diff --git a/autoload/ale/balloon.vim b/autoload/ale/balloon.vim
index d36dd4f..d49dcbf 100644
--- a/autoload/ale/balloon.vim
+++ b/autoload/ale/balloon.vim
@@ -15,10 +15,18 @@ function! ale#balloon#MessageForPos(bufnr, lnum, col) abort
     " Show the diagnostics message if found, 'Hover' output otherwise
     if l:index >= 0
         return l:loclist[l:index].text
-    else
+    elseif exists('*balloon_show') || getbufvar(
+    \   a:bufnr,
+    \   'ale_set_balloons_legacy_echo',
+    \   get(g:, 'ale_set_balloons_legacy_echo', 0)
+    \)
+        " Request LSP/tsserver hover information, but only if this version of
+        " Vim supports the balloon_show function, or if we turned a legacy
+        " setting on.
         call ale#hover#Show(a:bufnr, a:lnum, a:col, {'called_from_balloonexpr': 1})
-        return ''
     endif
+
+    return ''
 endfunction
 
 function! ale#balloon#Expr() abort
diff --git a/doc/ale.txt b/doc/ale.txt
index fa5e30d..636ef12 100644
--- a/doc/ale.txt
+++ b/doc/ale.txt
@@ -1363,6 +1363,21 @@ g:ale_set_balloons                                         *g:ale_set_balloons*
   globally.
 
 
+g:ale_set_balloons_legacy_echo                 *g:ale_set_balloons_legacy_echo*
+                                               *b:ale_set_balloons_legacy_echo*
+  Type: |Number|
+  Default: undefined
+
+  If set to `1`, moving your mouse over documents in Vim will make ALE ask
+  `tsserver` or `LSP` servers for information about the symbol where the mouse
+  cursor is, and print that information into Vim's echo line. This is an
+  option for supporting older versions of Vim which do not properly support
+  balloons in an asynchronous manner.
+
+  If your version of Vim supports the |balloon_show| function, then this
+  option does nothing meaningful.
+
+
 g:ale_set_highlights                                     *g:ale_set_highlights*
 
   Type: |Number|