diff --git a/doc/examples.rst b/doc/examples.rst
index 84abcad193f..838e1d46052 100644
--- a/doc/examples.rst
+++ b/doc/examples.rst
@@ -179,7 +179,25 @@ JSON
 
 .. literalinclude:: ../examples/focus-window-and-panes.json
     :language: json
- 
+
+Window Index
+------------
+
+You can specify a window's index using the ``window_index`` property. Windows
+without ``window_index`` will use the lowest available window index.
+
+YAML
+""""
+
+.. literalinclude:: ../examples/window-index.yaml
+    :language: yaml
+
+JSON
+""""
+
+.. literalinclude:: ../examples/window-index.json
+    :language: json
+
 Automatic Rename
 ----------------
 
diff --git a/examples/window-index.json b/examples/window-index.json
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..63df0377f72
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/window-index.json
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+{
+  "windows": [
+    {
+      "panes": [
+        "echo \"this window's index will be zero\""
+      ],
+      "window_name": "zero"
+    },
+    {
+      "panes": [
+        "echo \"this window's index will be five\""
+      ],
+      "window_index": 5,
+      "window_name": "five"
+    },
+    {
+      "panes": [
+        "echo \"this window's index will be one\""
+      ],
+      "window_name": "one"
+    }
+  ],
+  "session_name": "Window index example"
+}
diff --git a/examples/window-index.yaml b/examples/window-index.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..36da4f07266
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/window-index.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+session_name: Window index example
+windows:
+  - window_name: zero
+    panes:
+      - echo "this window's index will be zero"
+  - window_name: five
+    panes:
+      - echo "this window's index will be five"
+    window_index: 5
+  - window_name: one
+    panes:
+      - echo "this window's index will be one"
diff --git a/tmuxp/session.py b/tmuxp/session.py
index 9d6ae3de37c..c9a49ebb07b 100644
--- a/tmuxp/session.py
+++ b/tmuxp/session.py
@@ -125,7 +125,8 @@ def rename_session(self, new_name):
     def new_window(self,
                    window_name=None,
                    start_directory=None,
-                   attach=True):
+                   attach=True,
+                   window_index=''):
         """Return :class:`Window` from ``$ tmux new-window``.
 
         .. note::
@@ -175,7 +176,8 @@ def new_window(self,
             window_args += ('-n%s' % window_name,)
 
         window_args += (
-            '-t%s' % self.get('session_id'),
+            # empty string for window_index will use the first one available
+            '-t%s:%s' % (self.get('session_id'), window_index),
         )
 
         proc = self.tmux('new-window', *window_args)
diff --git a/tmuxp/testsuite/test_workspacebuilder.py b/tmuxp/testsuite/test_workspacebuilder.py
index 0b95bfa2471..0ff8ba0c910 100644
--- a/tmuxp/testsuite/test_workspacebuilder.py
+++ b/tmuxp/testsuite/test_workspacebuilder.py
@@ -462,3 +462,40 @@ def test_pane_order(self):
                     time.sleep(.2)
 
                 self.assertEqual(p.get('pane_current_path'), pane_path)
+
+
+class WindowIndexTest(TmuxTestCase):
+    yaml_config = """
+    session_name: sampleconfig
+    windows:
+    - window_name: zero
+      panes:
+      - echo 'zero'
+    - window_name: five
+      panes:
+      - echo 'five'
+      window_index: 5
+    - window_name: one
+      panes:
+      - echo 'one'
+    """
+
+    def test_window_index(self):
+        proc = self.session.tmux('show-option', '-gv', 'base-index')
+        base_index = int(proc.stdout[0])
+        name_index_map = {
+            'zero': 0 + base_index,
+            'one': 1 + base_index,
+            'five': 5,
+        }
+
+        sconfig = kaptan.Kaptan(handler='yaml')
+        sconfig = sconfig.import_config(self.yaml_config).get()
+        sconfig = config.expand(sconfig)
+        sconfig = config.trickle(sconfig)
+
+        builder = WorkspaceBuilder(sconf=sconfig)
+
+        for window, wconf in builder.iter_create_windows(self.session):
+            expected_index = name_index_map[window['window_name']]
+            self.assertEqual(int(window['window_index']), expected_index)
diff --git a/tmuxp/workspacebuilder.py b/tmuxp/workspacebuilder.py
index d8523b47f10..a7c9184076a 100644
--- a/tmuxp/workspacebuilder.py
+++ b/tmuxp/workspacebuilder.py
@@ -184,7 +184,8 @@ def iter_create_windows(self, s):
                 window_name=window_name,
                 start_directory=wconf[
                     'start_directory'] if 'start_directory' in wconf else None,
-                attach=False  # do not move to the new window
+                attach=False,  # do not move to the new window
+                window_index=wconf.get('window_index', ''),
             )
 
             if i == int(1) and w1:  # if first window, use window 1