStyledTabs else { return }
 
         // The titlebar is always updated. We don't need to worry about opacity
@@ -342,6 +344,8 @@ class TerminalController: NSWindowController, NSWindowDelegate,
             }
         }
 
+        window.focusFollowsMouse = ghostty.config.focusFollowsMouse
+
         // Apply any additional appearance-related properties to the new window.
         syncAppearance()
     }
diff --git a/macos/Sources/Features/Terminal/TerminalWindow.swift b/macos/Sources/Features/Terminal/TerminalWindow.swift
index 9e4d3600e..2d54db321 100644
--- a/macos/Sources/Features/Terminal/TerminalWindow.swift
+++ b/macos/Sources/Features/Terminal/TerminalWindow.swift
@@ -369,6 +369,8 @@ class TerminalWindow: NSWindow {
         }
     }
 
+    var focusFollowsMouse: Bool = false
+
     // Find the NSTextField responsible for displaying the titlebar's title.
     private var titlebarTextField: NSTextField? {
         guard let titlebarContainer = contentView?.superview?.subviews
diff --git a/macos/Sources/Ghostty/Ghostty.Config.swift b/macos/Sources/Ghostty/Ghostty.Config.swift
index dcee797c8..ab583e956 100644
--- a/macos/Sources/Ghostty/Ghostty.Config.swift
+++ b/macos/Sources/Ghostty/Ghostty.Config.swift
@@ -245,7 +245,15 @@ extension Ghostty {
             _ = ghostty_config_get(config, &v, key, UInt(key.count))
             return v
         }
-        
+
+        var focusFollowsMouse : Bool {
+            guard let config = self.config else { return false }
+            var v = false;
+            let key = "focus-follows-mouse"
+            _ = ghostty_config_get(config, &v, key, UInt(key.count))
+            return v
+        }
+
         var backgroundColor: Color {
             var rgb: UInt32 = 0
             let bg_key = "background"
diff --git a/macos/Sources/Ghostty/SurfaceView_AppKit.swift b/macos/Sources/Ghostty/SurfaceView_AppKit.swift
index a5347e1ad..b3c002d64 100644
--- a/macos/Sources/Ghostty/SurfaceView_AppKit.swift
+++ b/macos/Sources/Ghostty/SurfaceView_AppKit.swift
@@ -480,6 +480,14 @@ extension Ghostty {
             let pos = self.convert(event.locationInWindow, from: nil)
             ghostty_surface_mouse_pos(surface, pos.x, frame.height - pos.y)
 
+            // If focus follows mouse is enabled then move focus to this surface.
+            if let window = self.window as? TerminalWindow,
+               window.isKeyWindow &&
+                window.focusFollowsMouse &&
+                !self.focused
+            {
+                Ghostty.moveFocus(to: self)
+            }
         }
 
         override func mouseDragged(with event: NSEvent) {
diff --git a/src/apprt/gtk/Surface.zig b/src/apprt/gtk/Surface.zig
index d696d8b38..57bbf0d38 100644
--- a/src/apprt/gtk/Surface.zig
+++ b/src/apprt/gtk/Surface.zig
@@ -1204,6 +1204,12 @@ fn gtkMouseMotion(
         .y = @floatCast(scaled.y),
     };
 
+    // If we don't have focus, and we want it, grab it.
+    const gl_widget = @as(*c.GtkWidget, @ptrCast(self.gl_area));
+    if (c.gtk_widget_has_focus(gl_widget) == 0 and self.app.config.@"focus-follows-mouse") {
+        self.grabFocus();
+    }
+
     self.core_surface.cursorPosCallback(self.cursor_pos) catch |err| {
         log.err("error in cursor pos callback err={}", .{err});
         return;
diff --git a/src/config/Config.zig b/src/config/Config.zig
index 42e6cd584..6e10e63fb 100644
--- a/src/config/Config.zig
+++ b/src/config/Config.zig
@@ -747,6 +747,14 @@ keybind: Keybinds = .{},
 /// This configuration currently only works with GTK.
 @"window-new-tab-position": WindowNewTabPosition = .current,
 
+// If true, when there are multiple split panes, the mouse selects the pane
+// that is focused. This only applies to the currently focused window; i.e.
+// mousing over a split in an unfocused window will now focus that split
+// and bring the window to front.
+//
+// Default is false.
+@"focus-follows-mouse": bool = false,
+
 /// When enabled, the full GTK titlebar is displayed instead of your window
 /// manager's simple titlebar. The behavior of this option will vary with your
 /// window manager.