diff --git a/qutebrowser/widgets/tabbedbrowser.py b/qutebrowser/widgets/tabbedbrowser.py
index 7c22c88b7..c676fad9b 100644
--- a/qutebrowser/widgets/tabbedbrowser.py
+++ b/qutebrowser/widgets/tabbedbrowser.py
@@ -254,6 +254,11 @@ class TabbedBrowser(TabWidget):
         if not background:
             self.setCurrentWidget(tab)
 
+    @cmdutils.register(instance='mainwindow.tabs', maxsplit=0)
+    def backtabopen(self, url):
+        """Open a new tab in background."""
+        self.tabopen(url, background=True)
+
     @cmdutils.register(instance='mainwindow.tabs', hide=True)
     def tabopencur(self):
         """Set the statusbar to :tabopen and the current URL.