diff --git a/cmd/autothrottle/main.go b/cmd/autothrottle/main.go
index 90d78d5..15c407b 100644
--- a/cmd/autothrottle/main.go
+++ b/cmd/autothrottle/main.go
@@ -27,29 +27,30 @@ var (
 
 	// Config holds configuration parameters.
 	Config struct {
-		KafkaNativeMode        bool
-		KafkaAPIRequestTimeout int
-		APIKey                 string
-		AppKey                 string
-		NetworkTXQuery         string
-		NetworkRXQuery         string
-		BrokerIDTag            string
-		InstanceTypeTag        string
-		MetricsWindow          int
-		BootstrapServers       string
-		ZKAddr                 string
-		ZKPrefix               string
-		Interval               int
-		APIListen              string
-		ConfigZKPrefix         string
-		DDEventTags            string
-		MinRate                float64
-		SourceMaxRate          float64
-		DestinationMaxRate     float64
-		ChangeThreshold        float64
-		FailureThreshold       int
-		CapMap                 map[string]float64
-		CleanupAfter           int64
+		KafkaNativeMode         bool
+		KafkaAPIRequestTimeout  int
+		APIKey                  string
+		AppKey                  string
+		NetworkTXQuery          string
+		NetworkRXQuery          string
+		BrokerIDTag             string
+		InstanceTypeTag         string
+		MetricsWindow           int
+		BootstrapServers        string
+		ZKAddr                  string
+		ZKPrefix                string
+		Interval                int
+		APIListen               string
+		ConfigZKPrefix          string
+		DDEventTags             string
+		MinRate                 float64
+		SourceMaxRate           float64
+		DestinationMaxRate      float64
+		ChangeThreshold         float64
+		FailureThreshold        int
+		CapMap                  map[string]float64
+		CleanupAfter            int64
+		SkipAutoDeleteThrottles bool
 	}
 )
 
@@ -78,6 +79,7 @@ func main() {
 	flag.IntVar(&Config.FailureThreshold, "failure-threshold", 1, "Number of iterations that throttle determinations can fail before reverting to the min-rate")
 	m := flag.String("cap-map", "", "JSON map of instance types to network capacity in MB/s")
 	flag.Int64Var(&Config.CleanupAfter, "cleanup-after", 60, "Number of intervals after which to issue a global throttle unset if no replication is running")
+	flag.BoolVar(&Config.SkipAutoDeleteThrottles, "skip-auto-delete-throttles", false, "Skip automatic throttle removal")
 
 	envy.Parse("AUTOTHROTTLE")
 	flag.Parse()
@@ -422,31 +424,35 @@ func main() {
 
 		// If there's previously set throttles but no topics reassigning nor
 		// broker overrides set, we can issue a global throttle removal.
-		if throttlesToClear && !topicsReassigning && !brokerOverridesSet {
+		if !topicsReassigning && throttlesToClear && !brokerOverridesSet {
 			// Reset the interval count.
 			interval = 0
 
-			// Remove all the broker + topic throttle configs.
-			err := throttleManager.RemoveAllThrottles()
-			if err != nil {
-				log.Printf("Error removing throttles: %s\n", err.Error())
+			if Config.SkipAutoDeleteThrottles {
+				log.Println("There may be throttles eligible for removal, but skipping automatic removal since skip-auto-delete-throttles is set")
 			} else {
-				// Only set knownThrottles to false if we've removed all
-				// without error.
-				knownThrottles = false
-			}
-
-			// Ensure topic throttle updates are re-enabled.
-			throttleManager.EnableTopicUpdates()
-			throttleManager.EnableOverrideTopicUpdates()
-
-			// Remove any configured throttle overrides if AutoRemove is true.
-			if overrideCfg.AutoRemove {
-				err := throttlestore.StoreThrottleOverride(zk, api.OverrideRateZnodePath, throttlestore.ThrottleOverrideConfig{})
+				// Remove all the broker + topic throttle configs.
+				err := throttleManager.RemoveAllThrottles()
 				if err != nil {
-					log.Println(err)
+					log.Printf("Error removing throttles: %s\n", err.Error())
 				} else {
-					log.Println("Global throttle override removed")
+					// Only set knownThrottles to false if we've removed all
+					// without error.
+					knownThrottles = false
+				}
+
+				// Ensure topic throttle updates are re-enabled.
+				throttleManager.EnableTopicUpdates()
+				throttleManager.EnableOverrideTopicUpdates()
+
+				// Remove any configured throttle overrides if AutoRemove is true.
+				if overrideCfg.AutoRemove {
+					err := throttlestore.StoreThrottleOverride(zk, api.OverrideRateZnodePath, throttlestore.ThrottleOverrideConfig{})
+					if err != nil {
+						log.Println(err)
+					} else {
+						log.Println("Global throttle override removed")
+					}
 				}
 			}
 		}