diff --git a/Documentation/Getting-Started/Configuration-Guide.md b/Documentation/Getting-Started/Configuration-Guide.md
index 195bcd7aa..090093a97 100644
--- a/Documentation/Getting-Started/Configuration-Guide.md
+++ b/Documentation/Getting-Started/Configuration-Guide.md
@@ -164,6 +164,7 @@ runtime and can only be defined in a configuration file:
 * `sql_mode`
 * `local_address`
 * `users_refresh_time`
+* `load_persisted_configs`
 * `admin_auth`
 * `admin_ssl_key`
 * `admin_ssl_cert`
@@ -871,6 +872,19 @@ it will only be disabled when the write queue is below `writeq_low_water`. The
 parameter accepts size type values. The minimum allowed size is 512
 bytes. `writeq_high_water` must always be greater than `writeq_low_water`.
 
+#### `load_persisted_configs`
+
+Load persisted runtime changes on startup. This parameter accepts boolean values
+and is enabled by default. This parameter was added in MaxScale 2.3.6.
+
+All runtime configuration changes are persisted in generated configuration files
+located by default in `/var/lib/maxscale/maxscale.cnf.d/` and are loaded on
+startup after main configuration files have been read. To make runtime
+configurations volatile (i.e. they are lost when maxscale is restarted), use
+`load_persisted_configs=false`. All changes are still persisted since it stores
+the current runtime state of MaxScale. This makes problem analysis easier if an
+unexpected outage happens.
+
 ### REST API Configuration
 
 The MaxScale REST API is an HTTP interface that provides JSON format data
diff --git a/include/maxscale/config.h b/include/maxscale/config.h
index bc1b7cbbb..5a243281f 100644
--- a/include/maxscale/config.h
+++ b/include/maxscale/config.h
@@ -164,6 +164,7 @@ extern const char CN_QUERY_RETRIES[];
 extern const char CN_QUERY_RETRY_TIMEOUT[];
 extern const char CN_RELATIONSHIPS[];
 extern const char CN_LINKS[];
+extern const char CN_LOAD_PERSISTED_CONFIGS[];
 extern const char CN_REQUIRED[];
 extern const char CN_RETAIN_LAST_STATEMENTS[];
 extern const char CN_RETRY_ON_FAILURE[];
@@ -294,6 +295,7 @@ typedef struct
     char             peer_user[MAX_ADMIN_HOST_LEN];     /**< Username for maxscale-to-maxscale traffic */
     char             peer_password[MAX_ADMIN_HOST_LEN]; /**< Password for maxscale-to-maxscale traffic */
     mxb_log_target_t log_target;                        /**< Log type */
+    bool             load_persisted_configs;            /**< Load persisted configuration files on startup */
 } MXS_CONFIG;
 
 /**
diff --git a/server/core/config.cc b/server/core/config.cc
index a444ddf65..f72a50133 100644
--- a/server/core/config.cc
+++ b/server/core/config.cc
@@ -145,6 +145,7 @@ const char CN_QUERY_RETRIES[] = "query_retries";
 const char CN_QUERY_RETRY_TIMEOUT[] = "query_retry_timeout";
 const char CN_RELATIONSHIPS[] = "relationships";
 const char CN_LINKS[] = "links";
+const char CN_LOAD_PERSISTED_CONFIGS[] = "load_persisted_configs";
 const char CN_LOCAL_ADDRESS[] = "local_address";
 const char CN_REQUIRED[] = "required";
 const char CN_RETAIN_LAST_STATEMENTS[] = "retain_last_statements";
@@ -1158,7 +1159,8 @@ static bool config_load_and_process(const char* filename, bool (* process_config
             const char* persist_cnf = get_config_persistdir();
             mxs_mkdir_all(persist_cnf, S_IRWXU | S_IRWXG | S_IROTH | S_IXOTH);
 
-            if (is_directory(persist_cnf) && contains_cnf_files(persist_cnf))
+            if (config_get_global_options()->load_persisted_configs
+                && is_directory(persist_cnf) && contains_cnf_files(persist_cnf))
             {
                 /**
                  * Set the global flag that we are processing a persisted configuration.
@@ -2607,6 +2609,20 @@ static int handle_global_item(const char* name, const char* value)
             return 0;
         }
     }
+    else if (strcmp(name, CN_LOAD_PERSISTED_CONFIGS) == 0)
+    {
+        int b = config_truth_value(value);
+
+        if (b != -1)
+        {
+            gateway.load_persisted_configs = b;
+        }
+        else
+        {
+            MXS_ERROR("Invalid value for '%s': %s", CN_LOAD_PERSISTED_CONFIGS, value);
+            return 0;
+        }
+    }
     else
     {
         bool found = false;
@@ -2825,6 +2841,7 @@ void config_set_global_defaults()
     gateway.query_retry_timeout = DEFAULT_QUERY_RETRY_TIMEOUT;
     gateway.passive = false;
     gateway.promoted_at = 0;
+    gateway.load_persisted_configs = true;
 
     gateway.peer_hosts[0] = '\0';
     gateway.peer_user[0] = '\0';