diff --git a/core/core.go b/core/core.go
index a7c285e19f6..d20ec8204f0 100644
--- a/core/core.go
+++ b/core/core.go
@@ -169,7 +169,20 @@ func (n *IpfsNode) startOnlineServices(ctx context.Context, routingOption Routin
 	}
 
 	n.Reprovider = rp.NewReprovider(n.Routing, n.Blockstore)
-	go n.Reprovider.ProvideEvery(ctx, kReprovideFrequency)
+
+	if cfg.Reprovider.Interval != "0" {
+		interval := kReprovideFrequency
+		if cfg.Reprovider.Interval != "" {
+			dur, err := time.ParseDuration(cfg.Reprovider.Interval)
+			if err != nil {
+				return err
+			}
+
+			interval = dur
+		}
+
+		go n.Reprovider.ProvideEvery(ctx, interval)
+	}
 
 	// setup local discovery
 	if do != nil {
diff --git a/docs/config.md b/docs/config.md
index 844fb9984f4..0cc845e2905 100644
--- a/docs/config.md
+++ b/docs/config.md
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ a running daemon do not read the config file at runtime.
 - [`Identity`](#identity)
 - [`Ipns`](#ipns)
 - [`Mounts`](#mounts)
+- [`ReproviderInterval`](#reproviderinterval)
 - [`SupernodeRouting`](#supernoderouting)
 - [`Swarm`](#swarm)
 - [`Tour`](#tour)
@@ -192,6 +193,16 @@ Mountpoint for `/ipns/`.
 - `FuseAllowOther`
 Sets the FUSE allow other option on the mountpoint.
 
+## `ReproviderInterval`
+Sets the time between rounds of reproviding local content to the routing
+system. If unset, it defaults to 12 hours. If set to the value `"0"` it will
+disable content reproviding.
+
+Note: disabling content reproviding will result in other nodes on the network
+not being able to discover that you have the objects that you have. If you want
+to have this disabled and keep the network aware of what you have, you must
+manually announce your content periodically.
+
 ## `SupernodeRouting`
 Deprecated.
 
diff --git a/repo/config/config.go b/repo/config/config.go
index 4488bba083d..4a3995a9993 100644
--- a/repo/config/config.go
+++ b/repo/config/config.go
@@ -29,6 +29,8 @@ type Config struct {
 	SupernodeRouting SupernodeClientConfig // local node's routing servers (if SupernodeRouting enabled)
 	API              API                   // local node's API settings
 	Swarm            SwarmConfig
+
+	Reprovider Reprovider
 }
 
 const (
diff --git a/repo/config/init.go b/repo/config/init.go
index 5123e39e9e4..ac0c8f23bb3 100644
--- a/repo/config/init.go
+++ b/repo/config/init.go
@@ -68,6 +68,9 @@ func Init(out io.Writer, nBitsForKeypair int) (*Config, error) {
 				"Access-Control-Allow-Headers": []string{"X-Requested-With"},
 			},
 		},
+		Reprovider: Reprovider{
+			Interval: "12h",
+		},
 	}
 
 	return conf, nil
diff --git a/repo/config/reprovider.go b/repo/config/reprovider.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..53cf293ab61
--- /dev/null
+++ b/repo/config/reprovider.go
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+package config
+
+type Reprovider struct {
+	Interval string // Time period to reprovide locally stored objects to the network
+}