diff --git a/internal/config/config.go b/internal/config/config.go
index 566f8e5..f5cb646 100644
--- a/internal/config/config.go
+++ b/internal/config/config.go
@@ -43,8 +43,8 @@ type Config struct {
 	LogLevel              string                  `default:"INFO" desc:"Log level" split_words:"true"`
 	OpenTelemetryEndpoint string                  `default:"otel-collector.observability.svc.cluster.local:4317" desc:"OpenTelemetry Collector Endpoint"`
 
-	LocalDNSServerAddress string `default:"127.0.0.1:53" desc:"Default address for local DNS server"`
-
+	LocalDNSServerAddress string        `default:"127.0.0.1:53" desc:"Default address for local DNS server"`
+	LocalDNSServerEnabled bool          `default:"false" desc:"Local DNS Server enabled/disabled"`
 	LivenessCheckEnabled  bool          `default:"true" desc:"Dataplane liveness check enabled/disabled"`
 	LivenessCheckInterval time.Duration `default:"200ms" desc:"Dataplane liveness check interval"`
 	LivenessCheckTimeout  time.Duration `default:"1s" desc:"Dataplane liveness check timeout"`
diff --git a/main.go b/main.go
index d9f5669..03b0a3f 100644
--- a/main.go
+++ b/main.go
@@ -56,6 +56,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/networkservicemesh/sdk/pkg/networkservice/common/mechanisms"
 	"github.com/networkservicemesh/sdk/pkg/networkservice/common/mechanisms/kernel"
 	"github.com/networkservicemesh/sdk/pkg/networkservice/common/mechanisms/sendfd"
+	"github.com/networkservicemesh/sdk/pkg/networkservice/common/null"
 	"github.com/networkservicemesh/sdk/pkg/networkservice/common/retry"
 	"github.com/networkservicemesh/sdk/pkg/networkservice/common/upstreamrefresh"
 	"github.com/networkservicemesh/sdk/pkg/networkservice/connectioncontext/dnscontext"
@@ -163,18 +164,21 @@ func main() {
 		),
 	)
 
-	dnsConfigsMap := new(dnsconfig.Map)
-	dnsServerHandler := next.NewDNSHandler(
-		checkmsg.NewDNSHandler(),
-		dnsconfigs.NewDNSHandler(dnsConfigsMap),
-		searches.NewDNSHandler(),
-		noloop.NewDNSHandler(),
-		cache.NewDNSHandler(),
-		fanout.NewDNSHandler(),
-	)
-
-	go dnsutils.ListenAndServe(ctx, dnsServerHandler, c.LocalDNSServerAddress)
-
+	dnsClient := null.NewClient()
+	if c.LocalDNSServerEnabled {
+		dnsConfigsMap := new(dnsconfig.Map)
+		dnsClient = dnscontext.NewClient(dnscontext.WithChainContext(ctx), dnscontext.WithDNSConfigsMap(dnsConfigsMap))
+		dnsServerHandler := next.NewDNSHandler(
+			checkmsg.NewDNSHandler(),
+			dnsconfigs.NewDNSHandler(dnsConfigsMap),
+			searches.NewDNSHandler(),
+			noloop.NewDNSHandler(),
+			cache.NewDNSHandler(),
+			fanout.NewDNSHandler(),
+		)
+
+		go dnsutils.ListenAndServe(ctx, dnsServerHandler, c.LocalDNSServerAddress)
+	}
 	var healOptions = []heal.Option{heal.WithLivenessCheckInterval(c.LivenessCheckInterval),
 		heal.WithLivenessCheckTimeout(c.LivenessCheckTimeout)}
 
@@ -196,7 +200,7 @@ func main() {
 				kernelmech.MECHANISM: chain.NewNetworkServiceClient(kernel.NewClient()),
 			}),
 			sendfd.NewClient(),
-			dnscontext.NewClient(dnscontext.WithChainContext(ctx), dnscontext.WithDNSConfigsMap(dnsConfigsMap)),
+			dnsClient,
 			excludedprefixes.NewClient(excludedprefixes.WithAwarenessGroups(c.AwarenessGroups)),
 		),
 		client.WithDialTimeout(c.DialTimeout),
@@ -299,7 +303,6 @@ func main() {
 		logger.Infof("successfully connected to %v. Response: %v", u.NetworkService(), resp)
 	}
 
-
 	// Wait for cancel event to terminate
 	<-signalCtx.Done()
 }