diff --git a/attributes/default.rb b/attributes/default.rb
index e6156ea..311d914 100644
--- a/attributes/default.rb
+++ b/attributes/default.rb
@@ -89,6 +89,7 @@
     default['nrpe']['check_action'] = 'restart'
   end
   default['nrpe']['install_method']    = 'package'
+  default['nrpe']['install_yum-epel']  = true
   default['nrpe']['pid_file']          = '/var/run/nrpe.pid'
   default['nrpe']['packages']          = %w(nrpe nagios-plugins-disk nagios-plugins-load nagios-plugins-procs nagios-plugins-users)
   if node['kernel']['machine'] == 'i686'
diff --git a/recipes/_package_install.rb b/recipes/_package_install.rb
index dc21816..25ab610 100644
--- a/recipes/_package_install.rb
+++ b/recipes/_package_install.rb
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@
 
 # nrpe packages are available in EPEL on rhel / fedora platforms
 # fedora 17 and later don't require epel
-if platform_family?('rhel', 'fedora')
+if platform_family?('rhel', 'fedora') && node['nrpe']['install_yum-epel']
   unless platform?('fedora') && node['platform_version'].to_i > 16
     include_recipe 'yum-epel'
   end