diff --git a/core/src/system_monitor_service.rs b/core/src/system_monitor_service.rs
index d310aba208..3b6b07c284 100644
--- a/core/src/system_monitor_service.rs
+++ b/core/src/system_monitor_service.rs
@@ -95,12 +95,12 @@ pub fn verify_udp_stats_access() -> Result<(), String> {
 }
 
 impl SystemMonitorService {
-    pub fn new(exit: Arc<AtomicBool>) -> Self {
+    pub fn new(exit: Arc<AtomicBool>, report_os_network_stats: bool) -> Self {
         info!("Starting SystemMonitorService");
         let thread_hdl = Builder::new()
             .name("system-monitor".to_string())
             .spawn(move || {
-                Self::run(exit);
+                Self::run(exit, report_os_network_stats);
             })
             .unwrap();
 
@@ -173,21 +173,19 @@ impl SystemMonitorService {
         );
     }
 
-    pub fn run(exit: Arc<AtomicBool>) {
+    pub fn run(exit: Arc<AtomicBool>, report_os_network_stats: bool) {
         let mut udp_stats = None;
-
         let mut now = Instant::now();
         loop {
             if exit.load(Ordering::Relaxed) {
                 break;
             }
-
             if now.elapsed() >= SAMPLE_INTERVAL {
                 now = Instant::now();
-
-                SystemMonitorService::process_udp_stats(&mut udp_stats);
+                if report_os_network_stats {
+                    SystemMonitorService::process_udp_stats(&mut udp_stats);
+                }
             }
-
             sleep(SLEEP_INTERVAL);
         }
     }
diff --git a/core/src/validator.rs b/core/src/validator.rs
index 535bfbc057..5238e51df5 100644
--- a/core/src/validator.rs
+++ b/core/src/validator.rs
@@ -141,6 +141,7 @@ pub struct ValidatorConfig {
     pub bpf_jit: bool,
     pub send_transaction_service_config: send_transaction_service::Config,
     pub no_poh_speed_test: bool,
+    pub no_os_network_stats_reporting: bool,
     pub poh_pinned_cpu_core: usize,
     pub poh_hashes_per_batch: u64,
     pub account_indexes: AccountSecondaryIndexes,
@@ -199,6 +200,7 @@ impl Default for ValidatorConfig {
             bpf_jit: false,
             send_transaction_service_config: send_transaction_service::Config::default(),
             no_poh_speed_test: true,
+            no_os_network_stats_reporting: true,
             poh_pinned_cpu_core: poh_service::DEFAULT_PINNED_CPU_CORE,
             poh_hashes_per_batch: poh_service::DEFAULT_HASHES_PER_BATCH,
             account_indexes: AccountSecondaryIndexes::default(),
@@ -431,11 +433,16 @@ impl Validator {
 
         *start_progress.write().unwrap() = ValidatorStartProgress::StartingServices;
 
-        verify_udp_stats_access().unwrap_or_else(|err| {
-            error!("Failed to access UDP stats: {}", err);
-            abort();
-        });
-        let system_monitor_service = Some(SystemMonitorService::new(Arc::clone(&exit)));
+        if !config.no_os_network_stats_reporting {
+            verify_udp_stats_access().unwrap_or_else(|err| {
+                error!("Failed to access UDP stats: {}. Bypass check with --no-os-network-stats-reporting.", err);
+                abort();
+            });
+        }
+        let system_monitor_service = Some(SystemMonitorService::new(
+            Arc::clone(&exit),
+            !config.no_os_network_stats_reporting,
+        ));
 
         let leader_schedule_cache = Arc::new(leader_schedule_cache);
         let bank = bank_forks.working_bank();
diff --git a/local-cluster/src/validator_configs.rs b/local-cluster/src/validator_configs.rs
index d2ad59074e..df943536d6 100644
--- a/local-cluster/src/validator_configs.rs
+++ b/local-cluster/src/validator_configs.rs
@@ -45,6 +45,7 @@ pub fn safe_clone_config(config: &ValidatorConfig) -> ValidatorConfig {
         bpf_jit: config.bpf_jit,
         send_transaction_service_config: config.send_transaction_service_config.clone(),
         no_poh_speed_test: config.no_poh_speed_test,
+        no_os_network_stats_reporting: config.no_os_network_stats_reporting,
         poh_pinned_cpu_core: config.poh_pinned_cpu_core,
         account_indexes: config.account_indexes.clone(),
         accounts_db_caching_enabled: config.accounts_db_caching_enabled,
diff --git a/validator/src/main.rs b/validator/src/main.rs
index 01023ff44a..ded5ebeab4 100644
--- a/validator/src/main.rs
+++ b/validator/src/main.rs
@@ -1430,6 +1430,11 @@ pub fn main() {
                 .default_value("100")
                 .help("Number of slots between generating accounts hash."),
         )
+        .arg(
+            Arg::with_name("no_os_network_stats_reporting")
+                .long("no-os-network-stats-reporting")
+                .help("Disable reporting of OS network statistics.")
+        )
         .arg(
             Arg::with_name("snapshot_version")
                 .long("snapshot-version")
@@ -2503,6 +2508,7 @@ pub fn main() {
             ),
         },
         no_poh_speed_test: matches.is_present("no_poh_speed_test"),
+        no_os_network_stats_reporting: matches.is_present("no_os_network_stats_reporting"),
         poh_pinned_cpu_core: value_of(&matches, "poh_pinned_cpu_core")
             .unwrap_or(poh_service::DEFAULT_PINNED_CPU_CORE),
         poh_hashes_per_batch: value_of(&matches, "poh_hashes_per_batch")