diff --git a/config.def.h b/config.def.h
index 877afab..7adc94b 100644
--- a/config.def.h
+++ b/config.def.h
@@ -4,9 +4,11 @@
  * appearance
  *
  * font: see http://freedesktop.org/software/fontconfig/fontconfig-user.html
+ * borderperc: percentage of cell width to use as a border
+ *		0 = no border, 100 = border width is same as cell width
  */
 char font[] = "Liberation Mono:pixelsize=12:antialias=true:autohint=true";
-int borderpx = 2;
+int borderperc = 20;
 
 /*
  * What program is execed by st depends of these precedence rules:
diff --git a/st.h b/st.h
index 44d4938..3c625e9 100644
--- a/st.h
+++ b/st.h
@@ -231,6 +231,7 @@ extern char *opt_line;
 extern char *opt_name;
 extern char *opt_title;
 extern int oldbutton;
+int borderpx;
 
 extern char *usedfont;
 extern double usedfontsize;
@@ -238,7 +239,7 @@ extern double defaultfontsize;
 
 /* config.h globals */
 extern char font[];
-extern int borderpx;
+extern int borderperc;
 extern float cwscale;
 extern float chscale;
 extern unsigned int doubleclicktimeout;
diff --git a/x.c b/x.c
index 191e5dc..f500dd4 100644
--- a/x.c
+++ b/x.c
@@ -827,6 +827,8 @@ xloadfonts(char *fontstr, double fontsize)
 	win.cw = ceilf(dc.font.width * cwscale);
 	win.ch = ceilf(dc.font.height * chscale);
 
+	borderpx = ceilf(((float)borderperc / 100) * win.cw);
+
 	FcPatternDel(pattern, FC_SLANT);
 	FcPatternAddInteger(pattern, FC_SLANT, FC_SLANT_ITALIC);
 	if (xloadfont(&dc.ifont, pattern))