diff --git a/mercurial/color.py b/mercurial/color.py
--- a/mercurial/color.py
+++ b/mercurial/color.py
@@ -237,7 +237,11 @@
         elif mode == 'ansi' and w32effects and not ansienviron:
             win32.enablevtmode()
     elif mode == 'auto':
-        realmode = 'ansi'
+        if ui.configbool('color', 'autoterminfo', False):
+            # If terminfo setup fails, we will still fallback to ansi, below.
+            realmode = 'terminfo'
+        else:
+            realmode = 'ansi'
 
     def modewarn():
         # only warn if color.mode was explicitly set and we're in
diff --git a/mercurial/help/config.txt b/mercurial/help/config.txt
--- a/mercurial/help/config.txt
+++ b/mercurial/help/config.txt
@@ -412,11 +412,16 @@
 Configure the Mercurial color mode. For details about how to define your custom
 effect and style see :hg:`help color`.
 
+``autoterminfo``
+    Make ``color.mode=auto`` attempt ``terminfo`` before falling back to
+    ``ansi``. Does not have an effect on Windows systems. (default: False)
+
 ``mode``
     String: control the method used to output color. One of ``auto``, ``ansi``,
-    ``win32``, ``terminfo`` or ``debug``. In auto mode, Mercurial will
-    use ANSI mode by default (or win32 mode prior to Windows 10) if it detects a
-    terminal. Any invalid value will disable color.
+    ``win32``, ``terminfo`` or ``debug``. In auto mode, Mercurial will change
+    its behavior depending on the OS and the value of autoterminfo, by default
+    it uses ANSI mode (win32 mode prior to Windows 10) if it detects a terminal.
+    Any invalid value will disable color.
 
 ``pagermode``
     String: optional override of ``color.mode`` used with pager.
@@ -425,9 +430,8 @@
     color with ``less -R`` as a pager program. less with the -R option
     will only display ECMA-48 color codes, and terminfo mode may sometimes
     emit codes that less doesn't understand. You can work around this by
-    either using ansi mode (or auto mode), or by using less -r (which will
-    pass through all terminal control codes, not just color control
-    codes).
+    specifying ``ansi`` here, or by using less -r (which will pass through all
+    terminal control codes, not just color control codes).
 
     On some systems (such as MSYS in Windows), the terminal may support
     a different color mode than the pager program.
diff --git a/tests/hgterm-dumb.ti b/tests/hgterm-dumb.ti
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/hgterm-dumb.ti
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+hgterm-dumb,
+	am,
+	cols#80,
+	bel=^G, cr=^M, cud1=^J, ind=^J,
diff --git a/tests/test-status-color.t b/tests/test-status-color.t
--- a/tests/test-status-color.t
+++ b/tests/test-status-color.t
@@ -256,6 +256,49 @@
   \x1b[30m\x1b[88mC \x1b[30m\x1b[30m\x1b[88m.hgignore\x1b[30m (esc)
   \x1b[30m\x1b[88mC \x1b[30m\x1b[30m\x1b[88mmodified\x1b[30m (esc)
 
+color.autoterminfo chooses terminfo if it's viable:
+
+  $ TERM=hgterm TERMINFO="$TESTTMP/terminfo" hg status --config color.mode=auto --config color.autoterminfo=1 --config color.status.clean=dim -A
+  \x1b[30m\x1b[32m\x1b[2mA \x1b[30m\x1b[30m\x1b[32m\x1b[2madded\x1b[30m (esc)
+  \x1b[30m\x1b[32m\x1b[2mA \x1b[30m\x1b[30m\x1b[32m\x1b[2mcopied\x1b[30m (esc)
+  \x1b[30m\x1b[30m  modified\x1b[30m (esc)
+  \x1b[30m\x1b[31m\x1b[2mR \x1b[30m\x1b[30m\x1b[31m\x1b[2mremoved\x1b[30m (esc)
+  \x1b[30m\x1b[36m\x1b[2m\x1b[4m! \x1b[30m\x1b[30m\x1b[36m\x1b[2m\x1b[4mdeleted\x1b[30m (esc)
+  \x1b[30m\x1b[35m\x1b[2m\x1b[4m? \x1b[30m\x1b[30m\x1b[35m\x1b[2m\x1b[4munknown\x1b[30m (esc)
+  \x1b[30m\x1b[30m\x1b[2mI \x1b[30m\x1b[30m\x1b[30m\x1b[2mignored\x1b[30m (esc)
+  \x1b[30m\x1b[88mC \x1b[30m\x1b[30m\x1b[88m.hgignore\x1b[30m (esc)
+  \x1b[30m\x1b[88mC \x1b[30m\x1b[30m\x1b[88mmodified\x1b[30m (esc)
+
+ECMA fallback warning with mode=terminfo explicit:
+
+  $ TERMINFO="$TESTTMP/terminfo" tic "$TESTDIR/hgterm-dumb.ti"
+  $ TERM=hgterm-dumb TERMINFO="$TESTTMP/terminfo" hg status --config color.mode=terminfo -A
+  no terminfo entry for setab/setaf: reverting to ECMA-48 color
+  no terminfo entry for setab/setaf: reverting to ECMA-48 color
+  no terminfo entry for setab/setaf: reverting to ECMA-48 color
+  \x1b[0;32;1mA \x1b[0m\x1b[0;32;1madded\x1b[0m (esc)
+  \x1b[0;32;1mA \x1b[0m\x1b[0;32;1mcopied\x1b[0m (esc)
+  \x1b[0;0m  modified\x1b[0m (esc)
+  \x1b[0;31;1mR \x1b[0m\x1b[0;31;1mremoved\x1b[0m (esc)
+  \x1b[0;36;1;4m! \x1b[0m\x1b[0;36;1;4mdeleted\x1b[0m (esc)
+  \x1b[0;35;1;4m? \x1b[0m\x1b[0;35;1;4munknown\x1b[0m (esc)
+  \x1b[0;30;1mI \x1b[0m\x1b[0;30;1mignored\x1b[0m (esc)
+  \x1b[0;0mC \x1b[0m\x1b[0;0m.hgignore\x1b[0m (esc)
+  \x1b[0;0mC \x1b[0m\x1b[0;0mmodified\x1b[0m (esc)
+
+No fallback warning with autoterminfo:
+
+  $ TERM=hgterm-dumb TERMINFO="$TESTTMP/terminfo" hg status --config color.mode=auto --config color.autoterminfo=1 -A
+  \x1b[0;32;1mA \x1b[0m\x1b[0;32;1madded\x1b[0m (esc)
+  \x1b[0;32;1mA \x1b[0m\x1b[0;32;1mcopied\x1b[0m (esc)
+  \x1b[0;0m  modified\x1b[0m (esc)
+  \x1b[0;31;1mR \x1b[0m\x1b[0;31;1mremoved\x1b[0m (esc)
+  \x1b[0;36;1;4m! \x1b[0m\x1b[0;36;1;4mdeleted\x1b[0m (esc)
+  \x1b[0;35;1;4m? \x1b[0m\x1b[0;35;1;4munknown\x1b[0m (esc)
+  \x1b[0;30;1mI \x1b[0m\x1b[0;30;1mignored\x1b[0m (esc)
+  \x1b[0;0mC \x1b[0m\x1b[0;0m.hgignore\x1b[0m (esc)
+  \x1b[0;0mC \x1b[0m\x1b[0;0mmodified\x1b[0m (esc)
+
 #endif