diff --git a/functional.psm1 b/functional.psm1
index 5af1283..480a9a1 100644
--- a/functional.psm1
+++ b/functional.psm1
@@ -186,7 +186,8 @@ function Reduce-Object {
     [ValidateNotNullOrEmpty()]
     [object[]] $Object,
     [ParamStyle] $ParamStyle = "Infer",
-    [Direction] $Direction = "Right"
+    [Direction] $Direction = "Right",
+    [object] $InitialValue = $null    
   )
 
   # deduce and validate scriptblock invokation style
@@ -203,9 +204,10 @@ function Reduce-Object {
   }
 
   # invoke the reducer
-  $accum = $input | Select -First 1
+  $accum = if ($null -eq $InitialValue) { $input | Select -First 1 } else  { $InitialValue }
   if ($implicit) {
-    foreach ($object in $input | Select -Skip 1) {
+    $iterated = if ($null -eq $InitialValue) { $input | Select -Skip 1 } else { $input }
+    foreach ($object in $iterated) {
       # invoke in scriptblock to minimize exposure of local variables
       $safelyScoped = {
         Param($a, $b, [scriptblock]$reducer)
diff --git a/functional.tests.ps1 b/functional.tests.ps1
index c0392ac..89061ab 100644
--- a/functional.tests.ps1
+++ b/functional.tests.ps1
@@ -26,6 +26,10 @@ Describe "Reduce-Object" {
     It "Should not throw for explicit params and 'Infer'" {
       { 1..10 | Reduce-Object { Param($a, $b); $a + $b } -ParamStyle "Infer" } | Should -Not -Throw
     }
+    It "Should use initial value parameter if provided" {
+      $result = @("Joey","Jhonny","Dee Dee")| Reduce-Object { $a+= @{$b = $b.Length}; $a } -InitialValue @{}
+      $result, ${ "Joey" = 4; "Jhonny" = 6 ; "Dee Dee" = 7 } | Test-Equality | Should -BeTrue
+    }
   }
   Context "Given an implicit sum reducer" {
     It "Should sum up the numbers" {