diff --git a/core/src/main/java/hudson/model/UsageStatistics.java b/core/src/main/java/hudson/model/UsageStatistics.java
index 1bf16a3e0e7e56488697df9904915fac8ca6e307..827f9c99e34913cd640e259452e77ecdc6360c6f 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/hudson/model/UsageStatistics.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/hudson/model/UsageStatistics.java
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ public class UsageStatistics extends PageDecorator {
      */
     public boolean isDue() {
         // user opted out. no data collection.
-        if(!Hudson.getInstance().isUsageStatisticsCollected())     return false;
+        if(!Hudson.getInstance().isUsageStatisticsCollected() || DISABLED)     return false;
         
         long now = System.currentTimeMillis();
         if(now - lastAttempt > DAY) {
@@ -228,4 +228,6 @@ public class UsageStatistics extends PageDecorator {
     private static final String DEFAULT_KEY_BYTES = "30819f300d06092a864886f70d010101050003818d0030818902818100c14970473bd90fd1f2d20e4fa6e36ea21f7d46db2f4104a3a8f2eb097d6e26278dfadf3fe9ed05bbbb00a4433f4b7151e6683a169182e6ff2f6b4f2bb6490b2cddef73148c37a2a7421fc75f99fb0fadab46f191806599a208652f4829fd6f76e13195fb81ff3f2fce15a8e9a85ebe15c07c90b34ebdb416bd119f0d74105f3b0203010001";
 
     private static final long DAY = DAYS.toMillis(1);
+
+    public static boolean DISABLED = Boolean.getBoolean(UsageStatistics.class.getName()+".disable");
 }
diff --git a/war/pom.xml b/war/pom.xml
index 7418f7f98ab5b81866cc0bf8e69e3f2513e68f59..ec65fb83f677a6a24c27a90cec64d6cacaf1cfa7 100644
--- a/war/pom.xml
+++ b/war/pom.xml
@@ -173,6 +173,11 @@ THE SOFTWARE.
               <name>hudson.bundled.plugins</name>
               <value>${basedir}/../maven-plugin/target/test-classes/the.hpl</value>
             </systemProperty>
+            <systemProperty>
+              <!-- stat collection pointless -->
+              <name>hudson.model.UsageStatistics.disabled</name>
+              <value>true</value>
+            </systemProperty>
           </systemProperties>
         </configuration>
       </plugin>