diff --git a/config.def.h b/config.def.h
index 1edb647..5c79628 100644
--- a/config.def.h
+++ b/config.def.h
@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@

 static int topbar = 1;                      /* -b  option; if 0, dmenu appears at bottom     */
 /* -fn option overrides fonts[0]; default X11 font or font set */
+static const int user_bh = 0;               /* add an defined amount of pixels to the bar height */
+
 static const char *fonts[] = {
 	"monospace:size=10"
 };
diff --git a/dmenu.c b/dmenu.c
index 27b7a30..7be0dc3 100644
--- a/dmenu.c
+++ b/dmenu.c
@@ -629,7 +629,8 @@ setup(void)
 	utf8 = XInternAtom(dpy, "UTF8_STRING", False);

 	/* calculate menu geometry */
-	bh = drw->fonts->h + 2;
+	bh = drw->fonts->h;
+	bh = user_bh ? bh + user_bh : bh + 2;
 	lines = MAX(lines, 0);
 	mh = (lines + 1) * bh;
 #ifdef XINERAMA
