diff --git a/PSReadLine/Cmdlets.cs b/PSReadLine/Cmdlets.cs
index bc89cc1f9..aa48df9d3 100644
--- a/PSReadLine/Cmdlets.cs
+++ b/PSReadLine/Cmdlets.cs
@@ -50,6 +50,12 @@ public enum ViMode
         Command
     }
 
+    public enum ViClipboardMode
+    {
+        ViRegister,
+        SystemClipboard
+    }
+
     public enum HistorySaveStyle
     {
         SaveIncrementally,
@@ -342,6 +348,11 @@ public object ContinuationPromptColor
         /// </summary>
         public ScriptBlock ViModeChangeHandler { get; set; }
 
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Which source should be used when copying and pasting in vi edit mode?
+        /// </summary>
+        public ViClipboardMode ViClipboardMode { get; set; }
+
         /// <summary>
         /// The path to the saved history.
         /// </summary>
@@ -789,6 +800,14 @@ public ViModeStyle ViModeIndicator
         [Parameter]
         public ScriptBlock ViModeChangeHandler { get; set; }
 
+        [Parameter]
+        public ViClipboardMode ViClipboardMode
+        {
+            get => _viClipboardMode.GetValueOrDefault();
+            set => _viClipboardMode = value;
+        }
+        internal ViClipboardMode? _viClipboardMode;
+
         [Parameter]
         public PredictionSource PredictionSource
         {
diff --git a/PSReadLine/Options.cs b/PSReadLine/Options.cs
index 19f366513..d8687e682 100644
--- a/PSReadLine/Options.cs
+++ b/PSReadLine/Options.cs
@@ -120,6 +120,10 @@ private void SetOptionsInternal(SetPSReadLineOption options)
                 }
                 Options.ViModeChangeHandler = options.ViModeChangeHandler;
             }
+            if (options._viClipboardMode.HasValue)
+            {
+                Options.ViClipboardMode = options.ViClipboardMode;
+            }
             if (options.HistorySavePath != null)
             {
                 Options.HistorySavePath = options.HistorySavePath;
diff --git a/PSReadLine/PSReadLine.format.ps1xml b/PSReadLine/PSReadLine.format.ps1xml
index 5b20c58af..df3768676 100644
--- a/PSReadLine/PSReadLine.format.ps1xml
+++ b/PSReadLine/PSReadLine.format.ps1xml
@@ -152,6 +152,9 @@ $d = [Microsoft.PowerShell.KeyHandler]::GetGroupingDescription($_.Group)
                   <ItemSelectionCondition><ScriptBlock>$null -ne $_.ViModeChangeHandler</ScriptBlock></ItemSelectionCondition>
                   <PropertyName>ViModeChangeHandler</PropertyName>
               </ListItem>
+              <ListItem>
+                  <PropertyName>ViClipboardMode</PropertyName>
+              </ListItem>
               <ListItem>
                 <PropertyName>WordDelimiters</PropertyName>
               </ListItem>
diff --git a/PSReadLine/ViRegister.cs b/PSReadLine/ViRegister.cs
index 48df9965f..077862946 100644
--- a/PSReadLine/ViRegister.cs
+++ b/PSReadLine/ViRegister.cs
@@ -11,7 +11,33 @@ public partial class PSConsoleReadLine
         internal sealed class ViRegister
         {
             private readonly PSConsoleReadLine _singleton;
-            private string _text;
+            private string _localText;
+            private PSConsoleReadLineOptions _options;
+            private string Text
+            {
+                get
+                {
+                    if (_options?.ViClipboardMode == ViClipboardMode.SystemClipboard)
+                    {
+                        return Internal.Clipboard.GetText();
+                    }
+                    else
+                    {
+                        return _localText;
+                    }
+                }
+                set
+                {
+                    if (_options?.ViClipboardMode == ViClipboardMode.SystemClipboard)
+                    {
+                        Internal.Clipboard.SetText(value);
+                    }
+                    else
+                    {
+                        _localText = value;
+                    }
+                }
+            }
 
             /// <summary>
             /// Initialize a new instance of the <see cref="ViRegister" /> class.
@@ -23,13 +49,21 @@ internal sealed class ViRegister
             public ViRegister(PSConsoleReadLine singleton)
             {
                 _singleton = singleton;
+                _options = _singleton?.Options;
+            }
+
+            internal static ViRegister CreateTestRegister(PSConsoleReadLineOptions options)
+            {
+                ViRegister register = new ViRegister(null);
+                register._options = options;
+                return register;
             }
 
             /// <summary>
             /// Returns whether this register is empty.
             /// </summary>
             public bool IsEmpty
-                => String.IsNullOrEmpty(_text);
+                => String.IsNullOrEmpty(Text);
 
