diff --git a/api/src/main/java/org/apache/cloudstack/storage/volume/VolumeImportUnmanageService.java b/api/src/main/java/org/apache/cloudstack/storage/volume/VolumeImportUnmanageService.java
index 5f69f3e46e73..78c598272e03 100644
--- a/api/src/main/java/org/apache/cloudstack/storage/volume/VolumeImportUnmanageService.java
+++ b/api/src/main/java/org/apache/cloudstack/storage/volume/VolumeImportUnmanageService.java
@@ -25,11 +25,13 @@
 import org.apache.cloudstack.api.response.ListResponse;
 import org.apache.cloudstack.api.response.VolumeForImportResponse;
 import org.apache.cloudstack.api.response.VolumeResponse;
+import org.apache.cloudstack.framework.config.ConfigKey;
+import org.apache.cloudstack.framework.config.Configurable;
 
 import java.util.Arrays;
 import java.util.List;
 
-public interface VolumeImportUnmanageService extends PluggableService {
+public interface VolumeImportUnmanageService extends PluggableService, Configurable {
 
      List<Hypervisor.HypervisorType> SUPPORTED_HYPERVISORS =
             Arrays.asList(Hypervisor.HypervisorType.KVM, Hypervisor.HypervisorType.VMware);
@@ -37,6 +39,15 @@ public interface VolumeImportUnmanageService extends PluggableService {
     List<Storage.StoragePoolType> SUPPORTED_STORAGE_POOL_TYPES_FOR_KVM = Arrays.asList(Storage.StoragePoolType.NetworkFilesystem,
             Storage.StoragePoolType.Filesystem, Storage.StoragePoolType.RBD);
 
+    ConfigKey<Boolean> AllowImportVolumeWithBackingFile = new ConfigKey<>(Boolean.class,
+            "allow.import.volume.with.backing.file",
+            "Advanced",
+            "false",
+            "If enabled, allows QCOW2 volumes with backing files to be imported or unmanaged",
+            true,
+            ConfigKey.Scope.Global,
+            null);
+
     ListResponse<VolumeForImportResponse> listVolumesForImport(ListVolumesForImportCmd cmd);
 
     VolumeResponse importVolume(ImportVolumeCmd cmd);
diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/apache/cloudstack/storage/volume/VolumeImportUnmanageManagerImpl.java b/server/src/main/java/org/apache/cloudstack/storage/volume/VolumeImportUnmanageManagerImpl.java
index 383644f9aa20..62b5ac38ee2e 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/apache/cloudstack/storage/volume/VolumeImportUnmanageManagerImpl.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/apache/cloudstack/storage/volume/VolumeImportUnmanageManagerImpl.java
@@ -68,6 +68,7 @@
 import org.apache.cloudstack.api.response.VolumeResponse;
 import org.apache.cloudstack.context.CallContext;
 import org.apache.cloudstack.engine.orchestration.service.VolumeOrchestrationService;
+import org.apache.cloudstack.framework.config.ConfigKey;
 import org.apache.cloudstack.storage.datastore.db.PrimaryDataStoreDao;
 import org.apache.cloudstack.storage.datastore.db.SnapshotDataStoreDao;
 import org.apache.cloudstack.storage.datastore.db.StoragePoolVO;
@@ -394,7 +395,7 @@ protected void checkIfVolumeHasBackingFile(VolumeOnStorageTO volume) {
         Map<VolumeOnStorageTO.Detail, String> volumeDetails = volume.getDetails();
         if (volumeDetails != null && volumeDetails.containsKey(VolumeOnStorageTO.Detail.BACKING_FILE)) {
             String backingFile = volumeDetails.get(VolumeOnStorageTO.Detail.BACKING_FILE);
-            if (StringUtils.isNotBlank(backingFile)) {
+            if (StringUtils.isNotBlank(backingFile) && !AllowImportVolumeWithBackingFile.value()) {
                 logFailureAndThrowException("Volume with backing file cannot be imported or unmanaged.");
             }
         }
@@ -513,4 +514,16 @@ private void unmanageVolumeFromDatabase(VolumeVO volume) {
         volume.setRemoved(new Date());
         volumeDao.update(volume.getId(), volume);
     }
+
+    @Override
+    public String getConfigComponentName() {
+        return VolumeImportUnmanageManagerImpl.class.getSimpleName();
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public ConfigKey<?>[] getConfigKeys() {
+        return new ConfigKey<?>[]{
+                AllowImportVolumeWithBackingFile
+        };
+    }
 }
diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/apache/cloudstack/vm/UnmanagedVMsManagerImpl.java b/server/src/main/java/org/apache/cloudstack/vm/UnmanagedVMsManagerImpl.java
index 13fa2608016c..8bc710d113f0 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/apache/cloudstack/vm/UnmanagedVMsManagerImpl.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/apache/cloudstack/vm/UnmanagedVMsManagerImpl.java
@@ -195,6 +195,7 @@
 
 import static org.apache.cloudstack.api.ApiConstants.MAX_IOPS;
 import static org.apache.cloudstack.api.ApiConstants.MIN_IOPS;
+import static org.apache.cloudstack.storage.volume.VolumeImportUnmanageService.AllowImportVolumeWithBackingFile;
 import static org.apache.cloudstack.vm.ImportVmTask.Step.CloningInstance;
 import static org.apache.cloudstack.vm.ImportVmTask.Step.Completed;
 import static org.apache.cloudstack.vm.ImportVmTask.Step.ConvertingInstance;
@@ -2908,7 +2909,7 @@ private void checkVolume(Map<VolumeOnStorageTO.Detail, String> volumeDetails) {
         }
         if (volumeDetails.containsKey(VolumeOnStorageTO.Detail.BACKING_FILE)) {
             String backingFile = volumeDetails.get(VolumeOnStorageTO.Detail.BACKING_FILE);
-            if (StringUtils.isNotBlank(backingFile)) {
+            if (StringUtils.isNotBlank(backingFile) && !AllowImportVolumeWithBackingFile.value()) {
                 logFailureAndThrowException("Volume with backing file cannot be imported or unmanaged.");
             }
         }