diff --git a/cmd/nodecfg/apply.go b/cmd/nodecfg/apply.go
index 7d4f0ab461..689476537c 100644
--- a/cmd/nodecfg/apply.go
+++ b/cmd/nodecfg/apply.go
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ var applyRootDir string
 var applyRootNodeDir string
 var applyPublicAddress string
 var nodeConfigBucket string
+var disableDNS bool
 
 func init() {
 	applyCmd.Flags().StringVarP(&applyChannel, "channel", "c", "", "Channel for the nodes we are configuring")
@@ -49,6 +50,8 @@ func init() {
 	applyCmd.Flags().StringVarP(&applyPublicAddress, "publicaddress", "a", "", "The public address to use if registering Relay or for Metrics")
 
 	applyCmd.Flags().StringVarP(&nodeConfigBucket, "bucket", "b", "", "S3 bucket to get node configuration from.")
+
+	applyCmd.Flags().BoolVarP(&disableDNS, "disable-dns", "N", false, "disable setting DNS entries")
 }
 
 var applyCmd = &cobra.Command{
@@ -122,7 +125,7 @@ func doApply(rootDir string, rootNodeDir, channel string, hostName string, dnsNa
 		return fmt.Errorf("configuration does not include this host: %s", hostName)
 	}
 
-	if hostNeedsDNSName(hostCfg) && dnsName == "" {
+	if hostNeedsDNSName(hostCfg) && dnsName == "" && !disableDNS {
 		return fmt.Errorf("publicaddress is required - Host contains Relays or exposes Metrics")
 	}
 
diff --git a/netdeploy/remote/nodecfg/nodeConfigurator.go b/netdeploy/remote/nodecfg/nodeConfigurator.go
index c69c29fc24..4621373b25 100644
--- a/netdeploy/remote/nodecfg/nodeConfigurator.go
+++ b/netdeploy/remote/nodecfg/nodeConfigurator.go
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ func (nc *nodeConfigurator) apply(rootConfigDir, rootNodeDir string) (err error)
 
 	for _, nodeDir := range nodeDirs {
 		nodeDir.delaySave = true
-		err = nodeDir.configure(nc.dnsName)
+		err = nodeDir.configure()
 		if err != nil {
 			break
 		}
@@ -96,7 +96,7 @@ func (nc *nodeConfigurator) apply(rootConfigDir, rootNodeDir string) (err error)
 		nodeDir.saveConfig()
 	}
 
-	if err == nil {
+	if err == nil && nc.dnsName != "" {
 		fmt.Fprint(os.Stdout, "... registering DNS / SRV records\n")
 		err = nc.registerDNSRecords()
 	}
diff --git a/netdeploy/remote/nodecfg/nodeDir.go b/netdeploy/remote/nodecfg/nodeDir.go
index c6d2b6ab8e..59f2eba509 100644
--- a/netdeploy/remote/nodecfg/nodeDir.go
+++ b/netdeploy/remote/nodecfg/nodeDir.go
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ type nodeDir struct {
 //		* EnableBlockStats
 //		* DashboardEndpoint
 //		* DeadlockOverride
-func (nd *nodeDir) configure(dnsName string) (err error) {
+func (nd *nodeDir) configure() (err error) {
 	fmt.Fprintf(os.Stdout, "Configuring Node %s\n", nd.Name)
 	if err = nd.configureRelay(nd.IsRelay()); err != nil {
 		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stdout, "Error during configureRelay: %s\n", err)