diff --git a/engine/components-api/src/main/java/com/cloud/storage/StorageManager.java b/engine/components-api/src/main/java/com/cloud/storage/StorageManager.java
index 23abb67dfa0..0ceae02a2fd 100644
--- a/engine/components-api/src/main/java/com/cloud/storage/StorageManager.java
+++ b/engine/components-api/src/main/java/com/cloud/storage/StorageManager.java
@@ -143,6 +143,9 @@ public interface StorageManager extends StorageService {
     ConfigKey<Integer>  SecStorageMaxMigrateSessions = new ConfigKey<Integer>("Advanced", Integer.class, "secstorage.max.migrate.sessions", "2",
             "The max number of concurrent copy command execution sessions that an SSVM can handle", false, ConfigKey.Scope.Global);
 
+    ConfigKey<Boolean>  SecStorageVMAutoScaleDown = new ConfigKey<Boolean>("Advanced", Boolean.class, "secstorage.vm.auto.scale.down", "false",
+            "Setting this to 'true' will auto scale down SSVMs", true, ConfigKey.Scope.Global);
+
     ConfigKey<Integer> MaxDataMigrationWaitTime = new ConfigKey<Integer>("Advanced", Integer.class, "max.data.migration.wait.time", "15",
             "Maximum wait time for a data migration task before spawning a new SSVM", false, ConfigKey.Scope.Global);
     ConfigKey<Boolean> DiskProvisioningStrictness = new ConfigKey<Boolean>("Storage", Boolean.class, "disk.provisioning.type.strictness", "false",
diff --git a/server/src/main/java/com/cloud/storage/StorageManagerImpl.java b/server/src/main/java/com/cloud/storage/StorageManagerImpl.java
index b1a33c0d31c..db24b17bbe1 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/com/cloud/storage/StorageManagerImpl.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/com/cloud/storage/StorageManagerImpl.java
@@ -3339,7 +3339,8 @@ public class StorageManagerImpl extends ManagerBase implements StorageManager, C
                 SecStorageMaxMigrateSessions,
                 MaxDataMigrationWaitTime,
                 DiskProvisioningStrictness,
-                PreferredStoragePool
+                PreferredStoragePool,
+                SecStorageVMAutoScaleDown
         };
     }
 
diff --git a/services/secondary-storage/controller/src/main/java/org/apache/cloudstack/secondarystorage/PremiumSecondaryStorageManagerImpl.java b/services/secondary-storage/controller/src/main/java/org/apache/cloudstack/secondarystorage/PremiumSecondaryStorageManagerImpl.java
index 74d1b509e21..23b4e30f28c 100644
--- a/services/secondary-storage/controller/src/main/java/org/apache/cloudstack/secondarystorage/PremiumSecondaryStorageManagerImpl.java
+++ b/services/secondary-storage/controller/src/main/java/org/apache/cloudstack/secondarystorage/PremiumSecondaryStorageManagerImpl.java
@@ -184,7 +184,9 @@ public class PremiumSecondaryStorageManagerImpl extends SecondaryStorageManagerI
             return new Pair<AfterScanAction, Object>(AfterScanAction.expand, SecondaryStorageVm.Role.commandExecutor);
 
         }
-        scaleDownSSVMOnLoad(alreadyRunning, activeCmds, copyCmdsInPipeline);
+        if (StorageManager.SecStorageVMAutoScaleDown.value()) {
+            scaleDownSSVMOnLoad(alreadyRunning, activeCmds, copyCmdsInPipeline);
+        }
         return new Pair<AfterScanAction, Object>(AfterScanAction.nop, null);
     }