diff --git a/src/Symfony/Component/HttpKernel/EventListener/AbstractSessionListener.php b/src/Symfony/Component/HttpKernel/EventListener/AbstractSessionListener.php
index 9865d6a79aba3..9d4051338716d 100644
--- a/src/Symfony/Component/HttpKernel/EventListener/AbstractSessionListener.php
+++ b/src/Symfony/Component/HttpKernel/EventListener/AbstractSessionListener.php
@@ -20,13 +20,22 @@
 use Symfony\Component\EventDispatcher\EventSubscriberInterface;
 
 /**
- * Sets the session in the request.
+ * Sets the session onto the request on the "kernel.request" event and saves
+ * it on the "kernel.response" event.
+ *
+ * In addition, if the session has been started it overrides the Cache-Control
+ * header in such a way that all caching is disabled in that case.
+ * If you have a scenario where caching responses with session information in
+ * them makes sense, you can disable this behaviour by setting the header
+ * AbstractSessionListener::NO_AUTO_CACHE_CONTROL_HEADER on the response.
  *
  * @author Johannes M. Schmitt <schmittjoh@gmail.com>
  * @author Tobias Schultze <http://tobion.de>
  */
 abstract class AbstractSessionListener implements EventSubscriberInterface
 {
+    const NO_AUTO_CACHE_CONTROL_HEADER = 'Symfony-Session-NoAutoCacheControl';
+
     protected $container;
 
     public function __construct(ContainerInterface $container = null)
@@ -60,13 +69,20 @@ public function onKernelResponse(FilterResponseEvent $event)
             return;
         }
 
+        $response = $event->getResponse();
+
         if ($session->isStarted() || ($session instanceof Session && $session->hasBeenStarted())) {
-            $event->getResponse()
-                ->setPrivate()
-                ->setMaxAge(0)
-                ->headers->addCacheControlDirective('must-revalidate');
+            if (!$response->headers->has(self::NO_AUTO_CACHE_CONTROL_HEADER)) {
+                $response
+                    ->setPrivate()
+                    ->setMaxAge(0)
+                    ->headers->addCacheControlDirective('must-revalidate');
+            }
         }
 
+        // Always remove the internal header if present
+        $response->headers->remove(self::NO_AUTO_CACHE_CONTROL_HEADER);
+
         if ($session->isStarted()) {
             /*
              * Saves the session, in case it is still open, before sending the response/headers.
diff --git a/src/Symfony/Component/HttpKernel/Tests/EventListener/SessionListenerTest.php b/src/Symfony/Component/HttpKernel/Tests/EventListener/SessionListenerTest.php
index 79fd88e4ab1cd..c196e07b2745e 100644
--- a/src/Symfony/Component/HttpKernel/Tests/EventListener/SessionListenerTest.php
+++ b/src/Symfony/Component/HttpKernel/Tests/EventListener/SessionListenerTest.php
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ public function testSessionIsSet()
         $this->assertSame($session, $request->getSession());
     }
 
-    public function testResponseIsPrivate()
+    public function testResponseIsPrivateIfSessionStarted()
     {
         $session = $this->getMockBuilder(Session::class)->disableOriginalConstructor()->getMock();
         $session->expects($this->exactly(2))->method('isStarted')->willReturn(false);
@@ -74,6 +74,31 @@ public function testResponseIsPrivate()
         $this->assertTrue($response->headers->hasCacheControlDirective('private'));
         $this->assertTrue($response->headers->hasCacheControlDirective('must-revalidate'));
         $this->assertSame('0', $response->headers->getCacheControlDirective('max-age'));
+        $this->assertFalse($response->headers->has(AbstractSessionListener::NO_AUTO_CACHE_CONTROL_HEADER));
+    }
+
+    public function testResponseIsStillPublicIfSessionStartedAndHeaderPresent()
+    {
+        $session = $this->getMockBuilder(Session::class)->disableOriginalConstructor()->getMock();
+        $session->expects($this->exactly(2))->method('isStarted')->willReturn(false);
+        $session->expects($this->once())->method('hasBeenStarted')->willReturn(true);
+
+        $container = new Container();
+        $container->set('initialized_session', $session);
+
+        $listener = new SessionListener($container);
+        $kernel = $this->getMockBuilder(HttpKernelInterface::class)->disableOriginalConstructor()->getMock();
+
+        $response = new Response();
+        $response->setSharedMaxAge(60);
+        $response->headers->set(AbstractSessionListener::NO_AUTO_CACHE_CONTROL_HEADER, 'true');
+        $listener->onKernelResponse(new FilterResponseEvent($kernel, new Request(), HttpKernelInterface::MASTER_REQUEST, $response));
+
+        $this->assertTrue($response->headers->hasCacheControlDirective('public'));
+        $this->assertFalse($response->headers->hasCacheControlDirective('private'));
+        $this->assertFalse($response->headers->hasCacheControlDirective('must-revalidate'));
+        $this->assertSame('60', $response->headers->getCacheControlDirective('s-maxage'));
+        $this->assertFalse($response->headers->has(AbstractSessionListener::NO_AUTO_CACHE_CONTROL_HEADER));
     }
 
     public function testUninitilizedSession()