diff --git a/NEWS.md b/NEWS.md
index 45e89d4897e94..c4732bb471102 100644
--- a/NEWS.md
+++ b/NEWS.md
@@ -118,6 +118,8 @@ New library functions
 * New function `bitrotate(x, k)` for rotating the bits in a fixed-width integer ([#33937]).
 * One argument methods `startswith(x)` and `endswith(x)` have been added, returning partially-applied versions of the functions, similar to existing methods like `isequal(x)` ([#33193]).
 * New function `contains(haystack, needle)` and its one argument partially applied form have been added, it acts like `occursin(needle, haystack)`([#35132]).
+* New function `Base.exit_on_sigint` is added to control if `InterruptException` is
+  thrown by Ctrl-C ([#29411]).
 
 New library features
 --------------------
diff --git a/base/c.jl b/base/c.jl
index ab502ef53d0bc..42003bba32eb7 100644
--- a/base/c.jl
+++ b/base/c.jl
@@ -463,6 +463,25 @@ function reenable_sigint(f::Function)
     res
 end
 
+"""
+    exit_on_sigint(on::Bool)
+
+Set `exit_on_sigint` flag of the julia runtime.  If `false`, Ctrl-C
+(SIGINT) is capturable as [`InterruptException`](@ref) in `try` block.
+This is the default behavior in REPL, any code run via `-e` and `-E`
+and in Julia script run with `-i` option.
+
+If `true`, `InterruptException` is not thrown by Ctrl-C.  Running code
+upon such event requires [`atexit`](@ref).  This is the default
+behavior in Julia script run without `-i` option.
+
+!!! compat "Julia 1.5"
+    Function `exit_on_sigint` requires at least Julia 1.5.
+"""
+function exit_on_sigint(on::Bool)
+    ccall(:jl_exit_on_sigint, Cvoid, (Cint,), on)
+end
+
 function ccallable(f::Function, rt::Type, argt::Type, name::Union{AbstractString,Symbol}=string(f))
     ccall(:jl_extern_c, Cvoid, (Any, Any, Any, Cstring), f, rt, argt, name)
 end
diff --git a/base/client.jl b/base/client.jl
index fedcecf4f0aa4..202d709e1e2bd 100644
--- a/base/client.jl
+++ b/base/client.jl
@@ -290,7 +290,7 @@ function exec_options(opts)
     if arg_is_program
         # program
         if !is_interactive
-            ccall(:jl_exit_on_sigint, Cvoid, (Cint,), 1)
+            exit_on_sigint(true)
         end
         try
             include(Main, PROGRAM_FILE)
diff --git a/base/docs/basedocs.jl b/base/docs/basedocs.jl
index f727fc9fd00c3..808073bc4bd84 100644
--- a/base/docs/basedocs.jl
+++ b/base/docs/basedocs.jl
@@ -1423,6 +1423,18 @@ TypeError
     InterruptException()
 
 The process was stopped by a terminal interrupt (CTRL+C).
+
+Note that, in Julia script started without `-i` (interactive) option,
+`InterruptException` is not thrown by default.  Calling
+[`Base.exit_on_sigint(false)`](@ref Base.exit_on_sigint) in the script
+can recover the behavior of the REPL.  Alternatively, a Julia script
+can be started with
+
+```sh
+julia -e "include(popfirst!(ARGS))" script.jl
+```
+
+to let `InterruptException` be thrown by CTRL+C during the execution.
 """
 InterruptException
 
diff --git a/doc/src/base/c.md b/doc/src/base/c.md
index 30f0e49fc8ae2..0795148cd7de2 100644
--- a/doc/src/base/c.md
+++ b/doc/src/base/c.md
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ Base.pointer_from_objref
 Base.unsafe_pointer_to_objref
 Base.disable_sigint
 Base.reenable_sigint
+Base.exit_on_sigint
 Base.systemerror
 Base.windowserror
 Core.Ptr
diff --git a/stdlib/REPL/test/repl.jl b/stdlib/REPL/test/repl.jl
index e543b99ee3953..febaf5650a349 100644
--- a/stdlib/REPL/test/repl.jl
+++ b/stdlib/REPL/test/repl.jl
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ function fake_repl(@nospecialize(f); options::REPL.Options=REPL.Options(confirm_
 end
 
 # Writing ^C to the repl will cause sigint, so let's not die on that
-ccall(:jl_exit_on_sigint, Cvoid, (Cint,), 0)
+Base.exit_on_sigint(false)
 
 # make sure `run_interface` can normally handle `eof`
 # without any special handling by the user
@@ -764,7 +764,7 @@ fake_repl() do stdin_write, stdout_read, repl
     Base.wait(repltask)
 end
 
-ccall(:jl_exit_on_sigint, Cvoid, (Cint,), 1)
+Base.exit_on_sigint(true)
 
 let exename = Base.julia_cmd()
     # Test REPL in dumb mode
diff --git a/test/stress.jl b/test/stress.jl
index 23c28d485ef34..b9fb720f0596a 100644
--- a/test/stress.jl
+++ b/test/stress.jl
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ end  # !Sys.iswindows
 
 # sig 2 is SIGINT per the POSIX.1-1990 standard
 if !Sys.iswindows()
-    ccall(:jl_exit_on_sigint, Cvoid, (Cint,), 0)
+    Base.exit_on_sigint(false)
     @test_throws InterruptException begin
         ccall(:kill, Cvoid, (Cint, Cint,), getpid(), 2)
         for i in 1:10
@@ -84,5 +84,5 @@ if !Sys.iswindows()
             ccall(:jl_gc_safepoint, Cvoid, ()) # wait for SIGINT to arrive
         end
     end
-    ccall(:jl_exit_on_sigint, Cvoid, (Cint,), 1)
+    Base.exit_on_sigint(true)
 end