diff --git a/beacon_node/beacon_chain/src/builder.rs b/beacon_node/beacon_chain/src/builder.rs
index 62df1eb1fb..45375ec01e 100644
--- a/beacon_node/beacon_chain/src/builder.rs
+++ b/beacon_node/beacon_chain/src/builder.rs
@@ -267,9 +267,11 @@ where
         self.genesis_time = Some(genesis_state.genesis_time());
 
         // Prune finalized execution payloads.
-        store
-            .try_prune_execution_payloads(false)
-            .map_err(|e| format!("Error pruning execution payloads: {e:?}"))?;
+        if store.get_config().prune_payloads_on_init {
+            store
+                .try_prune_execution_payloads(false)
+                .map_err(|e| format!("Error pruning execution payloads: {e:?}"))?;
+        }
 
         self.op_pool = Some(
             store
diff --git a/beacon_node/src/cli.rs b/beacon_node/src/cli.rs
index 3c421a1a3f..d9d5c715b4 100644
--- a/beacon_node/src/cli.rs
+++ b/beacon_node/src/cli.rs
@@ -515,6 +515,13 @@ pub fn cli_app<'a, 'b>() -> App<'a, 'b> {
                 .takes_value(true)
                 .default_value("true")
         )
+        .arg(
+            Arg::with_name("prune-payloads-on-startup")
+                .long("prune-payloads-on-startup")
+                .help("Check for execution payloads to prune on start-up.")
+                .takes_value(true)
+                .default_value("true")
+        )
 
         /*
          * Misc.
diff --git a/beacon_node/src/config.rs b/beacon_node/src/config.rs
index b57ba02687..368fce573d 100644
--- a/beacon_node/src/config.rs
+++ b/beacon_node/src/config.rs
@@ -358,6 +358,12 @@ pub fn get_config<E: EthSpec>(
             .map_err(|_| "auto-compact-db takes a boolean".to_string())?;
     }
 
+    if let Some(prune_payloads_on_init) =
+        clap_utils::parse_optional(cli_args, "prune-payloads-on-startup")?
+    {
+        client_config.store.prune_payloads_on_init = prune_payloads_on_init;
+    }
+
     /*
      * Zero-ports
      *
diff --git a/beacon_node/store/src/config.rs b/beacon_node/store/src/config.rs
index 4268ec2e91..9bc9ee8a45 100644
--- a/beacon_node/store/src/config.rs
+++ b/beacon_node/store/src/config.rs
@@ -21,6 +21,8 @@ pub struct StoreConfig {
     pub compact_on_init: bool,
     /// Whether to compact the database during database pruning.
     pub compact_on_prune: bool,
+    /// Whether to try pruning execution payloads on initialization.
+    pub prune_payloads_on_init: bool,
 }
 
 /// Variant of `StoreConfig` that gets written to disk. Contains immutable configuration params.
@@ -43,6 +45,7 @@ impl Default for StoreConfig {
             block_cache_size: DEFAULT_BLOCK_CACHE_SIZE,
             compact_on_init: false,
             compact_on_prune: true,
+            prune_payloads_on_init: true,
         }
     }
 }
diff --git a/lighthouse/tests/beacon_node.rs b/lighthouse/tests/beacon_node.rs
index b28c1a0c3e..aed8ebf394 100644
--- a/lighthouse/tests/beacon_node.rs
+++ b/lighthouse/tests/beacon_node.rs
@@ -1227,6 +1227,19 @@ fn compact_db_flag() {
         .with_config(|config| assert!(config.store.compact_on_init));
 }
 #[test]
+fn prune_payloads_on_startup_default() {
+    CommandLineTest::new()
+        .run_with_zero_port()
+        .with_config(|config| assert!(config.store.prune_payloads_on_init));
+}
+#[test]
+fn prune_payloads_on_startup_false() {
+    CommandLineTest::new()
+        .flag("prune-payloads-on-startup", Some("false"))
+        .run_with_zero_port()
+        .with_config(|config| assert!(!config.store.prune_payloads_on_init));
+}
+#[test]
 fn reconstruct_historic_states_flag() {
     CommandLineTest::new()
         .flag("reconstruct-historic-states", None)