diff --git a/src/corelib/kernel/qcoreapplication.cpp b/src/corelib/kernel/qcoreapplication.cpp
index 04c74748032..d9a42413e4d 100644
--- a/src/corelib/kernel/qcoreapplication.cpp
+++ b/src/corelib/kernel/qcoreapplication.cpp
@@ -451,6 +451,8 @@ QCoreApplicationPrivate::~QCoreApplicationPrivate()
 #endif
 #if defined(Q_OS_WIN)
     delete [] origArgv;
+    if (consoleAllocated)
+        FreeConsole();
 #endif
     QCoreApplicationPrivate::clearApplicationFilePath();
 }
@@ -549,6 +551,37 @@ QString qAppName()
     return QCoreApplication::instance()->d_func()->appName();
 }
 
+void QCoreApplicationPrivate::initConsole()
+{
+#ifdef Q_OS_WINDOWS
+    const QString env = qEnvironmentVariable("QT_WIN_DEBUG_CONSOLE");
+    if (env.isEmpty())
+        return;
+    if (env.compare(u"new"_s, Qt::CaseInsensitive) == 0) {
+        if (AllocConsole() == FALSE)
+            return;
+        consoleAllocated = true;
+    } else if (env.compare(u"attach"_s, Qt::CaseInsensitive) == 0) {
+        if (AttachConsole(ATTACH_PARENT_PROCESS) == FALSE)
+            return;
+    } else {
+        // Unknown input, don't make any decision for the user.
+        return;
+    }
+    // The std{in,out,err} handles are read-only, so we need to pass in dummies.
+    FILE *in = nullptr;
+    FILE *out = nullptr;
+    FILE *err = nullptr;
+    freopen_s(&in, "CONIN$", "r", stdin);
+    freopen_s(&out, "CONOUT$", "w", stdout);
+    freopen_s(&err, "CONOUT$", "w", stderr);
+    // However, things wouldn't work if the runtime did not preserve the pointers.
+    Q_ASSERT(in == stdin);
+    Q_ASSERT(out == stdout);
+    Q_ASSERT(err == stderr);
+#endif
+}
+
 void QCoreApplicationPrivate::initLocale()
 {
 #if defined(Q_OS_UNIX) && !defined(QT_BOOTSTRAPPED)
@@ -744,6 +777,8 @@ void QCoreApplicationPrivate::init()
 
     Q_Q(QCoreApplication);
 
+    initConsole();
+
     initLocale();
 
     Q_ASSERT_X(!QCoreApplication::self, "QCoreApplication", "there should be only one application object");
diff --git a/src/corelib/kernel/qcoreapplication_p.h b/src/corelib/kernel/qcoreapplication_p.h
index 94c4b0f1e98..56d726cff59 100644
--- a/src/corelib/kernel/qcoreapplication_p.h
+++ b/src/corelib/kernel/qcoreapplication_p.h
@@ -73,6 +73,7 @@ public:
     static QString infoDictionaryStringProperty(const QString &propertyName);
 #endif
 
+    void initConsole();
     static void initLocale();
 
     static bool checkInstance(const char *method);
@@ -125,6 +126,7 @@ public:
 #if defined(Q_OS_WIN)
     int origArgc;
     char **origArgv; // store unmodified arguments for QCoreApplication::arguments()
+    bool consoleAllocated = false;
 #endif
     void appendApplicationPathToLibraryPaths(void);