diff --git a/backend/danswer/background/indexing/run_indexing.py b/backend/danswer/background/indexing/run_indexing.py
index 1dcd8494f..6241af6f5 100644
--- a/backend/danswer/background/indexing/run_indexing.py
+++ b/backend/danswer/background/indexing/run_indexing.py
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ from danswer.background.connector_deletion import (
     _delete_connector_credential_pair_batch,
 )
 from danswer.background.indexing.checkpointing import get_time_windows_for_index_attempt
+from danswer.configs.app_configs import DISABLE_DOCUMENT_CLEANUP
 from danswer.configs.app_configs import POLL_CONNECTOR_OFFSET
 from danswer.connectors.factory import instantiate_connector
 from danswer.connectors.interfaces import GenerateDocumentsOutput
@@ -232,7 +233,7 @@ def _run_indexing(
                     docs_removed_from_index=0,
                 )
 
-            if is_listing_complete:
+            if is_listing_complete and not DISABLE_DOCUMENT_CLEANUP:
                 # clean up all documents from the index that have not been returned from the connector
                 all_indexed_document_ids = {
                     d.id
diff --git a/backend/danswer/configs/app_configs.py b/backend/danswer/configs/app_configs.py
index 7a9ef380f..3df3145c2 100644
--- a/backend/danswer/configs/app_configs.py
+++ b/backend/danswer/configs/app_configs.py
@@ -196,6 +196,10 @@ ENABLE_MINI_CHUNK = os.environ.get("ENABLE_MINI_CHUNK", "").lower() == "true"
 MINI_CHUNK_SIZE = 150
 # Timeout to wait for job's last update before killing it, in hours
 CLEANUP_INDEXING_JOBS_TIMEOUT = int(os.environ.get("CLEANUP_INDEXING_JOBS_TIMEOUT", 3))
+# If set to true, then will not clean up documents that "no longer exist" when running Load connectors
+DISABLE_DOCUMENT_CLEANUP = (
+    os.environ.get("DISABLE_DOCUMENT_CLEANUP", "").lower() == "true"
+)
 
 
 #####
diff --git a/deployment/docker_compose/docker-compose.dev.yml b/deployment/docker_compose/docker-compose.dev.yml
index d8671ca8c..e33073152 100644
--- a/deployment/docker_compose/docker-compose.dev.yml
+++ b/deployment/docker_compose/docker-compose.dev.yml
@@ -140,6 +140,7 @@ services:
       - GONG_CONNECTOR_START_TIME=${GONG_CONNECTOR_START_TIME:-}
       - NOTION_CONNECTOR_ENABLE_RECURSIVE_PAGE_LOOKUP=${NOTION_CONNECTOR_ENABLE_RECURSIVE_PAGE_LOOKUP:-}
       - GITHUB_CONNECTOR_BASE_URL=${GITHUB_CONNECTOR_BASE_URL:-}
+      - DISABLE_DOCUMENT_CLEANUP=${DISABLE_DOCUMENT_CLEANUP:-}
       # Danswer SlackBot Configs
       - DANSWER_BOT_SLACK_APP_TOKEN=${DANSWER_BOT_SLACK_APP_TOKEN:-}
       - DANSWER_BOT_SLACK_BOT_TOKEN=${DANSWER_BOT_SLACK_BOT_TOKEN:-}