diff --git a/Java/antisamy-sample-configs/src/main/resources/antisamy.xml b/Java/antisamy-sample-configs/src/main/resources/antisamy.xml
index 88ad723..d751af6 100644
--- a/Java/antisamy-sample-configs/src/main/resources/antisamy.xml
+++ b/Java/antisamy-sample-configs/src/main/resources/antisamy.xml
@@ -27,6 +27,8 @@ http://www.w3.org/TR/html401/struct/global.html
 		<directive name="connectionTimeout" value="5000"/>
 		<directive name="maxStyleSheetImports" value="3"/>
 		
+		<!-- Allows the use of dynamic attributes (i.e. HTML5 "data-") -->
+		<directive name="allowDynamicAttributes" value="true" />
 	</directives>
 	
 	<common-regexps>
@@ -183,7 +185,12 @@ http://www.w3.org/TR/html401/struct/global.html
 		 	</regexp-list>
 		 </attribute>
 
-		 
+		<attribute name="data-" description="Allows the HTML5 'data-' attribute to be added to elements">
+			<regexp-list>
+				<regexp name="anything"/>
+			</regexp-list>
+		</attribute>
+
  		<!-- the "style" attribute will be validated by an inline stylesheet scanner, so no need to define anything here - i hate having to special case this but no other choice -->
 		 <attribute name="style" description="The 'style' attribute provides the ability for users to change many attributes of the tag's contents using a strict syntax"/>
 		 
@@ -500,7 +507,12 @@ http://www.w3.org/TR/html401/struct/global.html
 		<!-- Not valid in base, br, frame, frameset, hr, iframe, param, and script elements.  -->
 		<attribute name="lang"/>
 	</global-tag-attributes>
-	
+
+	<!-- Declare "dynamic" tag attributes here. The directive "allowDynamicAttributes" must be set to true -->
+	<dynamic-tag-attributes>
+		<attribute name="data-"/> <!-- HTML5 "data-" tag -->
+	</dynamic-tag-attributes>
+
 	<tags-to-encode>
 		<tag>g</tag>
 		<tag>grin</tag>
diff --git a/Java/antisamy/src/main/java/org/owasp/validator/html/InternalPolicy.java b/Java/antisamy/src/main/java/org/owasp/validator/html/InternalPolicy.java
index 1520006..e1b6e0a 100644
--- a/Java/antisamy/src/main/java/org/owasp/validator/html/InternalPolicy.java
+++ b/Java/antisamy/src/main/java/org/owasp/validator/html/InternalPolicy.java
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@
     private final boolean preserveComments;
     private final boolean embedStyleSheets;
     private final boolean isEncodeUnknownTag;
+    private final boolean allowDynamicAttributes;
 
 
     protected InternalPolicy(URL baseUrl, ParseContext parseContext) throws PolicyException {
@@ -47,6 +48,7 @@ protected InternalPolicy(URL baseUrl, ParseContext parseContext) throws PolicyEx
         this.preserveComments = isTrue(Policy.PRESERVE_COMMENTS);
         this.styleTag = getTagByLowercaseName("style");
         this.embedStyleSheets = isTrue(Policy.EMBED_STYLESHEETS);
+        this.allowDynamicAttributes = isTrue(Policy.ALLOW_DYNAMIC_ATTRIBUTES);
     }
 
     protected InternalPolicy(Policy old, Map<String, String> directives, Map<String, Tag> tagRules) {
@@ -66,6 +68,7 @@ protected InternalPolicy(Policy old, Map<String, String> directives, Map<String,
         this.preserveComments = isTrue(Policy.PRESERVE_COMMENTS);
         this.styleTag = getTagByLowercaseName("style");
         this.embedStyleSheets = isTrue(Policy.EMBED_STYLESHEETS);
+        this.allowDynamicAttributes = isTrue(Policy.ALLOW_DYNAMIC_ATTRIBUTES);
     }
 
     public Tag getEmbedTag() {
@@ -133,6 +136,10 @@ public boolean isEncodeUnknownTag() {
         return isEncodeUnknownTag;
     }
 
+    public boolean isAllowDynamicAttributes() {
+        return allowDynamicAttributes;
+    }
+
     /**
      * Returns the maximum input size. If this value is not specified by
      * the policy, the <code>DEFAULT_MAX_INPUT_SIZE</code> is used.
diff --git a/Java/antisamy/src/main/java/org/owasp/validator/html/Policy.java b/Java/antisamy/src/main/java/org/owasp/validator/html/Policy.java
index 839d766..fb3a258 100644
--- a/Java/antisamy/src/main/java/org/owasp/validator/html/Policy.java
+++ b/Java/antisamy/src/main/java/org/owasp/validator/html/Policy.java
@@ -80,6 +80,7 @@
     public static final String PRESERVE_SPACE = "preserveSpace";
     public static final String PRESERVE_COMMENTS = "preserveComments";
     public static final String ENTITY_ENCODE_INTL_CHARS = "entityEncodeIntlChars";
+    public static final String ALLOW_DYNAMIC_ATTRIBUTES = "allowDynamicAttributes";
 
