diff --git a/src/config/config.ts b/src/config/config.ts
index 523f81aa0..392983d7e 100644
--- a/src/config/config.ts
+++ b/src/config/config.ts
@@ -8,9 +8,8 @@ import {format} from 'util'
 import {Options, Plugin as IPlugin} from '../interfaces/plugin'
 import {Config as IConfig, ArchTypes, PlatformTypes, LoadOptions} from '../interfaces/config'
 import {Command, Hook, Hooks, PJSON, Topic} from '../interfaces'
-import {Debug} from './util'
 import * as Plugin from './plugin'
-import {compact, flatMap, loadJSON, uniq} from './util'
+import {Debug, compact, flatMap, loadJSON, uniq, permutations} from './util'
 import {isProd} from '../util'
 import ModuleLoader from '../module-loader'
 
@@ -81,6 +80,8 @@ export class Config implements IConfig {
 
   topicSeparator: ':' | ' ' = ':'
 
+  flexibleTaxonomy!: boolean
+
   protected warned = false
 
   private _commands?: Command.Plugin[]
@@ -122,6 +123,7 @@ export class Config implements IConfig {
     this.windows = this.platform === 'win32'
     this.bin = this.pjson.oclif.bin || this.name
     this.dirname = this.pjson.oclif.dirname || this.name
+    this.flexibleTaxonomy = this.pjson.oclif.flexibleTaxonomy || false
     // currently, only colons or spaces are valid separators
     if (this.pjson.oclif.topicSeparator && [':', ' '].includes(this.pjson.oclif.topicSeparator)) this.topicSeparator = this.pjson.oclif.topicSeparator!
     if (this.platform === 'win32') this.dirname = this.dirname.replace('/', '\\')
@@ -383,7 +385,20 @@ export class Config implements IConfig {
 
   get commands(): Command.Plugin[] {
     if (this._commands) return this._commands
-    this._commands = flatMap(this.plugins, p => p.commands)
+    if (this.flexibleTaxonomy) {
+      const commands = flatMap(this.plugins, p => p.commands)
+      this._commands = [...commands]
+      for (const cmd of commands) {
+        const parts = cmd.id.split(':')
+        const combos = permutations(parts).flatMap(c => c.join(':'))
+        for (const combo of combos) {
+          this._commands.push({...cmd, id: combo})
+        }
+      }
+    } else {
+      this._commands = flatMap(this.plugins, p => p.commands)
+    }
+
     return this._commands
   }
 
diff --git a/src/config/util.ts b/src/config/util.ts
index a622e03a8..754a9b08f 100644
--- a/src/config/util.ts
+++ b/src/config/util.ts
@@ -61,3 +61,27 @@ export function Debug(...scope: string[]): (..._: any) => void {
   if (d.enabled) displayWarnings()
   return (...args: any[]) => d(...args)
 }
+
+// Adapted from https://github.com/angus-c/just/blob/master/packages/array-permutations/index.js
+export function permutations(arr: string[]): Array<string[]> {
+  if (arr.length === 0) return []
+  if (arr.length === 1) return [arr]
+
+  const output = []
+  const partialPermutations = permutations(arr.slice(1))
+  const first = arr[0]
+
+  for (let i = 0, len = partialPermutations.length; i < len; i++) {
+    const partial = partialPermutations[i]
+
+    for (let j = 0, len2 = partial.length; j <= len2; j++) {
+      const start = partial.slice(0, j)
+      const end = partial.slice(j)
+      const merged = start.concat(first, end)
+
+      output.push(merged)
+    }
+  }
+
+  return output
+}
diff --git a/src/interfaces/pjson.ts b/src/interfaces/pjson.ts
index 5b64ad54f..ba2739440 100644
--- a/src/interfaces/pjson.ts
+++ b/src/interfaces/pjson.ts
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ export namespace PJSON {
       schema?: number;
       description?: string;
       topicSeparator?: ':' | ' ';
+      flexibleTaxonomy?: boolean;
       hooks?: { [name: string]: (string | string[]) };
       commands?: string;
       default?: string;