diff --git a/youtube_dl/YoutubeDL.py b/youtube_dl/YoutubeDL.py
index b1f792d4e..4b801a917 100755
--- a/youtube_dl/YoutubeDL.py
+++ b/youtube_dl/YoutubeDL.py
@@ -139,6 +139,7 @@ class YoutubeDL(object):
     outtmpl:           Template for output names.
     restrictfilenames: Do not allow "&" and spaces in file names
     ignoreerrors:      Do not stop on download errors.
+    force_generic_extractor: Force downloader to use the generic extractor
     nooverwrites:      Prevent overwriting files.
     playliststart:     Playlist item to start at.
     playlistend:       Playlist item to end at.
@@ -282,6 +283,7 @@ class YoutubeDL(object):
         self._num_downloads = 0
         self._screen_file = [sys.stdout, sys.stderr][params.get('logtostderr', False)]
         self._err_file = sys.stderr
+        self._force_generic_extractor_required = params.get('force_generic_extractor', False)
         self.params = params
         self.cache = Cache(self)
 
@@ -633,6 +635,10 @@ class YoutubeDL(object):
         extra_info is a dict containing the extra values to add to each result
         '''
 
+        if not ie_key and self._force_generic_extractor_required:
+            self._force_generic_extractor_required = False
+            ie_key = 'Generic'
+
         if ie_key:
             ies = [self.get_info_extractor(ie_key)]
         else:
diff --git a/youtube_dl/__init__.py b/youtube_dl/__init__.py
index ace17857c..215b616de 100644
--- a/youtube_dl/__init__.py
+++ b/youtube_dl/__init__.py
@@ -293,6 +293,7 @@ def _real_main(argv=None):
         'autonumber_size': opts.autonumber_size,
         'restrictfilenames': opts.restrictfilenames,
         'ignoreerrors': opts.ignoreerrors,
+        'force_generic_extractor': opts.force_generic_extractor,
         'ratelimit': opts.ratelimit,
         'nooverwrites': opts.nooverwrites,
         'retries': opts_retries,
diff --git a/youtube_dl/extractor/generic.py b/youtube_dl/extractor/generic.py
index 40d869c53..3d672197c 100644
--- a/youtube_dl/extractor/generic.py
+++ b/youtube_dl/extractor/generic.py
@@ -977,7 +977,9 @@ class GenericIE(InfoExtractor):
                 'upload_date': upload_date,
             }
 
-        if not self._downloader.params.get('test', False) and not is_intentional:
+        if (not self._downloader.params.get('test', False) and
+                not is_intentional and
+                not self._downloader.params.get('force_generic_extractor', False)):
             self._downloader.report_warning('Falling back on generic information extractor.')
 
         if not full_response:
diff --git a/youtube_dl/options.py b/youtube_dl/options.py
index 689fa7595..096ab6137 100644
--- a/youtube_dl/options.py
+++ b/youtube_dl/options.py
@@ -150,6 +150,10 @@ def parseOpts(overrideArguments=None):
         '--extractor-descriptions',
         action='store_true', dest='list_extractor_descriptions', default=False,
         help='Output descriptions of all supported extractors')
+    general.add_option(
+        '--force-generic-extractor',
+        action='store_true', dest='force_generic_extractor', default=False,
+        help='Force extraction to use the generic extractor')
     general.add_option(
         '--default-search',
         dest='default_search', metavar='PREFIX',