diff --git a/src/help.c b/src/help.c
index 4aea75ea..8c2cf18b 100644
--- a/src/help.c
+++ b/src/help.c
@@ -131,6 +131,7 @@ help_pg_probackup(void)
 	printf(_("                 [--restore-as-replica]\n"));
 	printf(_("                 [--no-validate]\n"));
 	printf(_("                 [--skip-block-validation]\n"));
+	printf(_("                 [--skip-external-dirs]\n"));
 
 	printf(_("\n  %s validate -B backup-path [--instance=instance_name]\n"), PROGRAM_NAME);
 	printf(_("                 [-i backup-id] [--progress]\n"));
@@ -290,7 +291,8 @@ help_restore(void)
 	printf(_("                 [--immediate] [--recovery-target-name=target-name]\n"));
 	printf(_("                 [--recovery-target-action=pause|promote|shutdown]\n"));
 	printf(_("                 [--restore-as-replica] [--no-validate]\n"));
-	printf(_("                 [--skip-block-validation]\n\n"));
+	printf(_("                 [--skip-block-validation]\n"));
+	printf(_("                 [--skip-external-dirs]\n\n"));
 
 	printf(_("  -B, --backup-path=backup-path    location of the backup storage area\n"));
 	printf(_("      --instance=instance_name     name of the instance\n"));
@@ -320,6 +322,7 @@ help_restore(void)
 	printf(_("                                   to ease setting up a standby server\n"));
 	printf(_("      --no-validate                disable backup validation during restore\n"));
 	printf(_("      --skip-block-validation      set to validate only file-level checksum\n"));
+	printf(_("      --skip-external-dirs         do not restore all external directories\n"));
 
 	printf(_("\n  Logging options:\n"));
 	printf(_("      --log-level-console=log-level-console\n"));
diff --git a/src/pg_probackup.c b/src/pg_probackup.c
index d5b51df3..2677ab52 100644
--- a/src/pg_probackup.c
+++ b/src/pg_probackup.c
@@ -86,6 +86,7 @@ bool restore_as_replica = false;
 bool restore_no_validate = false;
 
 bool skip_block_validation = false;
+bool skip_external_dirs = false;
 
 /* delete options */
 bool		delete_wal = false;
@@ -153,6 +154,7 @@ static ConfigOption cmd_options[] =
 	{ 'b', 143, "no-validate",		&restore_no_validate,	SOURCE_CMD_STRICT },
 	{ 's', 144, "lsn",				&target_lsn,		SOURCE_CMD_STRICT },
 	{ 'b', 154, "skip-block-validation", &skip_block_validation,	SOURCE_CMD_STRICT },
+	{ 'b', 156, "skip-external-dirs", &skip_external_dirs,	SOURCE_CMD_STRICT },
 	/* delete options */
 	{ 'b', 145, "wal",				&delete_wal,		SOURCE_CMD_STRICT },
 	{ 'b', 146, "expired",			&delete_expired,	SOURCE_CMD_STRICT },
diff --git a/src/pg_probackup.h b/src/pg_probackup.h
index b435b427..2388a203 100644
--- a/src/pg_probackup.h
+++ b/src/pg_probackup.h
@@ -375,6 +375,7 @@ extern bool exclusive_backup;
 /* restore options */
 extern bool restore_as_replica;
 extern bool skip_block_validation;
+extern bool skip_external_dirs;
 
 /* delete options */
 extern bool		delete_wal;
diff --git a/src/restore.c b/src/restore.c
index 97505075..0d10ac35 100644
--- a/src/restore.c
+++ b/src/restore.c
@@ -480,7 +480,7 @@ restore_backup(pgBackup *backup, const char *external_dir_str)
 	pgBackupGetPath(backup, this_backup_path, lengthof(this_backup_path), NULL);
 	create_data_directories(instance_config.pgdata, this_backup_path, true);
 
-	if(external_dir_str)
+	if(external_dir_str && !skip_external_dirs)
 	{
 		requested_external_dirs = make_external_directory_list(external_dir_str);
 		for (i = 0; i < parray_num(requested_external_dirs); i++)
@@ -514,7 +514,7 @@ restore_backup(pgBackup *backup, const char *external_dir_str)
 	{
 		pgFile *file = (pgFile *) parray_get(files, i);
 
-		/* if the entry was an external directory, create it in the backup */
+		/* If the entry was an external directory, create it in the backup */
 		if (file->external_dir_num && S_ISDIR(file->mode))
 		{
 			char		dirpath[MAXPGPATH];