diff --git a/mariadb/README.md b/mariadb/README.md
index 7d4a8ab1..2be7897c 100644
--- a/mariadb/README.md
+++ b/mariadb/README.md
@@ -73,6 +73,7 @@ The following table lists the configurable parameters of the MariaDB chart and t
 | `service.clusterIp.master`                   | Specific cluster IP for master when service type is cluster IP. Use None for headless service                                                                                                                                                                            | `nil`                                                             |
 | `service.clusterIp.slave`                    | Specific cluster IP for slave when service type is cluster IP. Use None for headless service                                                                                                                                                                             | `nil`                                                             |
 | `service.port`                               | MySQL service port                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       | `3306`                                                            |
+| `enableServiceLinks`                         | Set to false to disable service links, which can cause slow pod startup times when there are many services in the current namespace.                                                                                                                                     | `true`                                                            |
 | `serviceAccount.create`                      | Specifies whether a ServiceAccount should be created                                                                                                                                                                                                                     | `false`                                                           |
 | `serviceAccount.name`                        | The name of the ServiceAccount to create                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 | Generated using the mariadb.fullname template                     |
 | `schedulerName`                              | Name of the k8s scheduler (other than default)                                                                                                                                                                                                                           | `nil`                                                             |
diff --git a/mariadb/templates/master-statefulset.yaml b/mariadb/templates/master-statefulset.yaml
index 5d335814..21d6fd52 100644
--- a/mariadb/templates/master-statefulset.yaml
+++ b/mariadb/templates/master-statefulset.yaml
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ spec:
         component: master
         {{- include "mariadb.podLabels" . | nindent 8 }}
     spec:
+      enableServiceLinks: {{ .Values.enableServiceLinks }}
       {{- if .Values.schedulerName }}
       schedulerName: {{ .Values.schedulerName | quote }}
       {{- end }}
diff --git a/mariadb/templates/slave-statefulset.yaml b/mariadb/templates/slave-statefulset.yaml
index aab861f3..79243170 100644
--- a/mariadb/templates/slave-statefulset.yaml
+++ b/mariadb/templates/slave-statefulset.yaml
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ spec:
         component: slave
         {{- include "mariadb.podLabels" . | nindent 8 }}
     spec:
+      enableServiceLinks: {{ .Values.enableServiceLinks }}
       {{- if .Values.schedulerName }}
       schedulerName: {{ .Values.schedulerName | quote }}
       {{- end }}
diff --git a/mariadb/values.yaml b/mariadb/values.yaml
index 906f433f..510417c1 100644
--- a/mariadb/values.yaml
+++ b/mariadb/values.yaml
@@ -82,6 +82,11 @@ service:
   #   master: 30001
   #   slave: 30002
 
+# The environment variables injected by service links are not used, but can lead to slow boot times when
+# there are many services in the current namespace.
+# If you experience slow pod startups you probably want to set this to `false`.
+enableServiceLinks: true
+
 ## Pods Service Account
 ## ref: https://kubernetes.io/docs/tasks/configure-pod-container/configure-service-account/
 serviceAccount: