diff --git a/issue131_test.go b/issue131_test.go
index 5ca24cf..47e8fc6 100644
--- a/issue131_test.go
+++ b/issue131_test.go
@@ -9,6 +9,9 @@ import (
 type foz struct {
 	A *bool
 	B string
+	C *bool
+	D *bool
+	E *bool
 }
 
 func TestIssue131MergeWithOverwriteWithEmptyValue(t *testing.T) {
@@ -30,3 +33,38 @@ func TestIssue131MergeWithOverwriteWithEmptyValue(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Errorf("dest.B not merged in properly: %v != %v", src.B, dest.B)
 	}
 }
+
+func TestIssue131MergeWithoutDereference(t *testing.T) {
+	src := foz{
+		A: func(v bool) *bool { return &v }(false),
+		B: "src",
+		C: nil,
+		D: func(v bool) *bool { return &v }(false),
+		E: func(v bool) *bool { return &v }(true),
+	}
+	dest := foz{
+		A: func(v bool) *bool { return &v }(true),
+		B: "dest",
+		C: func(v bool) *bool { return &v }(false),
+		D: nil,
+		E: func(v bool) *bool { return &v }(false),
+	}
+	if err := mergo.Merge(&dest, src, mergo.WithoutDereference, mergo.WithOverride); err != nil {
+		t.Error(err)
+	}
+	if *src.A != *dest.A {
+		t.Errorf("dest.A not merged in properly: %v != %v", *src.A, *dest.A)
+	}
+	if src.B != dest.B {
+		t.Errorf("dest.B not merged in properly: %v != %v", src.B, dest.B)
+	}
+	if *dest.C != false {
+		t.Errorf("dest.C not merged in properly: %v != %v", src.C, *dest.C)
+	}
+	if *dest.D != false {
+		t.Errorf("dest.D not merged in properly: %v != %v", src.D, *dest.D)
+	}
+	if *dest.E != true {
+		t.Errorf("dest.E not merged in properly: %v != %v", src.E, *dest.E)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/map.go b/map.go
index f739255..ce5b0f0 100644
--- a/map.go
+++ b/map.go
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ func deepMap(dst, src reflect.Value, visited map[uintptr]*visit, depth int, conf
 			}
 			fieldName := field.Name
 			fieldName = changeInitialCase(fieldName, unicode.ToLower)
-			if v, ok := dstMap[fieldName]; !ok || (isEmptyValue(reflect.ValueOf(v)) || overwrite) {
+			if v, ok := dstMap[fieldName]; !ok || (isEmptyValue(reflect.ValueOf(v), !config.ShouldNotDereference) || overwrite) {
 				dstMap[fieldName] = src.Field(i).Interface()
 			}
 		}
diff --git a/merge.go b/merge.go
index 4b47d0b..a4aa281 100644
--- a/merge.go
+++ b/merge.go
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ func isExportedComponent(field *reflect.StructField) bool {
 type Config struct {
 	Transformers                 Transformers
 	Overwrite                    bool
+	ShouldNotDereference         bool
 	AppendSlice                  bool
 	TypeCheck                    bool
 	overwriteWithEmptyValue      bool
@@ -95,7 +96,7 @@ func deepMerge(dst, src reflect.Value, visited map[uintptr]*visit, depth int, co
 				}
 			}
 		} else {
-			if dst.CanSet() && (isReflectNil(dst) || overwrite) && (!isEmptyValue(src) || overwriteWithEmptySrc) {
+			if dst.CanSet() && (isReflectNil(dst) || overwrite) && (!isEmptyValue(src, !config.ShouldNotDereference) || overwriteWithEmptySrc) {
 				dst.Set(src)
 			}
 		}
@@ -162,7 +163,7 @@ func deepMerge(dst, src reflect.Value, visited map[uintptr]*visit, depth int, co
 						dstSlice = reflect.ValueOf(dstElement.Interface())
 					}
 
-					if (!isEmptyValue(src) || overwriteWithEmptySrc || overwriteSliceWithEmptySrc) && (overwrite || isEmptyValue(dst)) && !config.AppendSlice && !sliceDeepCopy {
+					if (!isEmptyValue(src, !config.ShouldNotDereference) || overwriteWithEmptySrc || overwriteSliceWithEmptySrc) && (overwrite || isEmptyValue(dst, !config.ShouldNotDereference)) && !config.AppendSlice && !sliceDeepCopy {
 						if typeCheck && srcSlice.Type() != dstSlice.Type() {
 							return fmt.Errorf("cannot override two slices with different type (%s, %s)", srcSlice.Type(), dstSlice.Type())
 						}
@@ -194,11 +195,11 @@ func deepMerge(dst, src reflect.Value, visited map[uintptr]*visit, depth int, co
 					dst.SetMapIndex(key, dstSlice)
 				}
 			}
-			if dstElement.IsValid() && !isEmptyValue(dstElement) && (reflect.TypeOf(srcElement.Interface()).Kind() == reflect.Map || reflect.TypeOf(srcElement.Interface()).Kind() == reflect.Slice) {
+			if dstElement.IsValid() && !isEmptyValue(dstElement, !config.ShouldNotDereference) && (reflect.TypeOf(srcElement.Interface()).Kind() == reflect.Map || reflect.TypeOf(srcElement.Interface()).Kind() == reflect.Slice) {
 				continue
 			}
 
