diff --git a/lisp/textmodes/text-mode.el b/lisp/textmodes/text-mode.el
index 2a51f03e4b3..c0627b640f4 100644
--- a/lisp/textmodes/text-mode.el
+++ b/lisp/textmodes/text-mode.el
@@ -78,6 +78,8 @@ Turning on Text mode runs the normal hook `text-mode-hook'."
   (setq paragraph-start (concat "[ \t]*$\\|" page-delimiter))
   (make-local-variable 'paragraph-separate)
   (setq paragraph-separate paragraph-start)
+  (make-local-variable 'indent-line-function)
+  (setq indent-line-function 'indent-relative-maybe)
   (setq mode-name "Text")
   (setq major-mode 'text-mode)
   (run-hooks 'text-mode-hook))