diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e06b7db3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitattributes
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+* text=auto
+
+/docs export-ignore
+/examples export-ignore
+/test export-ignore
+/.gitattributes export-ignore
+/.gitignore export-ignore
+/.scrutinizer.yml export-ignore
+/.travis.yml export-ignore
+/travis.phpunit.xml.dist export-ignore
+/SECURITY.md export-ignore
+/changelog.md export-ignore
+/README.md export-ignore
diff --git a/src/PHPMailer.php b/src/PHPMailer.php
index cbe552dc..6efa8940 100644
--- a/src/PHPMailer.php
+++ b/src/PHPMailer.php
@@ -201,6 +201,9 @@ class PHPMailer
     /**
      * An ID to be used in the Message-ID header.
      * If empty, a unique id will be generated.
+     * You can set your own, but it must be in the format "<id@domain>",
+     * as defined in RFC5322 section 3.6.4 or it will be ignored.
+     * @see https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc5322#section-3.6.4
      *
      * @var string
      */
@@ -2068,6 +2071,8 @@ class PHPMailer
             $result .= $this->headerLine('Subject', $this->encodeHeader($this->secureHeader($this->Subject)));
         }
 
+        // Only allow a custom message ID if it conforms to RFC 5322 section 3.6.4
+        // https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc5322#section-3.6.4
         if ('' != $this->MessageID and preg_match('/^<.*@.*>$/', $this->MessageID)) {
             $this->lastMessageID = $this->MessageID;
         } else {