diff --git a/kong/clustering/services/sync/rpc.lua b/kong/clustering/services/sync/rpc.lua
index 1ec1aa475f5a..4100afbb9675 100644
--- a/kong/clustering/services/sync/rpc.lua
+++ b/kong/clustering/services/sync/rpc.lua
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ local ngx_DEBUG = ngx.DEBUG
 
 
 -- number of versions behind before a full sync is forced
-local FULL_SYNC_THRESHOLD = 512
+local DEFAULT_FULL_SYNC_THRESHOLD = 512
 
 
 function _M.new(strategy)
@@ -62,6 +62,10 @@ end
 function _M:init_cp(manager)
   local purge_delay = manager.conf.cluster_data_plane_purge_delay
 
+  -- number of versions behind before a full sync is forced
+  local FULL_SYNC_THRESHOLD = manager.conf.cluster_full_sync_threshold or
+                              DEFAULT_FULL_SYNC_THRESHOLD
+
   -- CP
   -- Method: kong.sync.v2.get_delta
   -- Params: versions: list of current versions of the database
diff --git a/kong/conf_loader/constants.lua b/kong/conf_loader/constants.lua
index 8f1e734160c2..95fff6f6867a 100644
--- a/kong/conf_loader/constants.lua
+++ b/kong/conf_loader/constants.lua
@@ -514,6 +514,7 @@ local CONF_PARSERS = {
   cluster_dp_labels = { typ = "array" },
   cluster_rpc = { typ = "boolean" },
   cluster_incremental_sync = { typ = "boolean" },
+  cluster_full_sync_threshold = { typ = "number" },
   cluster_cjson = { typ = "boolean" },
 
   kic = { typ = "boolean" },
diff --git a/kong/templates/kong_defaults.lua b/kong/templates/kong_defaults.lua
index 73f9cda4cf1a..939626417403 100644
--- a/kong/templates/kong_defaults.lua
+++ b/kong/templates/kong_defaults.lua
@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@ cluster_use_proxy = off
 cluster_dp_labels = NONE
 cluster_rpc = off
 cluster_incremental_sync = off
+cluster_full_sync_threshold = 512
 cluster_cjson = off
 
 lmdb_environment_path = dbless.lmdb