diff --git a/MediaBrowser.Model/Configuration/ServerConfiguration.cs b/MediaBrowser.Model/Configuration/ServerConfiguration.cs
index 2cb0eef483..865b4af5fc 100644
--- a/MediaBrowser.Model/Configuration/ServerConfiguration.cs
+++ b/MediaBrowser.Model/Configuration/ServerConfiguration.cs
@@ -225,6 +225,12 @@ namespace MediaBrowser.Model.Configuration
 
         public ManualLoginCategory[] ManualLoginClients { get; set; }
 
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Gets or sets a value indicating whether [enable tv db updates].
+        /// </summary>
+        /// <value><c>true</c> if [enable tv db updates]; otherwise, <c>false</c>.</value>
+        public bool EnableTvDbUpdates { get; set; }
+
         /// <summary>
         /// Initializes a new instance of the <see cref="ServerConfiguration" /> class.
         /// </summary>
diff --git a/MediaBrowser.Providers/TV/RemoteEpisodeProvider.cs b/MediaBrowser.Providers/TV/RemoteEpisodeProvider.cs
index 438d49507e..9ccbd3eb7e 100644
--- a/MediaBrowser.Providers/TV/RemoteEpisodeProvider.cs
+++ b/MediaBrowser.Providers/TV/RemoteEpisodeProvider.cs
@@ -121,7 +121,7 @@ namespace MediaBrowser.Providers.TV
         protected override bool NeedsRefreshInternal(BaseItem item, BaseProviderInfo providerInfo)
         {
             // Don't proceed if there's local metadata
-            if (HasLocalMeta(item))
+            if (HasLocalMeta(item) && !ConfigurationManager.Configuration.EnableTvDbUpdates)
             {
                 return false;
             }
diff --git a/MediaBrowser.Providers/TV/RemoteSeriesProvider.cs b/MediaBrowser.Providers/TV/RemoteSeriesProvider.cs
index 445cf5c3fc..56ba654ad2 100644
--- a/MediaBrowser.Providers/TV/RemoteSeriesProvider.cs
+++ b/MediaBrowser.Providers/TV/RemoteSeriesProvider.cs
@@ -235,7 +235,7 @@ namespace MediaBrowser.Providers.TV
             }
 
             // Examine if there's no local metadata, or save local is on (to get updates)
-            if (!HasLocalMeta(series) || isForcedRefresh)
+            if (isForcedRefresh || ConfigurationManager.Configuration.EnableTvDbUpdates || !HasLocalMeta(series))
             {
                 var seriesXmlPath = Path.Combine(seriesDataPath, seriesXmlFilename);
                 var actorsXmlPath = Path.Combine(seriesDataPath, "actors.xml");