diff --git a/client/mysqldump.cc b/client/mysqldump.cc
index d86eda1a43e66..03720901f91a3 100644
--- a/client/mysqldump.cc
+++ b/client/mysqldump.cc
@@ -195,6 +195,7 @@ static uint opt_protocol= 0;
 static char *opt_plugin_dir= 0, *opt_default_auth= 0;
 static uint opt_parallel= 0;
 static char *opt_dir;
+static char *opt_init_command= 0;
 
 /**
  A flag to indicate that backup uses multiple files for output.
@@ -461,6 +462,10 @@ static struct my_option my_long_options[] =
    "be specified with both database and table names, e.g., "
    "--ignore-table=database.table.",
    0, 0, 0, GET_STR, REQUIRED_ARG, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0},
+  {"init-command", 0,
+   "SQL command to execute when connecting to the server. "
+   "Useful for setting session variables like SQL_MODE before the dump.",
+   &opt_init_command, &opt_init_command, 0, GET_STR, REQUIRED_ARG, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0},
   {"include-master-host-port", 0,
    "Adds 'MASTER_HOST=<host>, MASTER_PORT=<port>' to 'CHANGE MASTER TO..' "
    "in dump produced with --dump-slave.", &opt_include_master_host_port,
@@ -2106,6 +2111,9 @@ static MYSQL* connect_to_db(char *host, char *user,char *passwd)
   if (opt_default_auth && *opt_default_auth)
     mysql_options(con, MYSQL_DEFAULT_AUTH, opt_default_auth);
 
+  if (opt_init_command && *opt_init_command)
+    mysql_options(con, MYSQL_INIT_COMMAND, opt_init_command);
+
   mysql_options(con, MYSQL_OPT_CONNECT_ATTR_RESET, 0);
   mysql_options4(con, MYSQL_OPT_CONNECT_ATTR_ADD,
                  "program_name", "mysqldump");
diff --git a/mysql-test/main/mysqldump-init-command.result b/mysql-test/main/mysqldump-init-command.result
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..a34a521fab751
--- /dev/null
+++ b/mysql-test/main/mysqldump-init-command.result
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+CREATE DATABASE 28911_mysqldump;
+USE 28911_mysqldump;
+CREATE TABLE t1(id INT, ts TIMESTAMP);
+SET time_zone='+00:00';
+INSERT INTO t1 VALUES (1, '2026-01-01 12:00:00');
+
+# dump with --init-command="SET SESSION time_zone='+05:00'" (INSERT shows 17:00:00)
+/*M!999999\- enable the sandbox mode */ 
+/*!40101 SET @saved_cs_client     = @@character_set_client */;
+/*!40101 SET character_set_client = utf8mb4 */;
+CREATE TABLE `t1` (
+  `id` int(11) DEFAULT NULL,
+  `ts` timestamp NULL DEFAULT NULL
+) ENGINE=MyISAM DEFAULT CHARSET=utf8mb4 COLLATE=utf8mb4_uca1400_ai_ci;
+/*!40101 SET character_set_client = @saved_cs_client */;
+SET @OLD_AUTOCOMMIT=@@AUTOCOMMIT, @@AUTOCOMMIT=0;
+INSERT INTO `t1` VALUES
+(1,'2026-01-01 17:00:00');
+COMMIT;
+SET AUTOCOMMIT=@OLD_AUTOCOMMIT;
+DROP TABLE t1;
+DROP DATABASE 28911_mysqldump;
diff --git a/mysql-test/main/mysqldump-init-command.test b/mysql-test/main/mysqldump-init-command.test
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..ad6ad041dc383
--- /dev/null
+++ b/mysql-test/main/mysqldump-init-command.test
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+--source include/not_embedded.inc
+
+# MDEV 28911: Add --init-command option to mariadb-dump / mysqldump
+
+CREATE DATABASE 28911_mysqldump;
+USE 28911_mysqldump;
+CREATE TABLE t1(id INT, ts TIMESTAMP);
+SET time_zone='+00:00';
+INSERT INTO t1 VALUES (1, '2026-01-01 12:00:00');
+
+--echo 
+--echo # dump with --init-command="SET SESSION time_zone='+05:00'" (INSERT shows 17:00:00)
+--exec $MYSQL_DUMP --compact --skip-comments --skip-tz-utc --init-command="SET SESSION time_zone='+05:00'" 28911_mysqldump
+
+DROP TABLE t1;
+DROP DATABASE 28911_mysqldump;