diff --git a/changelog.html b/changelog.html
index 4b7d94e465..0cfb84d2ec 100644
--- a/changelog.html
+++ b/changelog.html
@@ -58,6 +58,9 @@ Upcoming changes</a>
   <li class=bug>
     Pass full list of all possible jobs to ViewJobFilter when recurse option is set
     (<a href="https://issues.jenkins-ci.org/browse/JENKINS-20143">issue 20143</a>)
+  <li class=rfe>
+    Added API allowing plugins to hide entries from the context menu even while they appear in the sidepanel.
+    (<a href="https://issues.jenkins-ci.org/browse/JENKINS-19173">issue 19173</a>)
   </li>
 </ul>
 </div><!--=TRUNK-END=-->
diff --git a/core/src/main/java/hudson/Functions.java b/core/src/main/java/hudson/Functions.java
index 4dae0aebcc..33014eb652 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/hudson/Functions.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/hudson/Functions.java
@@ -153,6 +153,7 @@ import com.google.common.base.Predicates;
 import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicLong;
 import org.kohsuke.accmod.Restricted;
 import org.kohsuke.accmod.restrictions.DoNotUse;
+import org.kohsuke.accmod.restrictions.NoExternalUse;
 
 /**
  * Utility functions used in views.
@@ -1848,4 +1849,14 @@ public class Functions {
             rsp.setHeader("X-Jenkins-CLI-Host", TcpSlaveAgentListener.CLI_HOST_NAME);
         }
     }
+
+    @Restricted(NoExternalUse.class) // for actions.jelly and ContextMenu.add
+    public static boolean isContextMenuVisible(Action a) {
+        if (a instanceof ModelObjectWithContextMenu.ContextMenuVisibility) {
+            return ((ModelObjectWithContextMenu.ContextMenuVisibility) a).isVisible();
+        } else {
+            return true;
+        }
+    }
+
 }
diff --git a/core/src/main/java/jenkins/model/ModelObjectWithContextMenu.java b/core/src/main/java/jenkins/model/ModelObjectWithContextMenu.java
index 6e04fb4b43..0e1e315b26 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/jenkins/model/ModelObjectWithContextMenu.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/jenkins/model/ModelObjectWithContextMenu.java
@@ -6,7 +6,6 @@ import hudson.model.Action;
 import hudson.model.Actionable;
 import hudson.model.BallColor;
 import hudson.model.Computer;
-import hudson.model.Item;
 import hudson.model.Job;
 import hudson.model.ModelObject;
 import hudson.model.Node;
@@ -58,7 +57,7 @@ public interface ModelObjectWithContextMenu extends ModelObject {
 
     /**
      * Data object that represents the context menu.
-     * 
+     *
      * Via {@link HttpResponse}, this class is capable of converting itself to JSON that &lt;l:breadcrumb/> understands.
      */
     @ExportedBean
@@ -83,8 +82,14 @@ public interface ModelObjectWithContextMenu extends ModelObject {
                 add(a);
             return this;
         }
-        
+
+        /**
+         * @see ContextMenuVisibility
+         */
         public ContextMenu add(Action a) {
+            if (!Functions.isContextMenuVisible(a)) {
+                return this;
+            }
             StaplerRequest req = Stapler.getCurrentRequest();
             String text = a.getDisplayName();
             String base = Functions.getIconFilePath(a);
@@ -95,7 +100,7 @@ public interface ModelObjectWithContextMenu extends ModelObject {
 
