diff --git a/src/common/checksums.cpp b/src/common/checksums.cpp
index 245bcaa37..278277c1e 100644
--- a/src/common/checksums.cpp
+++ b/src/common/checksums.cpp
@@ -133,6 +133,12 @@ QByteArray contentChecksumType()
     return type;
 }
 
+static bool checksumComputationEnabled()
+{
+    static bool enabled = qgetenv("OWNCLOUD_DISABLE_CHECKSUM_COMPUTATIONS").isEmpty();
+    return enabled;
+}
+
 ComputeChecksum::ComputeChecksum(QObject *parent)
     : QObject(parent)
 {
@@ -150,6 +156,8 @@ QByteArray ComputeChecksum::checksumType() const
 
 void ComputeChecksum::start(const QString &filePath)
 {
+    qCInfo(lcChecksums) << "Computing" << checksumType() << "checksum of" << filePath << "in a thread";
+
     // Calculate the checksum in a different thread first.
     connect(&_watcher, &QFutureWatcherBase::finished,
         this, &ComputeChecksum::slotCalculationDone,
@@ -159,6 +167,11 @@ void ComputeChecksum::start(const QString &filePath)
 
 QByteArray ComputeChecksum::computeNow(const QString &filePath, const QByteArray &checksumType)
 {
+    if (!checksumComputationEnabled()) {
+        qCWarning(lcChecksums) << "Checksum computation disabled by environment variable";
+        return QByteArray();
+    }
+
     if (checksumType == checkSumMD5C) {
         return FileSystem::calcMd5(filePath);
     } else if (checksumType == checkSumSHA1C) {
@@ -237,6 +250,7 @@ QByteArray CSyncChecksumHook::hook(const QByteArray &path, const QByteArray &oth
     if (type.isEmpty())
         return NULL;
 
+    qCInfo(lcChecksums) << "Computing" << type << "checksum of" << path << "in the csync hook";
     QByteArray checksum = ComputeChecksum::computeNow(QString::fromUtf8(path), type);
     if (checksum.isNull()) {
         qCWarning(lcChecksums) << "Failed to compute checksum" << type << "for" << path;