diff --git a/lib/elixir/lib/io.ex b/lib/elixir/lib/io.ex
index 57e521807ed..72275725e56 100644
--- a/lib/elixir/lib/io.ex
+++ b/lib/elixir/lib/io.ex
@@ -259,6 +259,10 @@ defmodule IO do
   option to easily distinguish it from other `IO.inspect/2` calls.
   The label will be printed before the inspected `item`.
 
+  The `item` can be altered from its original form for inspection with
+  the `:apply` option. Note that the given `item` will still be
+  returned unchanged.
+
   See `Inspect.Opts` for a full list of remaining formatting options.
 
   ## Examples
@@ -290,6 +294,20 @@ defmodule IO do
       before: [1, 2, 3]
       after: [2, 4, 6]
 
+  The `:apply` option is useful to alter what is printed
+  without disrupting pipelines:
+
+      [[1, 2], [3]]
+      |> IO.inspect(apply: &length/1, label: "length before")
+      |> Enum.flatten
+      |> IO.inspect(apply: &length/1, label: "length after")
+      |> Enum.sum
+
+  Prints:
+
+      length before: 2
+      length after: 3
+
   """
   @spec inspect(item, keyword) :: item when item: var
   def inspect(item, opts \\ []) do
@@ -304,8 +322,9 @@ defmodule IO do
   @spec inspect(device, item, keyword) :: item when item: var
   def inspect(device, item, opts) when is_list(opts) do
     label = if label = opts[:label], do: [to_chardata(label), ": "], else: []
+    inspect_item = if apply = opts[:apply], do: apply.(item), else: item
     opts = struct(Inspect.Opts, opts)
-    doc = Inspect.Algebra.group(Inspect.Algebra.to_doc(item, opts))
+    doc = Inspect.Algebra.group(Inspect.Algebra.to_doc(inspect_item, opts))
     chardata = Inspect.Algebra.format(doc, opts.width)
     puts(device, [label, chardata])
     item
diff --git a/lib/elixir/test/elixir/io_test.exs b/lib/elixir/test/elixir/io_test.exs
index 4d01508b1e0..fe300c638f7 100644
--- a/lib/elixir/test/elixir/io_test.exs
+++ b/lib/elixir/test/elixir/io_test.exs
@@ -184,5 +184,9 @@ defmodule IOTest do
     assert capture_io(fn -> IO.inspect(1) end) == "1\n"
     assert capture_io(fn -> IO.inspect(1, label: "foo") end) == "foo: 1\n"
     assert capture_io(fn -> IO.inspect(1, label: :foo) end) == "foo: 1\n"
+
+    assert capture_io(fn ->
+      assert IO.inspect([], apply: &length/1) == []
+    end) == "0\n"
   end
 end