diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 7adc0a6758..825c0da3fc 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -10,8 +10,8 @@ repo_path = github.com/deis/deis
 GO_PACKAGES = version
 GO_PACKAGES_REPO_PATH = $(addprefix $(repo_path)/,$(GO_PACKAGES))
 
-COMPONENTS=builder cache controller database logger logspout publisher registry router store
-START_ORDER=publisher store logger logspout database cache registry controller builder router
+COMPONENTS=builder cache controller database logger logspout publisher registry router $(STORE_IF_STATEFUL)
+START_ORDER=publisher $(STORE_IF_STATEFUL) logger logspout database cache registry controller builder router
 CLIENTS=client client-go deisctl
 
 all: build run
diff --git a/docs/contributing/hacking.rst b/docs/contributing/hacking.rst
index 3278341ae0..31c839b8d8 100644
--- a/docs/contributing/hacking.rst
+++ b/docs/contributing/hacking.rst
@@ -382,6 +382,12 @@ You can also use the same tasks on the root ``Makefile`` to operate on all
 components at once.  For example, ``make deploy`` will build, dev-release,
 and restart all components on the cluster.
 
+.. note::
+
+   You can export the ``DEIS_STATELESS=True`` environment variable to skip all
+   store components when using the root ``Makefile``. Useful when working
+   on a stateless platform (:ref:`running-deis-without-ceph`).
+
 .. important::
 
    In order to cut a dev-release, you must commit changes using ``git`` to increment
diff --git a/includes.mk b/includes.mk
index 8b480b62e2..80718c83e0 100644
--- a/includes.mk
+++ b/includes.mk
@@ -27,6 +27,10 @@ ifndef DEIS_NUM_INSTANCES
   DEIS_NUM_INSTANCES = 3
 endif
 
+ifneq ($(DEIS_STATELESS), True)
+  STORE_IF_STATEFUL = store
+endif
+
 define echo_cyan
   @echo "\033[0;36m$(subst ",,$(1))\033[0m"
 endef