diff --git a/CHANGELOG b/CHANGELOG
index 525918a2..0ede2800 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG
+++ b/CHANGELOG
@@ -6,6 +6,11 @@ Notable Changes
 * Drop support for Python 3.5.
 * Python 3.12 is now supported (pr725, by hugovk).
 
+Enhancements:
+
+* Splitting statements now allows to remove the semicolon at the end.
+  Some database backends love statements without semicolon (issue742).
+
 Bug Fixes
 
 * Ignore dunder attributes when creating Tokens (issue672).
diff --git a/sqlparse/__init__.py b/sqlparse/__init__.py
index cfd4e2fd..b80b2d60 100644
--- a/sqlparse/__init__.py
+++ b/sqlparse/__init__.py
@@ -59,12 +59,14 @@ def format(sql, encoding=None, **options):
     return ''.join(stack.run(sql, encoding))
 
 
-def split(sql, encoding=None):
+def split(sql, encoding=None, strip_semicolon=False):
     """Split *sql* into single statements.
 
     :param sql: A string containing one or more SQL statements.
     :param encoding: The encoding of the statement (optional).
+    :param strip_semicolon: If True, remove trainling semicolons
+        (default: False).
     :returns: A list of strings.
     """
-    stack = engine.FilterStack()
+    stack = engine.FilterStack(strip_semicolon=strip_semicolon)
     return [str(stmt).strip() for stmt in stack.run(sql, encoding)]
diff --git a/sqlparse/engine/filter_stack.py b/sqlparse/engine/filter_stack.py
index 9665a224..3feba377 100644
--- a/sqlparse/engine/filter_stack.py
+++ b/sqlparse/engine/filter_stack.py
@@ -10,14 +10,17 @@
 from sqlparse import lexer
 from sqlparse.engine import grouping
 from sqlparse.engine.statement_splitter import StatementSplitter
+from sqlparse.filters import StripTrailingSemicolonFilter
 
 
 class FilterStack:
-    def __init__(self):
+    def __init__(self, strip_semicolon=False):
         self.preprocess = []
         self.stmtprocess = []
         self.postprocess = []
         self._grouping = False
+        if strip_semicolon:
+            self.stmtprocess.append(StripTrailingSemicolonFilter())
 
     def enable_grouping(self):
         self._grouping = True
diff --git a/sqlparse/filters/__init__.py b/sqlparse/filters/__init__.py
index 5bd6b325..06169460 100644
--- a/sqlparse/filters/__init__.py
+++ b/sqlparse/filters/__init__.py
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 from sqlparse.filters.others import SerializerUnicode
 from sqlparse.filters.others import StripCommentsFilter
 from sqlparse.filters.others import StripWhitespaceFilter
+from sqlparse.filters.others import StripTrailingSemicolonFilter
 from sqlparse.filters.others import SpacesAroundOperatorsFilter
 
 from sqlparse.filters.output import OutputPHPFilter
@@ -25,6 +26,7 @@
     'SerializerUnicode',
     'StripCommentsFilter',
     'StripWhitespaceFilter',
+    'StripTrailingSemicolonFilter',
     'SpacesAroundOperatorsFilter',
 
     'OutputPHPFilter',
diff --git a/sqlparse/filters/others.py b/sqlparse/filters/others.py
index 9e617c37..da7c0e79 100644
--- a/sqlparse/filters/others.py
+++ b/sqlparse/filters/others.py
@@ -126,6 +126,15 @@ def process(self, stmt):
         return stmt
 
 
+class StripTrailingSemicolonFilter:
+
+    def process(self, stmt):
+        while stmt.tokens and (stmt.tokens[-1].is_whitespace
+                               or stmt.tokens[-1].value == ';'):
+            stmt.tokens.pop()
+        return stmt
+
+
 # ---------------------------
 # postprocess
 
diff --git a/tests/test_split.py b/tests/test_split.py
index e79750e8..30a50c59 100644
--- a/tests/test_split.py
+++ b/tests/test_split.py
@@ -166,3 +166,31 @@ def test_split_mysql_handler_for(load_file):
     # see issue581
     stmts = sqlparse.split(load_file('mysql_handler.sql'))
     assert len(stmts) == 2
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize('sql, expected', [
+    ('select * from foo;', ['select * from foo']),
+    ('select * from foo', ['select * from foo']),
+    ('select * from foo; select * from bar;', [
+        'select * from foo',
+        'select * from bar',
+    ]),
+    ('  select * from foo;\n\nselect * from bar;\n\n\n\n', [
+        'select * from foo',
+        'select * from bar',
+    ]),
+    ('select * from foo\n\n;  bar', ['select * from foo', 'bar']),
+])
+def test_split_strip_semicolon(sql, expected):
+    stmts = sqlparse.split(sql, strip_semicolon=True)
+    assert len(stmts) == len(expected)
+    for idx, expectation in enumerate(expected):
+        assert stmts[idx] == expectation
+
+
+def test_split_strip_semicolon_procedure(load_file):
+    stmts = sqlparse.split(load_file('mysql_handler.sql'),
+                           strip_semicolon=True)
+    assert len(stmts) == 2
+    assert stmts[0].endswith('end')
+    assert stmts[1].endswith('end')