             /// <summary>
             /// Returns whether this register contains
@@ -41,7 +75,7 @@ public bool IsEmpty
             /// Gets the raw text contained in the register
             /// </summary>
             public string RawText
-                => _text;
+                => Text;
 
             /// <summary>
             /// Records the entire buffer in the register.
@@ -67,7 +101,7 @@ public void Record(StringBuilder buffer, int offset, int count)
                 System.Diagnostics.Debug.Assert(offset + count <= buffer.Length);
 
                 HasLinewiseText = false;
-                _text = buffer.ToString(offset, count);
+                Text = buffer.ToString(offset, count);
             }
 
             /// <summary>
@@ -77,7 +111,7 @@ public void Record(StringBuilder buffer, int offset, int count)
             public void LinewiseRecord(string text)
             {
                 HasLinewiseText = true;
-                _text = text;
+                Text = text;
             }
 
             public int PasteAfter(StringBuilder buffer, int position)
@@ -89,7 +123,7 @@ public int PasteAfter(StringBuilder buffer, int position)
 
                 if (HasLinewiseText)
                 {
-                    var text = _text;
+                    var text = Text;
 
                     if (text[0] != '\n')
                     {
@@ -127,8 +161,9 @@ public int PasteAfter(StringBuilder buffer, int position)
                         position += 1;
                     }
 
-                    InsertAt(buffer, _text, position, position);
-                    position += _text.Length - 1;
+                    var text = Text;
+                    InsertAt(buffer, text, position, position);
+                    position += text.Length - 1;
 
                     return position;
                 }
@@ -145,7 +180,7 @@ public int PasteBefore(StringBuilder buffer, int position)
 
                     position = Math.Max(0, Math.Min(position, buffer.Length - 1));
 
-                    var text = _text;
+                    var text = Text;
 
                     if (text[0] == '\n')
                     {
@@ -184,8 +219,9 @@ public int PasteBefore(StringBuilder buffer, int position)
                 }
                 else
                 {
-                    InsertAt(buffer, _text, position, position);
-                    return position + _text.Length - 1;
+                    var text = Text;
+                    InsertAt(buffer, text, position, position);
+                    return position + text.Length - 1;
                 }
             }
 
@@ -246,7 +282,7 @@ private void RecordPaste(string text, int position, int anchor)
 #if DEBUG
             public override string ToString()
             {
-                var text = _text.Replace("\n", "\\n");
+                var text = Text.Replace("\n", "\\n");
                 return (HasLinewiseText ? "line: " : "") + "\"" + text + "\"";
             }
 #endif
diff --git a/test/ViRegisterTests.cs b/test/ViRegisterTests.cs
index 15c9884da..1eac93311 100644
--- a/test/ViRegisterTests.cs
+++ b/test/ViRegisterTests.cs
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 using System.Text;
 using Microsoft.PowerShell;
+using Microsoft.PowerShell.Internal;
 using Xunit;
 
 namespace Test
@@ -152,5 +153,51 @@ public void ViRegister_Lines_LinewisePasteAfter_Lines()
             Assert.Equal("line1\nline2\nline3\n", buffer.ToString());
             Assert.Equal(6, newPosition);
         }
+
+        [Fact]
+        public void ViRegister_ClipboardModeViRegister()
+        {
+            PSConsoleReadLineOptions options = new PSConsoleReadLineOptions(string.Empty, false)
+            {
+                ViClipboardMode = ViClipboardMode.ViRegister
+            };
+            var register = PSConsoleReadLine.ViRegister.CreateTestRegister(options);
+
+            // system under test
+
+            Clipboard.SetText("EmptyClipboard");
+            var copyBuffer = new StringBuilder("CopiedText");
+            register.Record(copyBuffer);
+            var pasteBuffer = new StringBuilder();
+            register.PasteAfter(pasteBuffer, 0);
+
+            // assert expectations
+
+            Assert.Equal("EmptyClipboard", Clipboard.GetText());
+            Assert.Equal("CopiedText", pasteBuffer.ToString());
+        }
+
+        [Fact]
+        public void ViRegister_ClipboardModeSystemClipboard()
+        {
+            PSConsoleReadLineOptions options = new PSConsoleReadLineOptions(string.Empty, false)
+            {
+                ViClipboardMode = ViClipboardMode.SystemClipboard
+            };
+            var register = PSConsoleReadLine.ViRegister.CreateTestRegister(options);
+
+            // system under test
+
+            Clipboard.SetText("EmptyClipboard");
+            var copyBuffer = new StringBuilder("CopiedText");
+            register.Record(copyBuffer);
+            var pasteBuffer = new StringBuilder();
+            register.PasteAfter(pasteBuffer, 0);
+
+            // assert expectations
+
+            Assert.Equal("CopiedText", Clipboard.GetText());
+            Assert.Equal("CopiedText", pasteBuffer.ToString());
+        }
     }
 }