diff --git a/src/NuGetGallery/App_Data/Files/Content/ReadOnly.md b/src/NuGetGallery/App_Data/Files/Content/ReadOnly.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..15a14ceaa1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/NuGetGallery/App_Data/Files/Content/ReadOnly.md
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+<div class="banner-warning">The site is undergoing maintenance and is in read-only mode. Follow <a href="http://twitter.com/nuget">@nuget</a> on Twitter for updates.</div>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/NuGetGallery/Constants.cs b/src/NuGetGallery/Constants.cs
index 5d77341fb2..45cf7f90bf 100644
--- a/src/NuGetGallery/Constants.cs
+++ b/src/NuGetGallery/Constants.cs
@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@ public static class ContentNames
         {
             public static readonly string Home = "Home";
             public static readonly string Alert = "Alert";
+            public static readonly string ReadOnly = "ReadOnly";
             public static readonly string TermsOfUse = "Terms-Of-Use";
             public static readonly string PrivacyPolicy = "Privacy-Policy";
             public static readonly string Team = "Team";
diff --git a/src/NuGetGallery/Controllers/ApiController.cs b/src/NuGetGallery/Controllers/ApiController.cs
index 3fac4bca59..75c0d16fe1 100644
--- a/src/NuGetGallery/Controllers/ApiController.cs
+++ b/src/NuGetGallery/Controllers/ApiController.cs
@@ -15,11 +15,13 @@
 using NuGetGallery.Authentication;
 using NuGetGallery.Filters;
 using NuGetGallery.Packaging;
+using NuGetGallery.Configuration;
 
 namespace NuGetGallery
 {
     public partial class ApiController : AppController
     {
+        private readonly IAppConfiguration _config;
         public IEntitiesContext EntitiesContext { get; set; }
         public INuGetExeDownloaderService NugetExeDownloaderService { get; set; }
         public IPackageFileService PackageFileService { get; set; }
@@ -44,7 +46,8 @@ public partial class ApiController : AppController
             IIndexingService indexingService,
             ISearchService searchService,
             IAutomaticallyCuratePackageCommand autoCuratePackage,
-            IStatusService statusService)
+            IStatusService statusService,
+            IAppConfiguration config)
         {
             EntitiesContext = entitiesContext;
             PackageService = packageService;
@@ -57,6 +60,7 @@ public partial class ApiController : AppController
             SearchService = searchService;
             AutoCuratePackage = autoCuratePackage;
             StatusService = statusService;
+            _config = config;
         }
 
         public ApiController(
@@ -70,8 +74,9 @@ public partial class ApiController : AppController
             ISearchService searchService,
             IAutomaticallyCuratePackageCommand autoCuratePackage,
             IStatusService statusService,
-            IStatisticsService statisticsService)
-            : this(entitiesContext, packageService, packageFileService, userService, nugetExeDownloaderService, contentService, indexingService, searchService, autoCuratePackage, statusService)
+            IStatisticsService statisticsService,
+            IAppConfiguration config)
+            : this(entitiesContext, packageService, packageFileService, userService, nugetExeDownloaderService, contentService, indexingService, searchService, autoCuratePackage, statusService, config)
         {
             StatisticsService = statisticsService;
         }
@@ -336,8 +341,19 @@ public virtual ActionResult PublishPackage(string id, string version)
 
         public virtual async Task<ActionResult> ServiceAlert()
         {
+            string alertString = null;
             var alert = await ContentService.GetContentItemAsync(Constants.ContentNames.Alert, TimeSpan.Zero);
-            return Content(alert == null ? (string)null : alert.ToString(), "text/html");
+            if (alert != null)
+            {
+                alertString = alert.ToString();
+            }
+            
+            if (String.IsNullOrEmpty(alertString) && _config.ReadOnlyMode)
+            {
+                var readOnly = await ContentService.GetContentItemAsync(Constants.ContentNames.ReadOnly, TimeSpan.Zero);
+                alertString = (readOnly == null) ? (string)null : readOnly.ToString();
+            }
+            return Content(alertString, "text/html");
         }
 
         public virtual async Task<ActionResult> Team()
diff --git a/src/NuGetGallery/NuGetGallery.csproj b/src/NuGetGallery/NuGetGallery.csproj
index 573277f206..671148e677 100644
--- a/src/NuGetGallery/NuGetGallery.csproj
+++ b/src/NuGetGallery/NuGetGallery.csproj
@@ -963,6 +963,7 @@
     <Compile Include="RequestModels\ModifyCuratedPackageRequest.cs" />
     <Compile Include="RequestModels\CreateCuratedPackageRequest.cs" />
     <Compile Include="RequestModels\VerifyPackageRequest.cs" />
+    <Content Include="App_Data\Files\Content\ReadOnly.md" />
     <None Include="Scripts\jquery-1.11.0.intellisense.js" />
     <Content Include="Scripts\jquery-1.11.0.js" />
     <Content Include="Scripts\jquery-1.11.0.min.js" />