diff --git a/docs/Parameters.rst b/docs/Parameters.rst
index 99d5a2bb1c82..f86dc797b3bf 100644
--- a/docs/Parameters.rst
+++ b/docs/Parameters.rst
@@ -240,6 +240,10 @@ Learning Control Parameters
 
    -  ``<= 0`` means disable
 
+-  ``first_metric_only`` :raw-html:`<a id="first_metric_only" title="Permalink to this parameter" href="#first_metric_only">&#x1F517;&#xFE0E;</a>`, default = ``false``, type = bool
+
+   -  set this to ``true``, if you want to use only the first metric for early stopping
+
 -  ``max_delta_step`` :raw-html:`<a id="max_delta_step" title="Permalink to this parameter" href="#max_delta_step">&#x1F517;&#xFE0E;</a>`, default = ``0.0``, type = double, aliases: ``max_tree_output``, ``max_leaf_output``
 
    -  used to limit the max output of tree leaves
diff --git a/include/LightGBM/config.h b/include/LightGBM/config.h
index 2a6896f82dc0..b6c985bd2f51 100644
--- a/include/LightGBM/config.h
+++ b/include/LightGBM/config.h
@@ -260,6 +260,9 @@ struct Config {
   // desc = ``<= 0`` means disable
   int early_stopping_round = 0;
 
+  // desc = set this to ``true``, if you want to use only the first metric for early stopping
+  bool first_metric_only = false;
+
   // alias = max_tree_output, max_leaf_output
   // desc = used to limit the max output of tree leaves
   // desc = ``<= 0`` means no constraint
diff --git a/src/boosting/gbdt.cpp b/src/boosting/gbdt.cpp
index b8c2f28de47d..aca1cdfe7d63 100644
--- a/src/boosting/gbdt.cpp
+++ b/src/boosting/gbdt.cpp
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ GBDT::GBDT() : iter_(0),
 train_data_(nullptr),
 objective_function_(nullptr),
 early_stopping_round_(0),
+es_first_metric_only_(false),
 max_feature_idx_(0),
 num_tree_per_iteration_(1),
 num_class_(1),
@@ -51,6 +52,7 @@ void GBDT::Init(const Config* config, const Dataset* train_data, const Objective
   num_class_ = config->num_class;
   config_ = std::unique_ptr<Config>(new Config(*config));
   early_stopping_round_ = config_->early_stopping_round;
+  es_first_metric_only_ = config_->first_metric_only;
   shrinkage_rate_ = config_->learning_rate;
 
   std::string forced_splits_path = config->forcedsplits_filename;
@@ -129,20 +131,18 @@ void GBDT::AddValidDataset(const Dataset* valid_data,
   }
   valid_score_updater_.push_back(std::move(new_score_updater));
   valid_metrics_.emplace_back();
-  if (early_stopping_round_ > 0) {
-    best_iter_.emplace_back();
-    best_score_.emplace_back();
-    best_msg_.emplace_back();
-  }
   for (const auto& metric : valid_metrics) {
     valid_metrics_.back().push_back(metric);
-    if (early_stopping_round_ > 0) {
-      best_iter_.back().push_back(0);
-      best_score_.back().push_back(kMinScore);
-      best_msg_.back().emplace_back();
-    }
   }
   valid_metrics_.back().shrink_to_fit();
+  
+  if (early_stopping_round_ > 0) {
+    auto num_metrics = valid_metrics.size();
+    if (es_first_metric_only_) { num_metrics = 1; }
+    best_iter_.emplace_back(num_metrics, 0);
+    best_score_.emplace_back(num_metrics, kMinScore);
+    best_msg_.emplace_back(num_metrics);
+  }
 }
 
 void GBDT::Boosting() {
@@ -514,6 +514,7 @@ std::string GBDT::OutputMetric(int iter) {
             msg_buf << tmp_buf.str() << '\n';
           }
         }
+        if (es_first_metric_only_ && j > 0) { continue; }
         if (ret.empty() && early_stopping_round_ > 0) {
           auto cur_score = valid_metrics_[i][j]->factor_to_bigger_better() * test_scores.back();
           if (cur_score > best_score_[i][j]) {
diff --git a/src/boosting/gbdt.h b/src/boosting/gbdt.h
index 78784488362b..7bfbfcd8748d 100644
--- a/src/boosting/gbdt.h
+++ b/src/boosting/gbdt.h
@@ -434,6 +434,8 @@ class GBDT : public GBDTBase {
   std::vector<std::vector<const Metric*>> valid_metrics_;
   /*! \brief Number of rounds for early stopping */
   int early_stopping_round_;
+  /*! \brief Only use first metric for early stopping */
+  bool es_first_metric_only_;
   /*! \brief Best iteration(s) for early stopping */
   std::vector<std::vector<int>> best_iter_;
   /*! \brief Best score(s) for early stopping */
diff --git a/src/io/config_auto.cpp b/src/io/config_auto.cpp
index ca0ed85b9dd0..9d5c3f853526 100644
--- a/src/io/config_auto.cpp
+++ b/src/io/config_auto.cpp
@@ -181,6 +181,7 @@ std::unordered_set<std::string> Config::parameter_set({
   "feature_fraction",
   "feature_fraction_seed",
   "early_stopping_round",
+  "first_metric_only",
   "max_delta_step",
   "lambda_l1",
   "lambda_l2",
@@ -312,6 +313,8 @@ void Config::GetMembersFromString(const std::unordered_map<std::string, std::str
 
   GetInt(params, "early_stopping_round", &early_stopping_round);
 
+  GetBool(params, "first_metric_only", &first_metric_only);
+
   GetDouble(params, "max_delta_step", &max_delta_step);
 
   GetDouble(params, "lambda_l1", &lambda_l1);
@@ -556,6 +559,7 @@ std::string Config::SaveMembersToString() const {
   str_buf << "[feature_fraction: " << feature_fraction << "]\n";
   str_buf << "[feature_fraction_seed: " << feature_fraction_seed << "]\n";
   str_buf << "[early_stopping_round: " << early_stopping_round << "]\n";
+  str_buf << "[first_metric_only: " << first_metric_only << "]\n";
   str_buf << "[max_delta_step: " << max_delta_step << "]\n";
   str_buf << "[lambda_l1: " << lambda_l1 << "]\n";
   str_buf << "[lambda_l2: " << lambda_l2 << "]\n";