diff --git a/northd/ovn-northd.8.xml b/northd/ovn-northd.8.xml
index 989e364..df43eb6 100644
--- a/northd/ovn-northd.8.xml
+++ b/northd/ovn-northd.8.xml
@@ -763,9 +763,11 @@ output;
 
         <p>
           These flows are omitted for logical ports (other than router ports or
-          <code>localport</code> ports) that are down, for logical ports of
-          type <code>virtual</code> and for logical ports with 'unknown'
-          address set.
+          <code>localport</code> ports) that are down (unless <code>
+          check_lsp_is_up</code> is configured as false in <code>options</code>
+          column of <code>NB_Global</code> table of the <code>Northbound</code>
+          database), for logical ports of type <code>virtual</code> and for
+          logical ports with 'unknown' address set.
         </p>
       </li>
 
@@ -812,8 +814,11 @@ nd_na_router {
 
         <p>
           These flows are omitted for logical ports (other than router ports or
-          <code>localport</code> ports) that are down and for logical ports of
-          type <code>virtual</code>.
+          <code>localport</code> ports) that are down (unless <code>
+          check_lsp_is_up</code> is configured as false in <code>options</code>
+          column of <code>NB_Global</code> table of the <code>Northbound</code>
+          database), for logical ports of type <code>virtual</code> and for
+          logical ports with 'unknown' address set.
         </p>
       </li>
 
diff --git a/northd/ovn-northd.c b/northd/ovn-northd.c
index 7be0e85..291713e 100644
--- a/northd/ovn-northd.c
+++ b/northd/ovn-northd.c
@@ -86,6 +86,8 @@ static struct eth_addr mac_prefix;
 
 static bool controller_event_en;
 
+static bool check_lsp_is_up;
+
 /* MAC allocated for service monitor usage. Just one mac is allocated
  * for this purpose and ovn-controller's on each chassis will make use
  * of this mac when sending out the packets to monitor the services
@@ -6739,7 +6741,8 @@ build_lswitch_flows(struct hmap *datapaths, struct hmap *ports,
              *  - port type is router or
              *  - port type is localport
              */
-            if (!lsp_is_up(op->nbsp) && strcmp(op->nbsp->type, "router") &&
+            if (check_lsp_is_up &&
+                !lsp_is_up(op->nbsp) && strcmp(op->nbsp->type, "router") &&
                 strcmp(op->nbsp->type, "localport")) {
                 continue;
             }
@@ -11722,6 +11725,8 @@ ovnnb_db_run(struct northd_context *ctx,
 
     controller_event_en = smap_get_bool(&nb->options,
                                         "controller_event", false);
+    check_lsp_is_up = smap_get_bool(&nb->options,
+                                    "check_lsp_is_up", true);
 
     build_datapaths(ctx, datapaths, lr_list);
     build_ports(ctx, sbrec_chassis_by_name, datapaths, ports);
diff --git a/ovn-nb.xml b/ovn-nb.xml
index 1f2dbb9..4e34518 100644
--- a/ovn-nb.xml
+++ b/ovn-nb.xml
@@ -147,6 +147,24 @@
         </p>
       </column>
 
+      <column name="options" key="check_lsp_is_up">
+        <p>
+          If set to true, ARP/ND reply flows for logical switch ports will be
+          installed only if the port is up, i.e. claimed by a Chassis. If set
+          to false, these flows are installed regardless of the status of the
+          port, which can result in a situation that ARP request to an IP is
+          resolved even before the relevant VM/container is running. For
+          environments where this is not an issue, setting it to
+          <code>false</code> can reduce the load and latency of the control
+          plane. The default value is <code>true</code>.
+        </p>
+
+        <p>
+          If the value is nonzero, then it will be forced to a value of
+          at least 1000 ms.
+        </p>
+      </column>
+
       <group title="Options for configuring interconnection route advertisement">
         <p>
           These options control how routes are advertised between OVN
diff --git a/tests/ovn-northd.at b/tests/ovn-northd.at
index 8344c7f..c98df49 100644
--- a/tests/ovn-northd.at
+++ b/tests/ovn-northd.at
@@ -1781,3 +1781,17 @@ AT_CHECK([ovn-sbctl lflow-list | grep "ls_out_pre_lb.*priority=100" | grep reg0
 ])
 
 AT_CLEANUP
+
+AT_SETUP([ovn -- disable check_lsp_is_up])
+ovn_start
+
+ovn-nbctl ls-add sw0
+ovn-nbctl lsp-add sw0 sw0-p1 -- lsp-set-addresses sw0-p1 "aa:aa:aa:aa:aa:aa 10.0.0.1"
+
+ovn-nbctl --wait=sb sync
+AT_CHECK([ovn-sbctl lflow-list | grep arp | grep 10\.0\.0\.1], [1], [ignore])
+
+ovn-nbctl --wait=sb set NB_Global . options:check_lsp_is_up=false
+AT_CHECK([ovn-sbctl lflow-list | grep arp | grep 10\.0\.0\.1], [0], [ignore])
+
+AT_CLEANUP
