diff --git a/browser/app/profile/firefox.js b/browser/app/profile/firefox.js
index 00cec4a595a..90d0462d0fb 100644
--- a/browser/app/profile/firefox.js
+++ b/browser/app/profile/firefox.js
@@ -804,6 +804,10 @@ pref("browser.sessionstore.max_resumed_crashes", 1);
 pref("browser.sessionstore.restore_on_demand", false);
 // Whether to automatically restore hidden tabs (i.e., tabs in other tab groups) or not
 pref("browser.sessionstore.restore_hidden_tabs", false);
+// If restore_on_demand is set, pinned tabs are restored on startup by default.
+// When set to true, this pref overrides that behavior, and pinned tabs will only
+// be restored when they are focused.
+pref("browser.sessionstore.restore_pinned_tabs_on_demand", false);
 
 // allow META refresh by default
 pref("accessibility.blockautorefresh", false);
diff --git a/browser/components/sessionstore/src/nsSessionStore.js b/browser/components/sessionstore/src/nsSessionStore.js
index 41ae9022167..b22bfa91d90 100644
--- a/browser/components/sessionstore/src/nsSessionStore.js
+++ b/browser/components/sessionstore/src/nsSessionStore.js
@@ -251,6 +251,9 @@ SessionStoreService.prototype = {
 
   // whether to restore hidden tabs or not, pref controlled.
   _restoreHiddenTabs: null,
+  
+  // whether to restore app tabs on demand or not, pref controlled.
+  _restorePinnedTabsOnDemand: null,
 
   // The state from the previous session (after restoring pinned tabs). This
   // state is persisted and passed through to the next session during an app
@@ -313,6 +316,10 @@ SessionStoreService.prototype = {
     this._restoreHiddenTabs =
       this._prefBranch.getBoolPref("sessionstore.restore_hidden_tabs");
     this._prefBranch.addObserver("sessionstore.restore_hidden_tabs", this, true);
+    
+    this._restorePinnedTabsOnDemand =
+      this._prefBranch.getBoolPref("sessionstore.restore_pinned_tabs_on_demand");
+    this._prefBranch.addObserver("sessionstore.restore_pinned_tabs_on_demand", this, true);
 
     // Make sure gRestoreTabsProgressListener has a reference to sessionstore
     // so that it can make calls back in
@@ -688,6 +695,10 @@ SessionStoreService.prototype = {
         this._restoreHiddenTabs =
           this._prefBranch.getBoolPref("sessionstore.restore_hidden_tabs");
         break;
+      case "sessionstore.restore_pinned_tabs_on_demand":
+        this._restorePinnedTabsOnDemand =
+          this._prefBranch.getBoolPref("sessionstore.restore_pinned_tabs_on_demand");
+        break;
       }
       break;
     case "timer-callback": // timer call back for delayed saving
@@ -3187,7 +3198,8 @@ SessionStoreService.prototype = {
       return;
 
     // If it's not possible to restore anything, then just bail out.
-    if ((!this._tabsToRestore.priority.length && this._restoreOnDemand) ||
+    if ((this._restoreOnDemand &&
+        (this._restorePinnedTabsOnDemand || !this._tabsToRestore.priority.length)) ||
         this._tabsRestoringCount >= MAX_CONCURRENT_TAB_RESTORES)
       return;
 
diff --git a/browser/components/sessionstore/test/browser_586068-cascaded_restore.js b/browser/components/sessionstore/test/browser_586068-cascaded_restore.js
index bff38b83f81..04a0bdfdd14 100644
--- a/browser/components/sessionstore/test/browser_586068-cascaded_restore.js
+++ b/browser/components/sessionstore/test/browser_586068-cascaded_restore.js
@@ -56,11 +56,13 @@ let tests = [test_cascade, test_select, test_multiWindowState,
              test_setWindowStateNoOverwrite, test_setWindowStateOverwrite,
              test_setBrowserStateInterrupted, test_reload,
              /* test_reloadReload, */ test_reloadCascadeSetup,
-             /* test_reloadCascade, */ test_apptabs_only];
+             /* test_reloadCascade, */ test_apptabs_only,
+             test_restore_apptabs_ondemand];
 function runNextTest() {
   // Reset the pref
   try {
     Services.prefs.clearUserPref("browser.sessionstore.restore_on_demand");
+    Services.prefs.clearUserPref("browser.sessionstore.restore_pinned_tabs_on_demand");
   } catch (e) {}
 
   // set an empty state & run the next test, or finish
@@ -777,6 +779,69 @@ function test_apptabs_only() {
 }
 
 
+// This test ensures that app tabs are not restored when restore_pinned_tabs_on_demand is set
+function test_restore_apptabs_ondemand() {
+  Services.prefs.setBoolPref("browser.sessionstore.restore_on_demand", true);
+  Services.prefs.setBoolPref("browser.sessionstore.restore_pinned_tabs_on_demand", true);
+
+  // We have our own progress listener for this test, which we'll attach before our state is set
+  let progressListener = {
+    onStateChange: function (aBrowser, aWebProgress, aRequest, aStateFlags, aStatus) {
+      if (aBrowser.__SS_restoreState == TAB_STATE_RESTORING &&
+          aStateFlags & Ci.nsIWebProgressListener.STATE_STOP &&
+          aStateFlags & Ci.nsIWebProgressListener.STATE_IS_NETWORK &&
+          aStateFlags & Ci.nsIWebProgressListener.STATE_IS_WINDOW)
+        test_restore_apptabs_ondemand_progressCallback(aBrowser);
+    }
+  }
+
+  let state = { windows: [{ tabs: [
+    { entries: [{ url: "http://example.org/#1" }], extData: { "uniq": r() }, pinned: true },
+    { entries: [{ url: "http://example.org/#2" }], extData: { "uniq": r() }, pinned: true },
+    { entries: [{ url: "http://example.org/#3" }], extData: { "uniq": r() }, pinned: true },
+    { entries: [{ url: "http://example.org/#4" }], extData: { "uniq": r() } },
+    { entries: [{ url: "http://example.org/#5" }], extData: { "uniq": r() } },
+    { entries: [{ url: "http://example.org/#6" }], extData: { "uniq": r() } },
+    { entries: [{ url: "http://example.org/#7" }], extData: { "uniq": r() } },
+  ], selected: 5 }] };
+
+  let loadCount = 0;
+  let nextTestTimer;
+  function test_restore_apptabs_ondemand_progressCallback(aBrowser) {
+    loadCount++;
+
+    // get the tab
+    let tab;
+    for (let i = 0; i < window.gBrowser.tabs.length; i++) {
+      if (!tab && window.gBrowser.tabs[i].linkedBrowser == aBrowser)
+        tab = window.gBrowser.tabs[i];
+    }
+
+    // Check that the load only comes from the selected tab.
+    ok(gBrowser.selectedTab == tab,
+       "test_restore_apptabs_ondemand: load came from selected tab");
+
+    // We should get only 1 load: the selected tab
+    if (loadCount == 1) {
+      nextTestTimer = setTimeout(nextTest, 1000);
+      return;
+    }
+    else if (loadCount > 1) {
+      clearTimeout(nextTestTimer);
+    }
+
+    function nextTest() {
+      window.gBrowser.removeTabsProgressListener(progressListener);
+      runNextTest();
+    }
+    nextTest();
+  }
+
+  window.gBrowser.addTabsProgressListener(progressListener);
+  ss.setBrowserState(JSON.stringify(state));
+}
+
+
 function countTabs() {
   let needsRestore = 0,
       isRestoring = 0,