             return add(url,icon,text);
         }
-        
+
         public ContextMenu add(String url, String icon, String text) {
             if (text != null && icon != null && url != null)
                 items.add(new MenuItem(url,icon,text));
@@ -314,4 +319,22 @@ public interface ModelObjectWithContextMenu extends ModelObject {
             return withDisplayName(o.getDisplayName());
         }
     }
+
+    /**
+     * Allows an action to decide whether it will be visible in a context menu.
+     * @since 1.538
+     */
+    interface ContextMenuVisibility extends Action {
+
+        /**
+         * Determines whether to show this action right now.
+         * Can always return false, for an action which should never be in the context menu;
+         * or could examine {@link Stapler#getCurrentRequest}.
+         * @return true to display it, false to hide
+         * @see ContextMenu#add(Action)
+         */
+        boolean isVisible();
+
+    }
+
 }
diff --git a/core/src/main/resources/lib/hudson/actions.jelly b/core/src/main/resources/lib/hudson/actions.jelly
index d1fb6b30d1..41f36b1e56 100644
--- a/core/src/main/resources/lib/hudson/actions.jelly
+++ b/core/src/main/resources/lib/hudson/actions.jelly
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ THE SOFTWARE.
     <st:include page="action.jelly" from="${action}" optional="true">
       <j:if test="${action.iconFileName!=null}">
         <l:task icon="${h.getIconFilePath(action)}" title="${action.displayName}"
-                href="${h.getActionUrl(it.url,action)}" />
+                href="${h.getActionUrl(it.url,action)}" contextMenu="${h.isContextMenuVisible(action)}"/>
       </j:if>
     </st:include>
   </j:forEach>
diff --git a/test/src/test/java/jenkins/model/ContextMenuTest.java b/test/src/test/java/jenkins/model/ContextMenuTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..2efd6e91f3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/src/test/java/jenkins/model/ContextMenuTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,102 @@
+/*
+ * The MIT License
+ *
+ * Copyright 2013 Jesse Glick.
+ *
+ * Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
+ * of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
+ * in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
+ * to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
+ * copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
+ * furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
+ *
+ * The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in
+ * all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
+ *
+ * THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
+ * IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
+ * FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
+ * AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
+ * LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
+ * OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN
+ * THE SOFTWARE.
+ */
+
+package jenkins.model;
+
+import hudson.model.AbstractProject;
+import hudson.model.Action;
+import hudson.model.FreeStyleProject;
+import hudson.model.TransientProjectActionFactory;
+import java.util.Collection;
+import java.util.Collections;
+import java.util.Map;
+import java.util.TreeMap;
+import java.util.concurrent.Callable;
+import static jenkins.model.ModelObjectWithContextMenu.*;
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertEquals;
+import org.junit.Rule;
+import org.junit.Test;
+import org.jvnet.hudson.test.Bug;
+import org.jvnet.hudson.test.For;
+import org.jvnet.hudson.test.JenkinsRule;
+import org.jvnet.hudson.test.TestExtension;
+import org.kohsuke.stapler.Stapler;
+
+@For(ContextMenu.class)
+public class ContextMenuTest {
+
+    @Rule public JenkinsRule j = new JenkinsRule();
+
+    @Bug(19173)
+    @Test public void contextMenuVisibility() throws Exception {
+        final FreeStyleProject p = j.createFreeStyleProject("p");
+        Callable<ContextMenu> doContextMenu = new Callable<ContextMenu>() {
+            @Override public ContextMenu call() throws Exception {
+                return p.doContextMenu(Stapler.getCurrentRequest(), Stapler.getCurrentResponse());
+            }
+        };
+        ActionFactory f = j.jenkins.getExtensionList(TransientProjectActionFactory.class).get(ActionFactory.class);
+        f.visible = true;
+        ContextMenu menu = j.executeOnServer(doContextMenu);
+        Map<String,String> parsed = parse(menu);
+        assertEquals(parsed.toString(), "Hello", parsed.get("testing"));
+        f.visible = false;
+        menu = j.executeOnServer(doContextMenu);
+        parsed = parse(menu);
+        assertEquals(parsed.toString(), null, parsed.get("testing"));
+    }
+
+    @TestExtension public static class ActionFactory extends TransientProjectActionFactory {
+
+        boolean visible;
+
+        @SuppressWarnings("rawtypes")
+        @Override public Collection<? extends Action> createFor(AbstractProject target) {
+            return Collections.singleton(new ContextMenuVisibility() {
+                @Override public boolean isVisible() {
+                    return visible;
+                }
+                @Override public String getIconFileName() {
+                    return "whatever";
+                }
+                @Override public String getDisplayName() {
+                    return "Hello";
+                }
+                @Override public String getUrlName() {
+                    return "testing";
+                }
+            });
+        }
+
+    }
+
+    private static Map<String,String> parse(ContextMenu menu) {
+        Map<String,String> r = new TreeMap<String,String>();
+        for (MenuItem mi : menu.items) {
+            r.put(mi.url.replaceFirst("^.*/(.)", "$1"), mi.displayName);
+        }
+        return r;
+    }
+
+}