diff --git a/src/Mod/Draft/Resources/ui/preferences-drafttexts.ui b/src/Mod/Draft/Resources/ui/preferences-drafttexts.ui
index da2190edaa..6bd59f137f 100644
--- a/src/Mod/Draft/Resources/ui/preferences-drafttexts.ui
+++ b/src/Mod/Draft/Resources/ui/preferences-drafttexts.ui
@@ -6,8 +6,8 @@
    <rect>
     <x>0</x>
     <y>0</y>
-    <width>522</width>
-    <height>473</height>
+    <width>537</width>
+    <height>605</height>
    </rect>
   </property>
   <property name="windowTitle">
@@ -467,6 +467,43 @@ such as &quot;Arial:Bold&quot;</string>
         </item>
        </layout>
       </item>
+      <item>
+       <layout class="QHBoxLayout" name="horizontalLayout_8">
+        <item>
+         <widget class="QLabel" name="label_2">
+          <property name="text">
+           <string>Override unit</string>
+          </property>
+         </widget>
+        </item>
+        <item>
+         <spacer name="horizontalSpacer">
+          <property name="orientation">
+           <enum>Qt::Horizontal</enum>
+          </property>
+          <property name="sizeHint" stdset="0">
+           <size>
+            <width>40</width>
+            <height>20</height>
+           </size>
+          </property>
+         </spacer>
+        </item>
+        <item>
+         <widget class="Gui::PrefLineEdit" name="lineEdit">
+          <property name="toolTip">
+           <string>By leaving this field blank, the dimension measurements will be shown in the current unit defined in FreeCAD. By indicating a unit here such as m or cm, you can force new dimensions to be shown in that unit.</string>
+          </property>
+          <property name="prefEntry" stdset="0">
+           <cstring>overrideUnit</cstring>
+          </property>
+          <property name="prefPath" stdset="0">
+           <cstring>Mod/Draft</cstring>
+          </property>
+         </widget>
+        </item>
+       </layout>
+      </item>
      </layout>
     </widget>
    </item>
diff --git a/src/Mod/Draft/draftutils/utils.py b/src/Mod/Draft/draftutils/utils.py
index 2bb3633ba3..02a81027c0 100644
--- a/src/Mod/Draft/draftutils/utils.py
+++ b/src/Mod/Draft/draftutils/utils.py
@@ -171,7 +171,7 @@ def get_param_type(param):
         return "int"
     elif param in ("constructiongroupname", "textfont",
                    "patternFile", "template", "snapModes",
-                   "FontFile", "ClonePrefix",
+                   "FontFile", "ClonePrefix","overrideUnit",
                    "labeltype") or "inCommandShortcut" in param:
         return "string"
     elif param in ("textheight", "tolerance", "gridSpacing",
diff --git a/src/Mod/Draft/draftviewproviders/view_dimension.py b/src/Mod/Draft/draftviewproviders/view_dimension.py
index 533fd2c6a4..b1ea97e335 100644
--- a/src/Mod/Draft/draftviewproviders/view_dimension.py
+++ b/src/Mod/Draft/draftviewproviders/view_dimension.py
@@ -216,7 +216,7 @@ class ViewProviderDimensionBase(ViewProviderDraftAnnotation):
                              "UnitOverride",
                              "Units",
                              _tip)
-            vobj.UnitOverride = ''
+            vobj.UnitOverride = utils.get_param("overrideUnit", '')
 
     def set_graphics_properties(self, vobj, properties):
         """Set graphics properties only if they don't already exist."""