diff --git a/src/babel/helpers/code-frame.js b/src/babel/helpers/code-frame.js
index e1bb415681..8f24c61502 100644
--- a/src/babel/helpers/code-frame.js
+++ b/src/babel/helpers/code-frame.js
@@ -55,10 +55,10 @@ var highlight = function (text) {
   });
 };
 
-export default function (lines, lineNumber, colNumber) {
+export default function (lines: number, lineNumber: number, colNumber: number, color?): string {
   colNumber = Math.max(colNumber, 0);
 
-  if (chalk.supportsColor) {
+  if (color && chalk.supportsColor) {
     lines = highlight(lines);
   }
 
diff --git a/src/babel/helpers/parse.js b/src/babel/helpers/parse.js
index b93361c638..124407c96f 100644
--- a/src/babel/helpers/parse.js
+++ b/src/babel/helpers/parse.js
@@ -32,12 +32,12 @@ export default function (opts, code, callback) {
   } catch (err) {
     if (!err._babel) {
       err._babel = true;
+
       var message = `${opts.filename}: ${err.message}`;
 
       var loc = err.loc;
       if (loc) {
-        var frame = codeFrame(code, loc.line, loc.column + 1);
-        message += frame;
+        message += codeFrame(code, loc.line, loc.column + 1, opts.highlightErrors);
       }
 
       if (err.stack) {
diff --git a/src/babel/transformation/file/options.json b/src/babel/transformation/file/options.json
index 6824ebb66c..0482ff9576 100644
--- a/src/babel/transformation/file/options.json
+++ b/src/babel/transformation/file/options.json
@@ -19,6 +19,12 @@
 
   },
 
+  "highlightErrors": {
+    "description": "ANSI syntax highlight error messages"
+    "type": "boolean",
+    "default": true
+  },
+
   "suppressDeprecationMessages": {
     "type": "boolean",
     "default": false,