     public static final String ACTION_VALIDATE = "validate";
     public static final String ACTION_FILTER = "filter";
@@ -93,6 +94,7 @@
     private final Map<String, Property> cssRules;
     protected final Map<String, String> directives;
     private final Map<String, Attribute> globalAttributes;
+    private final Map<String, Attribute> dynamicAttributes;
 
     private final TagMatcher allowedEmptyTagsMatcher;
     private final TagMatcher requiresClosingTagsMatcher;
@@ -111,6 +113,7 @@ public Tag getTagByLowercaseName(String tagName) {
         Map<String, Property> cssRules = new HashMap<String, Property>();
         Map<String, String> directives = new HashMap<String, String>();
         Map<String, Attribute> globalAttributes = new HashMap<String, Attribute>();
+        Map<String, Attribute> dynamicAttributes = new HashMap<String, Attribute>();
 
         List<String> allowedEmptyTags = new ArrayList<String>();
         List<String> requireClosingTags = new ArrayList<String>();
@@ -207,6 +210,7 @@ protected Policy(ParseContext parseContext) throws PolicyException {
         this.cssRules = Collections.unmodifiableMap(parseContext.cssRules);
         this.directives = Collections.unmodifiableMap(parseContext.directives);
         this.globalAttributes = Collections.unmodifiableMap(parseContext.globalAttributes);
+        this.dynamicAttributes = Collections.unmodifiableMap(parseContext.dynamicAttributes);
     }
 
     protected Policy(Policy old, Map<String, String> directives, Map<String, Tag> tagRules) {
@@ -217,6 +221,7 @@ protected Policy(Policy old, Map<String, String> directives, Map<String, Tag> ta
         this.cssRules = old.cssRules;
         this.directives = directives;
         this.globalAttributes = old.globalAttributes;
+        this.dynamicAttributes = old.dynamicAttributes;
     }
 
     protected static ParseContext getSimpleParseContext(Element topLevelElement) throws PolicyException {
@@ -301,6 +306,7 @@ private static void parsePolicy(Element topLevelElement, ParseContext parseConte
         parseDirectives(getFirstChild(topLevelElement, "directives"), parseContext.directives);
         parseCommonAttributes(getFirstChild(topLevelElement, "common-attributes"), parseContext.commonAttributes, parseContext.commonRegularExpressions);
         parseGlobalAttributes(getFirstChild(topLevelElement, "global-tag-attributes"), parseContext.globalAttributes, parseContext.commonAttributes);
+        parseDynamicAttributes(getFirstChild(topLevelElement, "dynamic-tag-attributes"), parseContext.dynamicAttributes, parseContext.commonAttributes);
         parseTagRules(getFirstChild(topLevelElement, "tag-rules"), parseContext.commonAttributes, parseContext.commonRegularExpressions, parseContext.tagRules);
         parseCSSRules(getFirstChild(topLevelElement, "css-rules"), parseContext.cssRules, parseContext.commonRegularExpressions);
 
@@ -474,6 +480,30 @@ private static void parseGlobalAttributes(Element root, Map<String, Attribute> g
     }
 
     /**
+     * Go through <dynamic-tag-attributes> section of the policy file.
+     *
+     * @param root              Top level of <dynamic-tag-attributes>
+     * @param dynamicAttributes A HashMap of dynamic Attributes that need validation for every tag.
+     * @param commonAttributes  The common attributes
+     * @throws PolicyException
+     */
+    private static void parseDynamicAttributes(Element root, Map<String, Attribute> dynamicAttributes, Map<String, Attribute> commonAttributes) throws PolicyException {
+        for (Element ele : getByTagName(root, "attribute")) {
+
+            String name = getAttributeValue(ele, "name");
+
+            Attribute toAdd = commonAttributes.get(name.toLowerCase());
+
+            if (toAdd != null) {
+                String attrName = name.toLowerCase().substring(0, name.length() - 1);
+                dynamicAttributes.put(attrName, toAdd);
+            } else {
+                throw new PolicyException("Dynamic attribute '" + name + "' was not defined in <common-attributes>");
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    /**
      * Go through the <common-regexps> section of the policy file.
      *
      * @param root                      Top level of <common-regexps>
@@ -715,6 +745,25 @@ public Attribute getGlobalAttributeByName(String name) {
     }
 
