diff --git a/options/simple_options.cpp b/options/simple_options.cpp
index 3686d3cb..bc906ace 100644
--- a/options/simple_options.cpp
+++ b/options/simple_options.cpp
@@ -108,6 +108,9 @@ simple_options::build_options()
 
     po::options_description audit("Audit");
     audit.add_options()
+                (AUDIT_ENABLED.c_str(),
+                        po::value<bool>()->default_value(false),
+                        "enable audit module")
                 (AUDIT_MEM_SIZE.c_str(),
                         po::value<size_t>()->default_value(10000),
                         "max size of audit datastructures")
diff --git a/options/simple_options.hpp b/options/simple_options.hpp
index c6f23b23..3c340ee4 100644
--- a/options/simple_options.hpp
+++ b/options/simple_options.hpp
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
 namespace bzn::option_names
 {
     const std::string AUDIT_MEM_SIZE = "audit_mem_size";
+    const std::string AUDIT_ENABLED = "audit_enabled";
     const std::string BOOTSTRAP_PEERS_FILE = "bootstrap_file";
     const std::string BOOTSTRAP_PEERS_URL = "bootstrap_url";
     const std::string DEBUG_LOGGING = "debug_logging";
diff --git a/raft/raft.cpp b/raft/raft.cpp
index 818bc5e3..a10c298b 100644
--- a/raft/raft.cpp
+++ b/raft/raft.cpp
@@ -1227,3 +1227,9 @@ raft::shutdown_on_exceeded_max_storage(bool do_throw)
         do_throw ? throw std::runtime_error(MSG_ERROR_MAXIMUM_STORAGE_EXCEEDED) : raise(SIGINT);
     }
 }
+
+void
+raft::set_audit_enabled(bool val)
+{
+    this->enable_audit = val;
+}
diff --git a/raft/raft.hpp b/raft/raft.hpp
index d6063ec0..fe216769 100644
--- a/raft/raft.hpp
+++ b/raft/raft.hpp
@@ -80,6 +80,8 @@ namespace bzn
 
         bool get_peer_validation_enabled() override { return this->enable_peer_validation; };
 
+        void set_audit_enabled(bool val);
+
     private:
         friend class raft_log_base;
         friend class raft_log;
diff --git a/swarm/main.cpp b/swarm/main.cpp
index 1e6fe973..9e5d9efa 100644
--- a/swarm/main.cpp
+++ b/swarm/main.cpp
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@
 #include <pbft/pbft.hpp>
 #include <pbft/pbft_failure_detector.hpp>
 #include <raft/raft.hpp>
+#include <options/simple_options.hpp>
 
 
 void
@@ -218,7 +219,11 @@ main(int argc, const char* argv[])
         auto audit = std::make_shared<bzn::audit>(io_context, node, options.get_monitor_endpoint(io_context), options.get_uuid(), options.get_audit_mem_size(), options.pbft_enabled());
 
         node->start();
-        audit->start();
+
+        if (options.get_simple_options().get<bool>(bzn::option_names::AUDIT_ENABLED))
+        {
+            audit->start();
+        }
 
         if (options.pbft_enabled())
         {
@@ -228,6 +233,8 @@ main(int argc, const char* argv[])
                     , failure_detector
             );
 
+            pbft->set_audit_enabled(options.get_simple_options().get<bool>(bzn::option_names::AUDIT_ENABLED));
+
             pbft->start();
         }
         else
@@ -242,8 +249,9 @@ main(int argc, const char* argv[])
             auto http_server = std::make_shared<bzn::http::server>(io_context, crud, ep);
             auto status = std::make_shared<bzn::status>(node, bzn::status::status_provider_list_t{raft});
 
-            raft->initialize_storage_from_log(storage);
+            raft->set_audit_enabled(options.get_simple_options().get<bool>(bzn::option_names::AUDIT_ENABLED));
 
+            raft->initialize_storage_from_log(storage);
 
             // These are here because they are not yet integrated with pbft
             http_server->start();