diff --git a/PyPDF2/merger.py b/PyPDF2/merger.py
index 27702add3..f15827632 100644
--- a/PyPDF2/merger.py
+++ b/PyPDF2/merger.py
@@ -65,9 +65,12 @@ class PdfFileMerger(object):
     :param bool strict: Determines whether user should be warned of all
             problems and also causes some correctable problems to be fatal.
             Defaults to ``True``.
+    :param bool overwriteWarnings: Determines whether to override Python's
+        ``warnings.py`` module with a custom implementation (defaults to
+        ``True``).
     """
 
-    def __init__(self, strict=True):
+    def __init__(self, strict=True, overwriteWarnings=True):
         self.inputs = []
         self.pages = []
         self.output = PdfFileWriter()
@@ -75,6 +78,7 @@ def __init__(self, strict=True):
         self.named_dests = []
         self.id_count = 0
         self.strict = strict
+        self.overwriteWarnings = overwriteWarnings
 
     def merge(self, position, fileobj, bookmark=None, pages=None, import_bookmarks=True):
         """
@@ -130,7 +134,7 @@ def merge(self, position, fileobj, bookmark=None, pages=None, import_bookmarks=T
 
         # Create a new PdfFileReader instance using the stream
         # (either file or BytesIO or StringIO) created above
-        pdfr = PdfFileReader(fileobj, strict=self.strict)
+        pdfr = PdfFileReader(fileobj, strict=self.strict, overwriteWarnings=self.overwriteWarnings)
         if decryption_key is not None:
             pdfr._decryption_key = decryption_key
 
diff --git a/PyPDF2/pdf.py b/PyPDF2/pdf.py
index 6de140145..2ad522de0 100644
--- a/PyPDF2/pdf.py
+++ b/PyPDF2/pdf.py
@@ -250,17 +250,17 @@ def addAttachment(self, fname, fdata):
 
         :param str fname: The filename to display.
         :param str fdata: The data in the file.
-      
+
         Reference:
         https://www.adobe.com/content/dam/Adobe/en/devnet/acrobat/pdfs/PDF32000_2008.pdf
         Section 7.11.3
         """
-        
+
         # We need 3 entries:
         # * The file's data
         # * The /Filespec entry
         # * The file's name, which goes in the Catalog
-        
+
 
         # The entry for the file
         """ Sample:
@@ -272,7 +272,7 @@ def addAttachment(self, fname, fdata):
         stream
         Hello world!
         endstream
-        endobj        
+        endobj
         """
         file_entry = DecodedStreamObject()
         file_entry.setData(fdata)
@@ -291,14 +291,14 @@ def addAttachment(self, fname, fdata):
         """
         efEntry = DictionaryObject()
         efEntry.update({ NameObject("/F"):file_entry })
-        
+
         filespec = DictionaryObject()
         filespec.update({
                 NameObject("/Type"): NameObject("/Filespec"),
                 NameObject("/F"): createStringObject(fname),  # Perhaps also try TextStringObject
                 NameObject("/EF"): efEntry
                 })
-                
+
         # Then create the entry for the root, as it needs a reference to the Filespec
         """ Sample:
         1 0 obj
@@ -309,13 +309,13 @@ def addAttachment(self, fname, fdata):
          /Names << /EmbeddedFiles << /Names [(hello.txt) 7 0 R] >> >>
         >>
         endobj
-        
+
         """
         embeddedFilesNamesDictionary = DictionaryObject()
         embeddedFilesNamesDictionary.update({
                 NameObject("/Names"): ArrayObject([createStringObject(fname), filespec])
                 })
-        
+
         embeddedFilesDictionary = DictionaryObject()
         embeddedFilesDictionary.update({
                 NameObject("/EmbeddedFiles"): embeddedFilesNamesDictionary
@@ -329,7 +329,7 @@ def appendPagesFromReader(self, reader, after_page_append=None):
         """
         Copy pages from reader to writer. Includes an optional callback parameter
         which is invoked after pages are appended to the writer.
-        
+
         :param reader: a PdfFileReader object from which to copy page
             annotations to this writer object.  The writer's annots
         will then be updated
@@ -373,7 +373,7 @@ def updatePageFormFieldValues(self, page, fields):
     def cloneReaderDocumentRoot(self, reader):
         '''
         Copy the reader document root to the writer.
-        
+
         :param reader:  PdfFileReader from the document root should be copied.
         :callback after_page_append
         '''