diff --git a/library/Icinga/Web/Form/FormElement.php b/library/Icinga/Web/Form/FormElement.php
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..690be1acf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/library/Icinga/Web/Form/FormElement.php
@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+<?php
+// {{{ICINGA_LICENSE_HEADER}}}
+// {{{ICINGA_LICENSE_HEADER}}}
+
+namespace Icinga\Web\Form;
+
+use Zend_Form_Element;
+use Icinga\Web\Form;
+
+/**
+ * Base class for Icinga Web 2 form elements
+ */
+class FormElement extends Zend_Form_Element
+{
+    /**
+     * Whether loading default decorators is disabled
+     *
+     * Icinga Web 2 loads its own default element decorators. For loading Zend's default element decorators set this
+     * property to false.
+     *
+     * @var null|bool
+     */
+    protected $_disableLoadDefaultDecorators;
+
+    /**
+     * Whether loading default decorators is disabled
+     *
+     * @return bool
+     */
+    public function loadDefaultDecoratorsIsDisabled()
+    {
+        return $this->_disableLoadDefaultDecorators === true;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Load default decorators
+     *
+     * Icinga Web 2 loads its own default element decorators. For loading Zend's default element decorators set
+     * FormElement::$_disableLoadDefaultDecorators to false.
+     *
+     * @return  this
+     * @see     Form::$defaultElementDecorators For Icinga Web 2's default element decorators.
+     */
+    public function loadDefaultDecorators()
+    {
+        if ($this->loadDefaultDecoratorsIsDisabled()) {
+            return $this;
+        }
+
+        if (! isset($this->_disableLoadDefaultDecorators)) {
+            $decorators = $this->getDecorators();
+            if (empty($decorators)) {
+                // Load Icinga Web 2's default element decorators
+                $this->addDecorators(Form::$defaultElementDecorators);
+            }
+        } else {
+            // Load Zend's default decorators
+            parent::loadDefaultDecorators();
+        }
+        return $this;
+    }
+}