diff --git a/rtgui/histogrampanel.cc b/rtgui/histogrampanel.cc
index 3c7a3e631..2655897e3 100644
--- a/rtgui/histogrampanel.cc
+++ b/rtgui/histogrampanel.cc
@@ -362,6 +362,8 @@ HistogramPanel::HistogramPanel () :
 
     brightness_changed_connection = histogramArea->getBrighnessChangedSignal().connect(sigc::mem_fun(*this, &HistogramPanel::brightnessUpdated));
     rconn = signal_size_allocate().connect( sigc::mem_fun(*this, &HistogramPanel::resized) );
+
+    histogramArea->setBrightness(options.histogramTraceBrightness);
 }
 
 HistogramPanel::~HistogramPanel ()
@@ -476,11 +478,13 @@ void HistogramPanel::brightnessWidgetValueChanged(void)
 {
     ConnectionBlocker blocker(brightness_changed_connection);
     histogramArea->setBrightness(exp(brightnessWidget->get_value()));
+    options.histogramTraceBrightness = histogramArea->getBrightness();
 }
 
 void HistogramPanel::brightnessUpdated(float brightness)
 {
     brightnessWidget->set_value(log(brightness));
+    options.histogramTraceBrightness = histogramArea->getBrightness();
 }
 
 void HistogramPanel::scopeOptionsToggled()
diff --git a/rtgui/options.cc b/rtgui/options.cc
index 494a1ec3f..46d9b9ca5 100644
--- a/rtgui/options.cc
+++ b/rtgui/options.cc
@@ -451,6 +451,7 @@ void Options::setDefaults()
     histogramDrawMode = 0;
     histogramScopeType = ScopeType::HISTOGRAM;
     histogramShowOptionButtons = false;
+    histogramTraceBrightness = 1;
     curvebboxpos = 1;
     complexity = 2;
     prevdemo = PD_Sidecar;
@@ -1444,6 +1445,10 @@ void Options::readFromFile(Glib::ustring fname)
                     histogramShowOptionButtons = keyFile.get_boolean("GUI", "HistogramShowOptionButtons");
                 }
 
+                if (keyFile.has_key("GUI", "HistogramTraceBrightness")) {
+                    histogramTraceBrightness = keyFile.get_double("GUI", "HistogramTraceBrightness");
+                }
+
                 if (keyFile.has_key("GUI", "NavigatorRGBUnit")) {
                     navRGBUnit = (NavigatorUnit)keyFile.get_integer("GUI", "NavigatorRGBUnit");
                 }
@@ -2268,6 +2273,7 @@ void Options::saveToFile(Glib::ustring fname)
         keyFile.set_integer("GUI", "HistogramDrawMode", histogramDrawMode);
         keyFile.set_integer("GUI", "HistogramScopeType", rtengine::toUnderlying(histogramScopeType));
         keyFile.set_boolean("GUI", "HistogramShowOptionButtons", histogramShowOptionButtons);
+        keyFile.set_double("GUI", "HistogramTraceBrightness", histogramTraceBrightness);
         keyFile.set_integer("GUI", "NavigatorRGBUnit", (int)navRGBUnit);
         keyFile.set_integer("GUI", "NavigatorHSVUnit", (int)navHSVUnit);
         keyFile.set_boolean("GUI", "ShowFilmStripToolBar", showFilmStripToolBar);
diff --git a/rtgui/options.h b/rtgui/options.h
index 476af79ec..d2e0c0543 100644
--- a/rtgui/options.h
+++ b/rtgui/options.h
@@ -324,6 +324,7 @@ public:
     int histogramDrawMode;
     ScopeType histogramScopeType;
     bool histogramShowOptionButtons;
+    float histogramTraceBrightness;
     bool FileBrowserToolbarSingleRow;
     bool hideTPVScrollbar;
     int whiteBalanceSpotSize;