diff --git a/Remote/Compute.hs b/Remote/Compute.hs
index 564ecbda70..d43e745e95 100644
--- a/Remote/Compute.hs
+++ b/Remote/Compute.hs
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ module Remote.Compute (
 ) where
 
 import Annex.Common
+import qualified Annex
 import Types.Remote
 import Types.ProposedAccepted
 import Types.MetaData
@@ -118,8 +119,23 @@ gen r u rc gc rs = case getComputeProgram' rc of
 		}
 
 setupInstance :: SetupStage -> Maybe UUID -> Maybe CredPair -> RemoteConfig -> RemoteGitConfig -> Annex (RemoteConfig, UUID)
-setupInstance _ mu _ c _ = do
+setupInstance ss mu _ c _ = do
 	ComputeProgram program <- either giveup return $ getComputeProgram' c
+	case ss of
+		AutoEnable _ -> do
+			l <- maybe [] words 
+				. annexAutoEnableComputePrograms
+				<$> Annex.getGitConfig
+			unless (program `elem` l) $ do
+				let remotename = fromMaybe "(unknown)" (lookupName c)
+				giveup $ unwords
+					[ "Not auto-enabling compute special remote"
+					, remotename
+					, "because its compute program"
+					, program
+					, " is not listed in annex.security.autoenable-compute-programs"
+					]
+		_ -> noop
 	unlessM (liftIO $ inSearchPath program) $
 		giveup $ "Cannot find " ++ program ++ " in PATH"
 	u <- maybe (liftIO genUUID) return mu
diff --git a/TODO-compute b/TODO-compute
index b3f67016a7..547730914e 100644
--- a/TODO-compute
+++ b/TODO-compute
@@ -3,8 +3,6 @@
 * get input files for a computation (so `git-annex get .` gets every file,
   even when input files in a directory are processed after computed files)
 
-* autoinit security
-
 * addcomputed should honor annex.addunlocked.
 
 * Perhaps recompute should write a new version of a file as an unlocked
diff --git a/Types/GitConfig.hs b/Types/GitConfig.hs
index 255778387f..6ea4503d1a 100644
--- a/Types/GitConfig.hs
+++ b/Types/GitConfig.hs
@@ -146,6 +146,7 @@ data GitConfig = GitConfig
 	, annexAllowedUrlSchemes :: S.Set Scheme
 	, annexAllowedIPAddresses :: String
 	, annexAllowUnverifiedDownloads :: Bool
+	, annexAutoEnableComputePrograms :: Maybe String
 	, annexMaxExtensionLength :: Maybe Int
 	, annexMaxExtensions :: Maybe Int
 	, annexJobs :: Concurrency
@@ -261,6 +262,8 @@ extractGitConfig configsource r = GitConfig
 		getmaybe (annexConfig "security.allowed-http-addresses") -- old name
 	, annexAllowUnverifiedDownloads = (== Just "ACKTHPPT") $
 		getmaybe (annexConfig "security.allow-unverified-downloads")
+	, annexAutoEnableComputePrograms =
+		getmaybe (annexConfig "security.autoenable-compute-programs")
 	, annexMaxExtensionLength = getmayberead (annexConfig "maxextensionlength")
 	, annexMaxExtensions = getmayberead (annexConfig "maxextensions")
 	, annexJobs = fromMaybe NonConcurrent $ 
diff --git a/doc/design/compute_special_remote_interface.mdwn b/doc/design/compute_special_remote_interface.mdwn
index cd53a04aa1..8b62a601fa 100644
--- a/doc/design/compute_special_remote_interface.mdwn
+++ b/doc/design/compute_special_remote_interface.mdwn
@@ -26,13 +26,12 @@ For security, the program should avoid exposing user input to the shell
 unprotected, or otherwise executing it.
 
 The program is run in a temporary directory, which will be cleaned up after
-it exits. Note that it may be run in a subdirectory of its temporary
+it exits. Note that it may be run in a subdirectory of a temporary
 directory. This is done when `git-annex addcomputed` was run in a subdirectory
 of the git repository.
 
-The content of any annexed file in the repository can be an input
-to the computation. The program requests an input by writing a line to
-stdout:
+The content of any file in the repository can be an input to the
+computation. The program requests an input by writing a line to stdout:
 
     INPUT file.raw
 
diff --git a/doc/git-annex.mdwn b/doc/git-annex.mdwn
index daed2be98a..2146104456 100644
--- a/doc/git-annex.mdwn
+++ b/doc/git-annex.mdwn
@@ -2201,6 +2201,13 @@ Remotes are configured using these settings in `.git/config`.
 
   Per-remote configuration of annex.security.allow-unverified-downloads.
 
+* `annex.security.autoenable-compute-programs`
+
+  This is a space separated list of compute programs eg
+  "git-annex-compute-foo git-annex-compute-bar". Listing a compute
+  program here allows compute special remotes that use that program to be
+  autoenabled.
+
 # CONFIGURATION OF ASSISTANT
 
 * `annex.delayadd`
diff --git a/doc/special_remotes/compute.mdwn b/doc/special_remotes/compute.mdwn
index c3f4186008..811640e2f6 100644
--- a/doc/special_remotes/compute.mdwn
+++ b/doc/special_remotes/compute.mdwn
@@ -15,6 +15,12 @@ program to use to compute the contents of annexed files. It must start with
 "git-annex-compute-". The program needs to be installed somewhere in the
 `PATH`.
 
+The `autoenable` parameter can be set to "true" like with other special
+remotes to make git-annex automatically enable this special remote when
+run in a new clone of the repository. However, for security, autoenabling
+is only done when the git config `annex.security.autoenable-compute-programs`
+includes the name of the compute program.
+
 All other "field=value" parameters passed to `initremote` will be passed
 to the program when running [[git-annex-addcomputed]]. Note that when the
 program takes a dashed option, it can be provided after "--":