diff --git a/qa/qa/runtime/env.rb b/qa/qa/runtime/env.rb
index 27ba915961d1f8c387f32c24128a4ea52072a5d0..5bebb5ccec064fb3ebb9a4ffdf2286e3ebfb3654 100644
--- a/qa/qa/runtime/env.rb
+++ b/qa/qa/runtime/env.rb
@@ -5,13 +5,17 @@ module QA
 
       # set to 'false' to have Chrome run visibly instead of headless
       def chrome_headless?
-        (ENV['CHROME_HEADLESS'] =~ /^(false|no|0)$/i) != 0
+        enabled?(ENV['CHROME_HEADLESS'])
       end
 
       def running_in_ci?
         ENV['CI'] || ENV['CI_SERVER']
       end
 
+      def signup_disabled?
+        enabled?(ENV['SIGNUP_DISABLED'], default: false)
+      end
+
       # specifies token that can be used for the api
       def personal_access_token
         ENV['PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN']
@@ -83,6 +87,14 @@ module QA
 
         raise ArgumentError, "Please provide GITHUB_ACCESS_TOKEN"
       end
+
+      private
+
+      def enabled?(value, default: true)
+        return default if value.nil?
+
+        (value =~ /^(false|no|0)$/i) != 0
+      end
     end
   end
 end
diff --git a/qa/qa/specs/features/browser_ui/1_manage/login/register_spec.rb b/qa/qa/specs/features/browser_ui/1_manage/login/register_spec.rb
index 478a5cb9c4c1a7b6cba6b9c311b4e73b8dd7fc09..bc1c2abdf56503c2c54af401aa4df195e8af46e2 100644
--- a/qa/qa/specs/features/browser_ui/1_manage/login/register_spec.rb
+++ b/qa/qa/specs/features/browser_ui/1_manage/login/register_spec.rb
@@ -16,13 +16,13 @@ module QA
     end
   end
 
-  context :manage do
+  context :manage, :skip_signup_disabled do
     describe 'standard' do
       it_behaves_like 'registration and login'
     end
   end
 
-  context :manage, :orchestrated, :ldap do
+  context :manage, :orchestrated, :ldap, :skip_signup_disabled do
     describe 'while LDAP is enabled' do
       it_behaves_like 'registration and login'
     end
diff --git a/qa/qa/specs/runner.rb b/qa/qa/specs/runner.rb
index fea0ef94df3a6de2a5f44d41a4eb2bb072834377..ad397c13f0ce2294a1945aa2f707b6e42b3d8bda 100644
--- a/qa/qa/specs/runner.rb
+++ b/qa/qa/specs/runner.rb
@@ -23,6 +23,8 @@ module QA
           args.push(%w[--tag ~orchestrated]) unless (%w[-t --tag] & options).any?
         end
 
+        args.push(%w[--tag ~skip_signup_disabled]) if QA::Runtime::Env.signup_disabled?
+
         args.push(options)
         args.push(DEFAULT_TEST_PATH_ARGS) unless options.any? { |opt| opt =~ %r{/features/} }
 
diff --git a/qa/spec/runtime/env_spec.rb b/qa/spec/runtime/env_spec.rb
index d889d185a45888b92adb03904a438243c95d7170..fda955f66004d093d4f8ca489a1f60109f00b8f1 100644
--- a/qa/spec/runtime/env_spec.rb
+++ b/qa/spec/runtime/env_spec.rb
@@ -1,39 +1,47 @@
 describe QA::Runtime::Env do
   include Support::StubENV
 
-  describe '.chrome_headless?' do
+  shared_examples 'boolean method' do |method, env_key, default|
     context 'when there is an env variable set' do
       it 'returns false when falsey values specified' do
-        stub_env('CHROME_HEADLESS', 'false')
-        expect(described_class.chrome_headless?).to be_falsey
+        stub_env(env_key, 'false')
+        expect(described_class.public_send(method)).to be_falsey
 
-        stub_env('CHROME_HEADLESS', 'no')
-        expect(described_class.chrome_headless?).to be_falsey
+        stub_env(env_key, 'no')
+        expect(described_class.public_send(method)).to be_falsey
 
-        stub_env('CHROME_HEADLESS', '0')
-        expect(described_class.chrome_headless?).to be_falsey
+        stub_env(env_key, '0')
+        expect(described_class.public_send(method)).to be_falsey
       end
 
       it 'returns true when anything else specified' do
-        stub_env('CHROME_HEADLESS', 'true')
-        expect(described_class.chrome_headless?).to be_truthy
+        stub_env(env_key, 'true')
+        expect(described_class.public_send(method)).to be_truthy
 
-        stub_env('CHROME_HEADLESS', '1')
-        expect(described_class.chrome_headless?).to be_truthy
+        stub_env(env_key, '1')
+        expect(described_class.public_send(method)).to be_truthy
 
-        stub_env('CHROME_HEADLESS', 'anything')
-        expect(described_class.chrome_headless?).to be_truthy
+        stub_env(env_key, 'anything')
+        expect(described_class.public_send(method)).to be_truthy
       end
     end
 
     context 'when there is no env variable set' do
-      it 'returns the default, true' do
-        stub_env('CHROME_HEADLESS', nil)
-        expect(described_class.chrome_headless?).to be_truthy
+      it "returns the default, #{default}" do
+        stub_env(env_key, nil)
+        expect(described_class.public_send(method)).to be(default)
       end
     end
   end
 
+  describe '.signup_disabled?' do
+    it_behaves_like 'boolean method', :signup_disabled?, 'SIGNUP_DISABLED', false
+  end
+
+  describe '.chrome_headless?' do
+    it_behaves_like 'boolean method', :chrome_headless?, 'CHROME_HEADLESS', true
+  end
+
   describe '.running_in_ci?' do
     context 'when there is an env variable set' do
       it 'returns true if CI' do
diff --git a/qa/spec/specs/runner_spec.rb b/qa/spec/specs/runner_spec.rb
index cf22d1c939591bce5539c8e895f9d95a1da3910f..9ddaf7ab1b3ab1ca621b4e420b0c6e2f50b7dd43 100644
--- a/qa/spec/specs/runner_spec.rb
+++ b/qa/spec/specs/runner_spec.rb
@@ -62,6 +62,20 @@ describe QA::Specs::Runner do
       end
     end
 
+    context 'when SIGNUP_DISABLED is true' do
+      before do
+        allow(QA::Runtime::Env).to receive(:signup_disabled?).and_return(true)
+      end
+
+      subject { described_class.new }
+
+      it 'it includes default args and excludes the skip_signup_disabled tag' do
+        expect_rspec_runner_arguments(['--tag', '~orchestrated', '--tag', '~skip_signup_disabled', *described_class::DEFAULT_TEST_PATH_ARGS])
+
+        subject.perform
+      end
+    end
+
     def expect_rspec_runner_arguments(arguments)
       expect(RSpec::Core::Runner).to receive(:run)
         .with(arguments, $stderr, $stdout)