diff --git a/go/flags/endtoend/vtorc.txt b/go/flags/endtoend/vtorc.txt
index e36c35924b1..247dd240e73 100644
--- a/go/flags/endtoend/vtorc.txt
+++ b/go/flags/endtoend/vtorc.txt
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ vtorc \
 
 Flags:
       --allow-emergency-reparent                                    Whether VTOrc should be allowed to run emergency reparent operation when it detects a dead primary (default true)
+      --allow-recovery                                              Allow recovery actions (default true)
       --alsologtostderr                                             log to standard error as well as files
       --audit-file-location string                                  File location where the audit logs are to be stored
       --audit-purge-duration duration                               Duration for which audit logs are held before being purged. Should be in multiples of days (default 168h0m0s)
diff --git a/go/test/endtoend/vtorc/readtopologyinstance/main_test.go b/go/test/endtoend/vtorc/readtopologyinstance/main_test.go
index e3b55d64c6b..f79caeae08a 100644
--- a/go/test/endtoend/vtorc/readtopologyinstance/main_test.go
+++ b/go/test/endtoend/vtorc/readtopologyinstance/main_test.go
@@ -57,6 +57,7 @@ func TestReadTopologyInstanceBufferable(t *testing.T) {
 		"--topo_global_root", clusterInfo.ClusterInstance.VtctlProcess.TopoGlobalRoot,
 	}
 	servenv.ParseFlags("vtorc")
+	config.Config.AllowRecovery = true
 	config.Config.RecoveryPeriodBlockSeconds = 1
 	config.Config.InstancePollSeconds = 1
 	config.MarkConfigurationLoaded()
diff --git a/go/vt/vtorc/config/config.go b/go/vt/vtorc/config/config.go
index ba3c41ddc61..8b36341d318 100644
--- a/go/vt/vtorc/config/config.go
+++ b/go/vt/vtorc/config/config.go
@@ -56,6 +56,7 @@ var (
 	auditToBackend                 = false
 	auditToSyslog                  = false
 	auditPurgeDuration             = 7 * 24 * time.Hour // Equivalent of 7 days
+	allowRecovery                  = true
 	recoveryPeriodBlockDuration    = 30 * time.Second
 	preventCrossCellFailover       = false
 	waitReplicasTimeout            = 30 * time.Second
@@ -76,6 +77,7 @@ func RegisterFlags(fs *pflag.FlagSet) {
 	fs.BoolVar(&auditToBackend, "audit-to-backend", auditToBackend, "Whether to store the audit log in the VTOrc database")
 	fs.BoolVar(&auditToSyslog, "audit-to-syslog", auditToSyslog, "Whether to store the audit log in the syslog")
 	fs.DurationVar(&auditPurgeDuration, "audit-purge-duration", auditPurgeDuration, "Duration for which audit logs are held before being purged. Should be in multiples of days")
+	fs.BoolVar(&allowRecovery, "allow-recovery", allowRecovery, "Allow recovery actions")
 	fs.DurationVar(&recoveryPeriodBlockDuration, "recovery-period-block-duration", recoveryPeriodBlockDuration, "Duration for which a new recovery is blocked on an instance after running a recovery")
 	fs.BoolVar(&preventCrossCellFailover, "prevent-cross-cell-failover", preventCrossCellFailover, "Prevent VTOrc from promoting a primary in a different cell than the current primary in case of a failover")
 	fs.DurationVar(&waitReplicasTimeout, "wait-replicas-timeout", waitReplicasTimeout, "Duration for which to wait for replica's to respond when issuing RPCs")
@@ -104,6 +106,7 @@ type Configuration struct {
 	WaitReplicasTimeoutSeconds            int    // Timeout on amount of time to wait for the replicas in case of ERS. Should be a small value because we should fail-fast. Should not be larger than LockTimeout since that is the total time we use for an ERS.
 	TolerableReplicationLagSeconds        int    // Amount of replication lag that is considered acceptable for a tablet to be eligible for promotion when Vitess makes the choice of a new primary in PRS.
 	TopoInformationRefreshSeconds         int    // Timer duration on which VTOrc refreshes the keyspace and vttablet records from the topo-server.
+	AllowRecovery                         bool   // Allow recoveries.
 	RecoveryPollSeconds                   int    // Timer duration on which VTOrc recovery analysis runs
 }
 
@@ -134,12 +137,13 @@ func UpdateConfigValuesFromFlags() {
 	Config.WaitReplicasTimeoutSeconds = int(waitReplicasTimeout / time.Second)
 	Config.TolerableReplicationLagSeconds = int(tolerableReplicationLag / time.Second)
 	Config.TopoInformationRefreshSeconds = int(topoInformationRefreshDuration / time.Second)
+	Config.AllowRecovery = allowRecovery
 	Config.RecoveryPollSeconds = int(recoveryPollDuration / time.Second)
 }
 
 // ERSEnabled reports whether VTOrc is allowed to run ERS or not.
 func ERSEnabled() bool {
-	return ersEnabled
+	return allowRecovery && ersEnabled
 }
 
 // SetERSEnabled sets the value for the ersEnabled variable. This should only be used from tests.
@@ -172,6 +176,7 @@ func newConfiguration() *Configuration {
 		AuditLogFile:                          "",
 		AuditToSyslog:                         false,
 		AuditToBackendDB:                      false,
+		AllowRecovery:                         true,
 		AuditPurgeDays:                        7,
 		RecoveryPeriodBlockSeconds:            30,
 		PreventCrossDataCenterPrimaryFailover: false,
diff --git a/go/vt/vtorc/logic/vtorc.go b/go/vt/vtorc/logic/vtorc.go
index b9d62fc2982..c44b66b5994 100644
--- a/go/vt/vtorc/logic/vtorc.go
+++ b/go/vt/vtorc/logic/vtorc.go
@@ -335,7 +335,6 @@ func ContinuousDiscovery() {
 
 	healthTick := time.Tick(config.HealthPollSeconds * time.Second)
 	caretakingTick := time.Tick(time.Minute)
-	recoveryTick := time.Tick(time.Duration(config.Config.RecoveryPollSeconds) * time.Second)
 	tabletTopoTick := OpenTabletDiscovery()
 	var recoveryEntrance int64
 	var snapshotTopologiesTick <-chan time.Time
@@ -343,6 +342,12 @@ func ContinuousDiscovery() {
 		snapshotTopologiesTick = time.Tick(time.Duration(config.Config.SnapshotTopologiesIntervalHours) * time.Hour)
 	}
 
+	recoveryTicker := time.NewTicker(time.Duration(config.Config.RecoveryPollSeconds) * time.Second)
+	defer recoveryTicker.Stop()
+	if !config.Config.AllowRecovery {
+		recoveryTicker.Stop()
+	}
+
 	runCheckAndRecoverOperationsTimeRipe := func() bool {
 		return time.Since(continuousDiscoveryStartTime) >= checkAndRecoverWaitPeriod
 	}
@@ -376,7 +381,7 @@ func ContinuousDiscovery() {
 					go ExpireTopologyRecoveryStepsHistory()
 				}
 			}()
-		case <-recoveryTick:
+		case <-recoveryTicker.C:
 			go func() {
 				if IsLeaderOrActive() {
 					go ClearActiveFailureDetections()