-			if srcElement.IsValid() && ((srcElement.Kind() != reflect.Ptr && overwrite) || !dstElement.IsValid() || isEmptyValue(dstElement)) {
+			if srcElement.IsValid() && ((srcElement.Kind() != reflect.Ptr && overwrite) || !dstElement.IsValid() || isEmptyValue(dstElement, !config.ShouldNotDereference)) {
 				if dst.IsNil() {
 					dst.Set(reflect.MakeMap(dst.Type()))
 				}
@@ -209,7 +210,7 @@ func deepMerge(dst, src reflect.Value, visited map[uintptr]*visit, depth int, co
 		if !dst.CanSet() {
 			break
 		}
-		if (!isEmptyValue(src) || overwriteWithEmptySrc || overwriteSliceWithEmptySrc) && (overwrite || isEmptyValue(dst)) && !config.AppendSlice && !sliceDeepCopy {
+		if (!isEmptyValue(src, !config.ShouldNotDereference) || overwriteWithEmptySrc || overwriteSliceWithEmptySrc) && (overwrite || isEmptyValue(dst, !config.ShouldNotDereference)) && !config.AppendSlice && !sliceDeepCopy {
 			dst.Set(src)
 		} else if config.AppendSlice {
 			if src.Type() != dst.Type() {
@@ -244,12 +245,18 @@ func deepMerge(dst, src reflect.Value, visited map[uintptr]*visit, depth int, co
 
 		if src.Kind() != reflect.Interface {
 			if dst.IsNil() || (src.Kind() != reflect.Ptr && overwrite) {
-				if dst.CanSet() && (overwrite || isEmptyValue(dst)) {
+				if dst.CanSet() && (overwrite || isEmptyValue(dst, !config.ShouldNotDereference)) {
 					dst.Set(src)
 				}
 			} else if src.Kind() == reflect.Ptr {
-				if err = deepMerge(dst.Elem(), src.Elem(), visited, depth+1, config); err != nil {
-					return
+				if !config.ShouldNotDereference {
+					if err = deepMerge(dst.Elem(), src.Elem(), visited, depth+1, config); err != nil {
+						return
+					}
+				} else {
+					if overwriteWithEmptySrc || !src.IsNil() {
+						dst.Set(src)
+					}
 				}
 			} else if dst.Elem().Type() == src.Type() {
 				if err = deepMerge(dst.Elem(), src, visited, depth+1, config); err != nil {
@@ -262,7 +269,7 @@ func deepMerge(dst, src reflect.Value, visited map[uintptr]*visit, depth int, co
 		}
 
 		if dst.IsNil() || overwrite {
-			if dst.CanSet() && (overwrite || isEmptyValue(dst)) {
+			if dst.CanSet() && (overwrite || isEmptyValue(dst, !config.ShouldNotDereference)) {
 				dst.Set(src)
 			}
 			break
@@ -275,7 +282,7 @@ func deepMerge(dst, src reflect.Value, visited map[uintptr]*visit, depth int, co
 			break
 		}
 	default:
-		mustSet := (isEmptyValue(dst) || overwrite) && (!isEmptyValue(src) || overwriteWithEmptySrc)
+		mustSet := (isEmptyValue(dst, !config.ShouldNotDereference) || overwrite) && (!isEmptyValue(src, !config.ShouldNotDereference) || overwriteWithEmptySrc)
 		if mustSet {
 			if dst.CanSet() {
 				dst.Set(src)
@@ -326,6 +333,12 @@ func WithOverrideEmptySlice(config *Config) {
 	config.overwriteSliceWithEmptyValue = true
 }
 
+// WithoutDereference prevents dereferencing pointers when evaluating whether they are empty
+// (i.e. a non-nil pointer is never considered empty).
+func WithoutDereference(config *Config) {
+	config.ShouldNotDereference = true
+}
+
 // WithAppendSlice will make merge append slices instead of overwriting it.
 func WithAppendSlice(config *Config) {
 	config.AppendSlice = true
diff --git a/mergo.go b/mergo.go
index d2af2a9..dd61685 100644
--- a/mergo.go
+++ b/mergo.go
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ type visit struct {
 }
 
 // From src/pkg/encoding/json/encode.go.
-func isEmptyValue(v reflect.Value) bool {
+func isEmptyValue(v reflect.Value, shouldDereference bool) bool {
 	switch v.Kind() {
 	case reflect.Array, reflect.Map, reflect.Slice, reflect.String:
 		return v.Len() == 0
@@ -50,7 +50,10 @@ func isEmptyValue(v reflect.Value) bool {
 		if v.IsNil() {
 			return true
 		}
-		return isEmptyValue(v.Elem())
+		if shouldDereference {
+			return isEmptyValue(v.Elem(), shouldDereference)
+		}
+		return false
 	case reflect.Func:
 		return v.IsNil()
 	case reflect.Invalid: