diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index db514348..ba386c36 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -187,6 +187,7 @@ your `~/.zshrc`:
 | Variable | Default Value | Description |
 |----------|---------------|-------------|
 |`POWERLEVEL9K_BACKGROUND_JOBS_VERBOSE`|`true`|If there is more than one background job, this segment will show the number of jobs. Set this to `false` to turn this feature off.|
+`POWERLEVEL9K_BACKGROUND_JOBS_VERBOSE_ALWAYS`|`false`|Always show the jobs count (even if it's zero).|
 
 ##### battery
 
diff --git a/powerlevel9k.zsh-theme b/powerlevel9k.zsh-theme
index a8293358..caf2adbb 100755
--- a/powerlevel9k.zsh-theme
+++ b/powerlevel9k.zsh-theme
@@ -305,6 +305,7 @@ prompt_aws_eb_env() {
 
 # Segment to indicate background jobs with an icon.
 set_default POWERLEVEL9K_BACKGROUND_JOBS_VERBOSE true
+set_default POWERLEVEL9K_BACKGROUND_JOBS_VERBOSE_ALWAYS false
 prompt_background_jobs() {
   local background_jobs_number=${$(jobs -l | wc -l)// /}
   local wrong_lines=`jobs -l | awk '/pwd now/{ count++ } END {print count}'`
@@ -313,7 +314,7 @@ prompt_background_jobs() {
   fi
   if [[ background_jobs_number -gt 0 ]]; then
     local background_jobs_number_print=""
-    if [[ "$POWERLEVEL9K_BACKGROUND_JOBS_VERBOSE" == "true" ]] && [[ "$background_jobs_number" -gt 1 ]]; then
+    if [[ "$POWERLEVEL9K_BACKGROUND_JOBS_VERBOSE" == "true" ]] && ([[ "$background_jobs_number" -gt 1 ]] || [[ "$POWERLEVEL9K_BACKGROUND_JOBS_VERBOSE_ALWAYS" == "true" ]]); then
       background_jobs_number_print="$background_jobs_number"
     fi
     "$1_prompt_segment" "$0" "$2" "$DEFAULT_COLOR" "cyan" "$background_jobs_number_print" 'BACKGROUND_JOBS_ICON'