diff --git a/frontend/apps/reader/modules/readertypeset.lua b/frontend/apps/reader/modules/readertypeset.lua
index a2f02215c..b51fcc25e 100644
--- a/frontend/apps/reader/modules/readertypeset.lua
+++ b/frontend/apps/reader/modules/readertypeset.lua
@@ -50,6 +50,11 @@ function ReaderTypeset:onReadSettings(config)
     self.floating_punctuation = config:readSetting("floating_punctuation") or
         G_reader_settings:readSetting("floating_punctuation") or 1
     self:toggleFloatingPunctuation(self.floating_punctuation)
+
+    -- default to disable txt formatting as it does more harm than good
+    self.txt_preformatted = config:readSetting("txt_preformatted") or
+        G_reader_settings:readSetting("txt_preformatted") or 1
+    self:toggleTxtPreFormatted(self.txt_preformatted)
 end
 
 function ReaderTypeset:onSaveSettings()
@@ -140,6 +145,11 @@ function ReaderTypeset:toggleFloatingPunctuation(toggle)
     self.ui:handleEvent(Event:new("UpdatePos"))
 end
 
+function ReaderTypeset:toggleTxtPreFormatted(toggle)
+    self.ui.document:setTxtPreFormatted(toggle)
+    self.ui:handleEvent(Event:new("UpdatePos"))
+end
+
 function ReaderTypeset:addToMainMenu(menu_items)
     -- insert table to main reader menu
     menu_items.set_render_style = {
diff --git a/frontend/document/credocument.lua b/frontend/document/credocument.lua
index 73d204a4f..30f9bb90d 100644
--- a/frontend/document/credocument.lua
+++ b/frontend/document/credocument.lua
@@ -427,6 +427,13 @@ function CreDocument:setFloatingPunctuation(enabled)
     self._document:setIntProperty("crengine.style.floating.punctuation.enabled", enabled)
 end
 
+function CreDocument:setTxtPreFormatted(enabled)
+    logger.dbg("CreDocument: set txt preformatted", enabled)
+    self._document:setIntProperty("crengine.file.txt.preformatted", enabled)
+    -- monospace is really kind of ugly for this...
+    self._document:setStringProperty("styles.pre.font-face", "font-family: \"" .. self.default_font .. "\"")
+end
+
 function CreDocument:getVisiblePageCount()
     return self._document:getVisiblePageCount()
 end
@@ -458,8 +465,8 @@ function CreDocument:findText(pattern, origin, reverse, caseInsensitive)
 end
 
 function CreDocument:register(registry)
-    registry:addProvider("txt", "application/txt", self)
-    registry:addProvider("log", "application/txt", self)
+    registry:addProvider("txt", "text/plain", self)
+    registry:addProvider("log", "text/plain", self)
     registry:addProvider("txt.zip", "application/zip", self)
     registry:addProvider("log.zip", "application/zip", self)
     registry:addProvider("epub", "application/epub", self)