diff --git a/async_producer.go b/async_producer.go
index e34eed544..8a65bc581 100644
--- a/async_producer.go
+++ b/async_producer.go
@@ -555,6 +555,22 @@ func (tp *topicProducer) partitionMessage(msg *ProducerMessage) error {
 		return err
 	}
 
+	// Select only partitions with leaders in this rack if configured so, falling back if none are available.
+	if tp.parent.conf.Producer.PartitionerRackAware {
+		clientRack := tp.parent.client.Config().RackID
+
+		var partitionsInRack []int32
+		for _, p := range partitions {
+			leader, err := tp.parent.client.Leader(msg.Topic, p)
+			if err == nil && leader.Rack() == clientRack {
+				partitionsInRack = append(partitionsInRack, p)
+			}
+		}
+		if len(partitionsInRack) > 0 {
+			partitions = partitionsInRack
+		}
+	}
+
 	numPartitions := int32(len(partitions))
 
 	if numPartitions == 0 {
diff --git a/config.go b/config.go
index 5bac2b50a..5e929261c 100644
--- a/config.go
+++ b/config.go
@@ -204,6 +204,8 @@ type Config struct {
 		// (defaults to hashing the message key). Similar to the `partitioner.class`
 		// setting for the JVM producer.
 		Partitioner PartitionerConstructor
+		// Controls whether the partitioner is rack-aware. This also affects custom partitioners.
+		PartitionerRackAware bool
 		// If enabled, the producer will ensure that exactly one copy of each message is
 		// written.
 		Idempotent bool
@@ -555,6 +557,8 @@ func NewConfig() *Config {
 	c.Producer.Return.Errors = true
 	c.Producer.CompressionLevel = CompressionLevelDefault
 
+	c.Producer.PartitionerRackAware = false
+
 	c.Producer.Transaction.Timeout = 1 * time.Minute
 	c.Producer.Transaction.Retry.Max = 50
 	c.Producer.Transaction.Retry.Backoff = 100 * time.Millisecond
diff --git a/tools/kafka-console-producer/kafka-console-producer.go b/tools/kafka-console-producer/kafka-console-producer.go
index f3cc81de7..7c1380558 100644
--- a/tools/kafka-console-producer/kafka-console-producer.go
+++ b/tools/kafka-console-producer/kafka-console-producer.go
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ var (
 	value         = flag.String("value", "", "REQUIRED: the value of the message to produce. You can also provide the value on stdin.")
 	partitioner   = flag.String("partitioner", "", "The partitioning scheme to use. Can be `hash`, `manual`, or `random`")
 	partition     = flag.Int("partition", -1, "The partition to produce to.")
+	rackID        = flag.String("rackid", "", "Produce to leaders with the same client.rack")
 	verbose       = flag.Bool("verbose", false, "Turn on sarama logging to stderr")
 	showMetrics   = flag.Bool("metrics", false, "Output metrics on successful publish to stderr")
 	silent        = flag.Bool("silent", false, "Turn off printing the message's topic, partition, and offset to stdout")
@@ -83,6 +84,11 @@ func main() {
 		printUsageErrorAndExit(fmt.Sprintf("Partitioner %s not supported.", *partitioner))
 	}
 
+	if *rackID != "" {
+		config.Producer.PartitionerRackAware = true
+		config.RackID = *rackID
+	}
+
 	message := &sarama.ProducerMessage{Topic: *topic, Partition: int32(*partition)}
 
 	if *key != "" {