     /**
+     * A method for returning one of the dynamic <global-attribute> entries by
+     * name.
+     *
+     * @param name The name of the dynamic global-attribute we want to look up.
+     * @return An Attribute associated with the global-attribute lookup name specified,
+     * or null if not found.
+     */
+    public Attribute getDynamicAttributeByName(String name) {
+        Attribute dynamicAttribute = null;
+        for (String d : dynamicAttributes.keySet()) {
+            if (name.startsWith(d)) {
+                dynamicAttribute = dynamicAttributes.get(d);
+                break;
+            }
+        }
+        return dynamicAttribute;
+    }
+
+    /**
      * Return all the allowed empty tags configured in the Policy.
      *
      * @return A String array of all the he allowed empty tags configured in the Policy.
diff --git a/Java/antisamy/src/main/java/org/owasp/validator/html/scan/MagicSAXFilter.java b/Java/antisamy/src/main/java/org/owasp/validator/html/scan/MagicSAXFilter.java
index 4979a68..e4ed2d8 100644
--- a/Java/antisamy/src/main/java/org/owasp/validator/html/scan/MagicSAXFilter.java
+++ b/Java/antisamy/src/main/java/org/owasp/validator/html/scan/MagicSAXFilter.java
@@ -276,6 +276,10 @@ public void startElement(QName element, XMLAttributes attributes, Augmentations
 					if (attribute == null) {
 						// no policy defined, perhaps it is a global attribute
 						attribute = policy.getGlobalAttributeByName(nameLower);
+						if (attribute == null && policy.isAllowDynamicAttributes()) {
+						    // not a global attribute, perhaps it is a dynamic attribute, if allowed
+						    attribute = policy.getDynamicAttributeByName(nameLower);
+						}
 					}
 					// boolean isAttributeValid = false;
 					if ("style".equalsIgnoreCase(name)) {
diff --git a/Java/antisamy/src/test/java/org/owasp/validator/html/test/AntiSamyTest.java b/Java/antisamy/src/test/java/org/owasp/validator/html/test/AntiSamyTest.java
index 2396579..9a1a2ff 100644
--- a/Java/antisamy/src/test/java/org/owasp/validator/html/test/AntiSamyTest.java
+++ b/Java/antisamy/src/test/java/org/owasp/validator/html/test/AntiSamyTest.java
@@ -1229,4 +1229,21 @@ public void testWhitespaceNotBeingMangled() throws ScanException, PolicyExceptio
         CleanResults preserveSpaceResults = as.scan(test, preserveSpace, AntiSamy.SAX);
         assertEquals( expected, preserveSpaceResults.getCleanHTML() );
     }
+
+    @Test
+    public void issue159() throws ScanException, PolicyException {
+        /* issue #159 - allow dynamic HTML5 data-* attribute */
+        String good = "<p data-tag=\"abc123\">Hello World!</p>";
+        String bad = "<p dat-tag=\"abc123\">Hello World!</p>";
+        String goodExpected = "<p data-tag=\"abc123\">Hello World!</p>";
+        String badExpected = "<p>Hello World!</p>";
+        // test good attribute "data-"
+        CleanResults cr = as.scan(good, policy, AntiSamy.SAX);
+        String s = cr.getCleanHTML();
+        assertEquals(goodExpected, s);
+        // test bad attribute "dat-"
+        cr = as.scan(bad, policy, AntiSamy.SAX);
+        s = cr.getCleanHTML();
+        assertEquals(badExpected, s);
+    }
 }
diff --git a/Java/antisamy/src/test/java/org/owasp/validator/html/test/PolicyTest.java b/Java/antisamy/src/test/java/org/owasp/validator/html/test/PolicyTest.java
index 5697566..36c1100 100644
--- a/Java/antisamy/src/test/java/org/owasp/validator/html/test/PolicyTest.java
+++ b/Java/antisamy/src/test/java/org/owasp/validator/html/test/PolicyTest.java
@@ -27,13 +27,14 @@
     private static final String DIRECTIVES = "<directives>\n</directives>\n";
     private static final String COMMON_ATTRIBUTES = "<common-attributes>\n</common-attributes>\n";
     private static final String GLOBAL_TAG_ATTRIBUTES = "<global-tag-attributes>\n</global-tag-attributes>\n";
+    private static final String DYNAMIC_TAG_ATTRIBUTES = "<dynamic-tag-attributes>\n</dynamic-tag-attributes>\n";
     private static final String TAG_RULES = "<tag-rules>\n</tag-rules>";
     private static final String CSS_RULES = "<css-rules>\n</css-rules>\n";
     private static final String COMMON_REGEXPS = "<common-regexps>\n</common-regexps>";
     private static final String FOOTER = "</anti-samy-rules>";
 
     private String assembleFile(String allowedEmptyTagsSection) {
-        return HEADER + DIRECTIVES + COMMON_REGEXPS + COMMON_ATTRIBUTES + GLOBAL_TAG_ATTRIBUTES + TAG_RULES + CSS_RULES +
+        return HEADER + DIRECTIVES + COMMON_REGEXPS + COMMON_ATTRIBUTES + GLOBAL_TAG_ATTRIBUTES + DYNAMIC_TAG_ATTRIBUTES + TAG_RULES + CSS_RULES +
                allowedEmptyTagsSection + FOOTER;
     }