diff --git a/app/assets/javascripts/admin/routes/admin_dashboard_route.js b/app/assets/javascripts/admin/routes/admin_dashboard_route.js
index 32456dceb43..f612341da06 100644
--- a/app/assets/javascripts/admin/routes/admin_dashboard_route.js
+++ b/app/assets/javascripts/admin/routes/admin_dashboard_route.js
@@ -2,10 +2,12 @@
 
   Discourse.AdminDashboardRoute = Discourse.Route.extend({
     setupController: function(c) {
-      return Discourse.VersionCheck.find().then(function(vc) {
-        c.set('versionCheck', vc);
-        return c.set('loading', false);
-      });
+      if( Discourse.SiteSettings.version_checks ) {
+        return Discourse.VersionCheck.find().then(function(vc) {
+          c.set('versionCheck', vc);
+          return c.set('loading', false);
+        });
+      }
     }
   });
 
diff --git a/app/assets/javascripts/admin/templates/dashboard.js.handlebars b/app/assets/javascripts/admin/templates/dashboard.js.handlebars
index d2edd2f67cc..75f8ba18b06 100644
--- a/app/assets/javascripts/admin/templates/dashboard.js.handlebars
+++ b/app/assets/javascripts/admin/templates/dashboard.js.handlebars
@@ -1,21 +1,23 @@
 <h3>{{i18n admin.dashboard.welcome}}</h3>
 
-<p {{bindAttr class="priorityClass"}}>
-  {{#if loading }}
-    {{i18n loading}}
-  {{else}}
-    {{i18n admin.dashboard.version}}: <span class="version-number">{{ versionCheck.installed_version }}</span>
+{{#if Discourse.SiteSettings.version_checks}}
+  <p {{bindAttr class="priorityClass"}}>
+    {{#if loading }}
+      {{i18n loading}}
+    {{else}}
+      {{i18n admin.dashboard.version}}: <span class="version-number">{{ versionCheck.installed_version }}</span>
 
-    <span class="version-notes">
-      {{#if upToDate }}
-        <i class='icon icon-ok update-to-date'></i> {{i18n admin.dashboard.up_to_date}}
-      {{else}}
-        <i {{bindAttr class="updateIconClasses"}}></i>
-        <span class="critical-note">{{i18n admin.dashboard.critical_available}}</span>
-        <span class="normal-note">{{i18n admin.dashboard.updates_available}}</span>
-        {{i18n admin.dashboard.please_upgrade}}
-        {{i18n admin.dashboard.latest_version}}: <span class="version-number">{{ versionCheck.latest_version }}</span>
-      {{/if}}
-    </span>
-  {{/if}}
-</p>
\ No newline at end of file
+      <span class="version-notes">
+        {{#if upToDate }}
+          <i class='icon icon-ok update-to-date'></i> {{i18n admin.dashboard.up_to_date}}
+        {{else}}
+          <i {{bindAttr class="updateIconClasses"}}></i>
+          <span class="critical-note">{{i18n admin.dashboard.critical_available}}</span>
+          <span class="normal-note">{{i18n admin.dashboard.updates_available}}</span>
+          {{i18n admin.dashboard.please_upgrade}}
+          {{i18n admin.dashboard.latest_version}}: <span class="version-number">{{ versionCheck.latest_version }}</span>
+        {{/if}}
+      </span>
+    {{/if}}
+  </p>
+{{/if}}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/app/models/site_setting.rb b/app/models/site_setting.rb
index 178e2a8e6a2..82d9011b70b 100644
--- a/app/models/site_setting.rb
+++ b/app/models/site_setting.rb
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ class SiteSetting < ActiveRecord::Base
   client_setting(:flush_timings_secs, 5)
   client_setting(:supress_reply_directly_below, true)
   client_setting(:email_domains_blacklist, 'mailinator.com')
+  client_setting(:version_checks, true)
 
   # settings only available server side
   setting(:auto_track_topics_after, 300000)
diff --git a/config/locales/server.en.yml b/config/locales/server.en.yml
index 6e70a79bc35..c8514304add 100644
--- a/config/locales/server.en.yml
+++ b/config/locales/server.en.yml
@@ -294,6 +294,7 @@ en:
     supress_reply_directly_below: "Don't show replies button below a post when the reply is directly below"
     allow_index_in_robots_txt: "Site should be indexed by search engines (update robots.txt)"
     email_domains_blacklist: "A pipe-delimited list of email domains that are not allowed. Example: mailinator.com|trashmail.net"
+    version_checks: 'Whether to check for Discourse updates and report them on the admin dashboard.'
 
     port: "If you'd like to specify a port in the URL. Useful in development mode. Leave blank for none."
     force_hostname: "If you'd like to specify a hostname in the URL. Useful in development mode. Leave blank for none."
diff --git a/lib/jobs/version_check.rb b/lib/jobs/version_check.rb
index 7e008c69306..d5652f5566f 100644
--- a/lib/jobs/version_check.rb
+++ b/lib/jobs/version_check.rb
@@ -5,9 +5,11 @@ module Jobs
   class VersionCheck < Jobs::Base
 
     def execute(args)
-      json = DiscourseHub.discourse_version_check
-      DiscourseUpdates.latest_version = json['latestVersion']
-      DiscourseUpdates.critical_update_available = json['criticalUpdates']
+      if SiteSetting.version_checks
+        json = DiscourseHub.discourse_version_check
+        DiscourseUpdates.latest_version = json['latestVersion']
+        DiscourseUpdates.critical_update_available = json['criticalUpdates']
+      end
       true
     end