diff --git a/README.asciidoc b/README.asciidoc
index 66dfc59b7..fc5e3eab7 100644
--- a/README.asciidoc
+++ b/README.asciidoc
@@ -780,6 +780,7 @@ Some of Kakoune state is available through environment variables:
  * `kak_buffile`: full path of the file or same as `kak_bufname` when
        there's no associated file
  * `kak_buflist`: the current buffer list, each buffer separated by a colon
+ * `kak_buf_line_count`: the current buffer line count
  * `kak_timestamp`: timestamp of the current buffer, the timestamp is an
        integer value which is incremented each time the buffer is modified.
  * `kak_runtime`: directory containing the kak binary
diff --git a/doc/manpages/expansions.asciidoc b/doc/manpages/expansions.asciidoc
index 48e47fddf..96783a25f 100644
--- a/doc/manpages/expansions.asciidoc
+++ b/doc/manpages/expansions.asciidoc
@@ -69,6 +69,8 @@ informations about Kakoune's state:
 	associated file
 *kak_buflist*::
 	the current buffer list, each buffer separated by a colon
+*kak_buf_line_count*::
+	the current buffer line count
 *kak_timestamp*::
 	timestamp of the current buffer, the timestamp is an integer value
 	which is incremented each time the buffer is modified
@@ -95,7 +97,7 @@ informations about Kakoune's state:
 	column of the end of the main selection (in byte)
 *kak_cursor_char_column*::
 	column of the end of the main selection (in character)
-*kak_cursor_byte_offset*:: 
+*kak_cursor_byte_offset*::
 	Offset of the main selection from the beginning of the buffer (in bytes).
 *kak_window_width*::
 	width of the current kakoune window
diff --git a/src/main.cc b/src/main.cc
index 11254e78b..af7f62e19 100644
--- a/src/main.cc
+++ b/src/main.cc
@@ -93,6 +93,10 @@ void register_env_vars()
             [](StringView name, const Context& context)
             { return join(BufferManager::instance() |
                           transform(std::mem_fn(&Buffer::display_name)), ':'); }
+        }, {
+            "buf_line_count", false,
+            [](StringView name, const Context& context) -> String
+            { return to_string(context.buffer().line_count()); }
         }, {
             "timestamp", false,
             [](StringView name, const Context& context) -> String