diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 2ffad0695d..1811ed6db2 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -378,6 +378,11 @@ Then simply type this
     --write-annotations              Write video annotations to a
                                      .annotations.xml file
     --no-write-annotations           Do not write video annotations (default)
+    --write-playlist-metafiles       Write playlist metadata in addition to the
+                                     video metadata when using --write-info-json,
+                                     --write-description etc. (default)
+    --no-write-playlist-metafiles    Do not write playlist metadata when using
+                                     --write-info-json, --write-description etc.
     --get-comments                   Retrieve video comments to be placed in the
                                      .info.json file
     --load-info-json FILE            JSON file containing the video information
diff --git a/youtube_dlc/YoutubeDL.py b/youtube_dlc/YoutubeDL.py
index d396ed8ba6..62f7023569 100644
--- a/youtube_dlc/YoutubeDL.py
+++ b/youtube_dlc/YoutubeDL.py
@@ -206,6 +206,7 @@ class YoutubeDL(object):
                        unless writeinfojson is also given
     writeannotations:  Write the video annotations to a .annotations.xml file
     writethumbnail:    Write the thumbnail image to a file
+    allow_playlist_files: Also write playlists' description, infojson etc in a seperate file
     write_all_thumbnails:  Write all thumbnail formats to files
     writelink:         Write an internet shortcut file, depending on the
                        current platform (.url/.webloc/.desktop)
@@ -1108,54 +1109,56 @@ class YoutubeDL(object):
         # We process each entry in the playlist
         playlist = ie_result.get('title') or ie_result.get('id')
         self.to_screen('[download] Downloading playlist: %s' % playlist)
-        ie_copy = {
-            'playlist': playlist,
-            'playlist_id': ie_result.get('id'),
-            'playlist_title': ie_result.get('title'),
-            'playlist_uploader': ie_result.get('uploader'),
-            'playlist_uploader_id': ie_result.get('uploader_id'),
-            'playlist_index': 0
-        }
-        ie_copy.update(dict(ie_result))
 
-        def ensure_dir_exists(path):
-            return make_dir(path, self.report_error)
+        if self.params.get('allow_playlist_files', True):
+            ie_copy = {
+                'playlist': playlist,
+                'playlist_id': ie_result.get('id'),
+                'playlist_title': ie_result.get('title'),
+                'playlist_uploader': ie_result.get('uploader'),
+                'playlist_uploader_id': ie_result.get('uploader_id'),
+                'playlist_index': 0
+            }
+            ie_copy.update(dict(ie_result))
 
-        if self.params.get('writeinfojson', False):
-            infofn = replace_extension(
-                self.prepare_filepath(self.prepare_filename(ie_copy), 'infojson'),
-                'info.json', ie_result.get('ext'))
-            if not ensure_dir_exists(encodeFilename(infofn)):
-                return
-            if self.params.get('overwrites', True) and os.path.exists(encodeFilename(infofn)):
-                self.to_screen('[info] Playlist metadata is already present')
-            else:
-                self.to_screen('[info] Writing playlist metadata as JSON to: ' + infofn)
-                playlist_info = dict(ie_result)
-                playlist_info.pop('entries')
-                try:
-                    write_json_file(self.filter_requested_info(playlist_info), infofn)
-                except (OSError, IOError):
-                    self.report_error('Cannot write playlist metadata to JSON file ' + infofn)
+            def ensure_dir_exists(path):
+                return make_dir(path, self.report_error)
 
-        if self.params.get('writedescription', False):
-            descfn = replace_extension(
-                self.prepare_filepath(self.prepare_filename(ie_copy), 'description'),
-                'description', ie_result.get('ext'))
-            if not ensure_dir_exists(encodeFilename(descfn)):
-                return
-            if not self.params.get('overwrites', True) and os.path.exists(encodeFilename(descfn)):
-                self.to_screen('[info] Playlist description is already present')
-            elif ie_result.get('description') is None:
-                self.report_warning('There\'s no playlist description to write.')
-            else:
-                try:
-                    self.to_screen('[info] Writing playlist description to: ' + descfn)
-                    with io.open(encodeFilename(descfn), 'w', encoding='utf-8') as descfile:
-                        descfile.write(ie_result['description'])
-                except (OSError, IOError):
-                    self.report_error('Cannot write playlist description file ' + descfn)
+            if self.params.get('writeinfojson', False):
+                infofn = replace_extension(
+                    self.prepare_filepath(self.prepare_filename(ie_copy), 'infojson'),
+                    'info.json', ie_result.get('ext'))
+                if not ensure_dir_exists(encodeFilename(infofn)):
                     return
+                if self.params.get('overwrites', True) and os.path.exists(encodeFilename(infofn)):
+                    self.to_screen('[info] Playlist metadata is already present')
+                else:
+                    self.to_screen('[info] Writing playlist metadata as JSON to: ' + infofn)
+                    playlist_info = dict(ie_result)
+                    playlist_info.pop('entries')
+                    try:
+                        write_json_file(self.filter_requested_info(playlist_info), infofn)
+                    except (OSError, IOError):
+                        self.report_error('Cannot write playlist metadata to JSON file ' + infofn)
+
+            if self.params.get('writedescription', False):
+                descfn = replace_extension(
+                    self.prepare_filepath(self.prepare_filename(ie_copy), 'description'),
+                    'description', ie_result.get('ext'))
+                if not ensure_dir_exists(encodeFilename(descfn)):
+                    return
+                if not self.params.get('overwrites', True) and os.path.exists(encodeFilename(descfn)):
+                    self.to_screen('[info] Playlist description is already present')
+                elif ie_result.get('description') is None:
+                    self.report_warning('There\'s no playlist description to write.')
+                else:
+                    try:
+                        self.to_screen('[info] Writing playlist description to: ' + descfn)
+                        with io.open(encodeFilename(descfn), 'w', encoding='utf-8') as descfile:
+                            descfile.write(ie_result['description'])
+                    except (OSError, IOError):
+                        self.report_error('Cannot write playlist description file ' + descfn)
+                        return
 
         playlist_results = []
 
diff --git a/youtube_dlc/options.py b/youtube_dlc/options.py
index af152ab27e..2cef01a5ac 100644
--- a/youtube_dlc/options.py
+++ b/youtube_dlc/options.py
@@ -937,6 +937,18 @@ def parseOpts(overrideArguments=None):
         '--no-write-annotations',
         action='store_false', dest='writeannotations',
         help='Do not write video annotations (default)')
+    filesystem.add_option(
+        '--write-playlist-metafiles',
+        action='store_true', dest='allow_playlist_files', default=True,
+        help=(
+            'Write playlist metadata in addition to the video metadata '
+            'when using --write-info-json, --write-description etc. (default)'))
+    filesystem.add_option(
+        '--no-write-playlist-metafiles',
+        action='store_false', dest='allow_playlist_files',
+        help=(
+            'Do not write playlist metadata when using '
+            '--write-info-json, --write-description etc.'))
     filesystem.add_option(
         '--get-comments',
         action='store_true', dest='getcomments', default=False,