diff --git a/qutebrowser/misc/pastebin.py b/qutebrowser/misc/pastebin.py
index 0f2ed8ce4..f317670ec 100644
--- a/qutebrowser/misc/pastebin.py
+++ b/qutebrowser/misc/pastebin.py
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ class PastebinClient(QObject):
         self._client = client
         self._api_url = api_url
 
-    def paste(self, name, title, text, parent=None):
+    def paste(self, name, title, text, parent=None, private=False):
         """Paste the text into a pastebin and return the URL.
 
         Args:
@@ -68,6 +68,7 @@ class PastebinClient(QObject):
             title: The post title.
             text: The text to post.
             parent: The parent paste to reply to.
+            private: Whether to paste privately.
         """
         data = {
             'text': text,
@@ -77,6 +78,9 @@ class PastebinClient(QObject):
         }
         if parent is not None:
             data['reply'] = parent
+        if private:
+            data['private'] = '1'
+
         url = QUrl(urllib.parse.urljoin(self._api_url, 'create'))
         self._client.post(url, data)
 
diff --git a/qutebrowser/utils/version.py b/qutebrowser/utils/version.py
index 71e33886f..d77194075 100644
--- a/qutebrowser/utils/version.py
+++ b/qutebrowser/utils/version.py
@@ -486,4 +486,5 @@ def pastebin_version(pbclient=None):
 
     pbclient.paste(getpass.getuser(),
                    "qute version info {}".format(qutebrowser.__version__),
-                   version())
+                   version(),
+                   private=True)
diff --git a/tests/unit/misc/test_pastebin.py b/tests/unit/misc/test_pastebin.py
index 1d684dc4e..cbd6f4c3e 100644
--- a/tests/unit/misc/test_pastebin.py
+++ b/tests/unit/misc/test_pastebin.py
@@ -79,6 +79,20 @@ def test_paste_without_parent(data, pbclient):
     assert http_stub.url == QUrl('https://crashes.qutebrowser.org/api/create')
 
 
+def test_paste_private(pbclient):
+    data = {
+        "name": "the name",
+        "title": "the title",
+        "text": "some Text",
+        "apikey": "ihatespam",
+        "private": "1",
+    }
+    http_stub = pbclient._client
+    pbclient.paste(data["name"], data["title"], data["text"], private=True)
+    assert pbclient._client.data == data
+    assert http_stub.url == QUrl('https://crashes.qutebrowser.org/api/create')
+
+
 @pytest.mark.parametrize('http', [
     "http://paste.the-compiler.org/view/ges83nt3",
     "http://paste.the-compiler.org/view/3gjnwg4"