diff --git a/aiida/manage/configuration/schema/config-v9.schema.json b/aiida/manage/configuration/schema/config-v9.schema.json
index 9ba239d267..b9fb971428 100644
--- a/aiida/manage/configuration/schema/config-v9.schema.json
+++ b/aiida/manage/configuration/schema/config-v9.schema.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "$schema": "http://json-schema.org/draft-07/schema",
-  "description": "Schema for AiiDA configuration files, format version 8",
+  "description": "Schema for AiiDA configuration files, format version 9",
   "type": "object",
   "definitions": {
     "options": {
@@ -124,6 +124,12 @@
           "minimum": 1,
           "description": "Maximum number of transport task attempts before a Process is Paused."
         },
+        "rest_api.profile_switching": {
+          "type": "boolean",
+          "default": false,
+          "description": "Toggle whether the profile can be specified in requests submitted to the REST API",
+          "global_only": true
+        },
         "rmq.task_timeout": {
           "type": "integer",
           "default": 10,
diff --git a/aiida/restapi/resources.py b/aiida/restapi/resources.py
index c99a64975e..579f47ec3a 100644
--- a/aiida/restapi/resources.py
+++ b/aiida/restapi/resources.py
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
 from flask_restful import Resource
 
 from aiida.common.lang import classproperty
-from aiida.manage import load_profile
+from aiida.manage import get_config_option, load_profile
 from aiida.restapi.common.exceptions import RestInputValidationError
 from aiida.restapi.common.utils import Utils, close_thread_connection
 from aiida.restapi.translator.nodes.node import NodeTranslator
@@ -153,13 +153,18 @@ def _load_and_verify(self, node_id=None):
 
         return node
 
-    def load_profile(self, profile):
+    def load_profile(self, profile=None):
         """Load the required profile.
 
         This will load the profile specified by the ``profile`` keyword in the query parameters, and if not specified it
         will default to the profile defined in the constructor.
         """
-        load_profile(profile, allow_switch=True)
+        profile_switching_enabled = get_config_option('rest_api.profile_switching')
+
+        if profile is not None and not profile_switching_enabled:
+            raise RestInputValidationError('specifying an explicit profile is not enabled for this REST API.')
+
+        load_profile(profile or self.profile, allow_switch=True)
 
     def get(self, id=None, page=None):  # pylint: disable=redefined-builtin,invalid-name,unused-argument
         # pylint: disable=too-many-locals
diff --git a/docs/source/howto/share_data.rst b/docs/source/howto/share_data.rst
index f707c50165..1a5314688c 100644
--- a/docs/source/howto/share_data.rst
+++ b/docs/source/howto/share_data.rst
@@ -277,6 +277,29 @@ Here are some examples to try::
 
 For an extensive user documentation of the endpoints, the query string as well as the format of the responses, see the :ref:`AiiDA REST API reference <reference:rest-api>`.
 
+.. versionadded:: 2.1.0
+
+It is possible to allow a request to declare a specific profile for which to run the profile.
+This makes it possible to use a single REST API to serve the content of all configured profiles.
+The profile switching functionality is disabled by default but can be enabled through the config:
+
+.. code-block:: console
+
+    verdi config set rest_api.profile_switching True
+
+After the REST API is restarted, it will now accept the `profile` query parameter, for example:
+
+.. code-block:: console
+
+    http://127.0.0.1:5000/api/v4/computers?profile=some-profile-name
+
+If the specified is already loaded, the REST API functions exactly as without profile switching enabled.
+If another profile is specified, the REST API will first switch profiles before executing the request.
+
+.. note::
+
+    If the profile parameter is specified in a request and the REST API does not have profile switching enabled, a 400 response is returned.
+
 .. _how-to:share:serve:deploy:
 
 Deploying a REST API server