diff --git a/examples/using-DISABLE_ALL_REDIRECTS_BECASUE_IM_USING_GATSBY_AS_A_STATIC_PAGE_GENERATOR/.eslintrc.json b/examples/using-DISABLE_ALL_REDIRECTS_BECASUE_IM_USING_GATSBY_AS_A_STATIC_PAGE_GENERATOR/.eslintrc.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..aadde9c0aa03d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/using-DISABLE_ALL_REDIRECTS_BECASUE_IM_USING_GATSBY_AS_A_STATIC_PAGE_GENERATOR/.eslintrc.json
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+{
+  "env": {
+    "browser": true
+  },
+  "globals": {
+    "graphql": false
+  }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/examples/using-DISABLE_ALL_REDIRECTS_BECASUE_IM_USING_GATSBY_AS_A_STATIC_PAGE_GENERATOR/.gitignore b/examples/using-DISABLE_ALL_REDIRECTS_BECASUE_IM_USING_GATSBY_AS_A_STATIC_PAGE_GENERATOR/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..8f5b35a4a9cbc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/using-DISABLE_ALL_REDIRECTS_BECASUE_IM_USING_GATSBY_AS_A_STATIC_PAGE_GENERATOR/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+public
+.cache
+node_modules
diff --git a/examples/using-DISABLE_ALL_REDIRECTS_BECASUE_IM_USING_GATSBY_AS_A_STATIC_PAGE_GENERATOR/README.md b/examples/using-DISABLE_ALL_REDIRECTS_BECASUE_IM_USING_GATSBY_AS_A_STATIC_PAGE_GENERATOR/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..662091ab57d63
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/using-DISABLE_ALL_REDIRECTS_BECASUE_IM_USING_GATSBY_AS_A_STATIC_PAGE_GENERATOR/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+# using-DISABLE_ALL_REDIRECTS_BECASUE_IM_USING_GATSBY_AS_A_STATIC_PAGE_GENERATOR
+
+To test this example site locally run the following commands from this directory
+
+```bash
+npm run build
+cd public
+python -m SimpleHTTPServer 9000
+```
+
+Assuming that `disableAllRedirectsBecasueImUsingGatsbyAsAStaticPageGenerator` is
+still set to `true` in gatsby-config.js, navigate to
+http://localhost:9000/index.html in a web browser and notice that the URL does
+not change to http://localhost:9000, which is Gatsby's default behavior.
+
+This behavior is desirable when:
+
+- embedding a Gatsby application in a host web page
+- serving a Gatsby application via an Nginx alias or similar
+- serving a Gatsby application from an S3 sub-bucket or similar
+
+PRs containing additional use-cases would be most welcome.
diff --git a/examples/using-DISABLE_ALL_REDIRECTS_BECASUE_IM_USING_GATSBY_AS_A_STATIC_PAGE_GENERATOR/gatsby-config.js b/examples/using-DISABLE_ALL_REDIRECTS_BECASUE_IM_USING_GATSBY_AS_A_STATIC_PAGE_GENERATOR/gatsby-config.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..74458e345e715
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/using-DISABLE_ALL_REDIRECTS_BECASUE_IM_USING_GATSBY_AS_A_STATIC_PAGE_GENERATOR/gatsby-config.js
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+module.exports = {
+  disableAllRedirectsBecasueImUsingGatsbyAsAStaticPageGenerator: true,
+}
diff --git a/examples/using-DISABLE_ALL_REDIRECTS_BECASUE_IM_USING_GATSBY_AS_A_STATIC_PAGE_GENERATOR/package.json b/examples/using-DISABLE_ALL_REDIRECTS_BECASUE_IM_USING_GATSBY_AS_A_STATIC_PAGE_GENERATOR/package.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..75ee6e58ca34a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/using-DISABLE_ALL_REDIRECTS_BECASUE_IM_USING_GATSBY_AS_A_STATIC_PAGE_GENERATOR/package.json
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+{
+  "name": "using-path-prefix",
+  "private": true,
+  "description": "Gatsby example site using disableAllRedirectsBecasueImUsingGatsbyAsAStaticPageGenerator config option",
+  "author": "pdoherty@protonmail.com",
+  "dependencies": {
+    "gatsby": "../../packages/gatsby",
+    "react": "^16.4.0",
+    "react-dom": "^16.4.0"
+  },
+  "keywords": [
+    "gatsby"
+  ],
+  "license": "MIT",
+  "main": "n/a",
+  "scripts": {
+    "develop": "gatsby develop",
+    "build": "gatsby build",
+    "start": "npm run develop",
+    "serve": "gatsby serve"
+  }
+}
diff --git a/examples/using-DISABLE_ALL_REDIRECTS_BECASUE_IM_USING_GATSBY_AS_A_STATIC_PAGE_GENERATOR/src/pages/index.js b/examples/using-DISABLE_ALL_REDIRECTS_BECASUE_IM_USING_GATSBY_AS_A_STATIC_PAGE_GENERATOR/src/pages/index.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..18810cf7dbe65
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/using-DISABLE_ALL_REDIRECTS_BECASUE_IM_USING_GATSBY_AS_A_STATIC_PAGE_GENERATOR/src/pages/index.js
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+import React from "react"
+
+const Home = () => (
+  <div>
+    <p>
+      By default, Gatsby will change http://localhost:9000/index.html to
+      http://localhost:9000 in order to make the canonical path match the URL.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The default behavior is undesireable in many circumstances (see README.md)
+      and the `disableAllRedirectsBecasueImUsingGatsbyAsAStaticPageGenerator`
+      configuration option can be used to disable it.
+    </p>
+  </div>
+)
+
+export default Home
diff --git a/packages/gatsby/cache-dir/.eslintrc.json b/packages/gatsby/cache-dir/.eslintrc.json
index 9352bcdc0dc2e..938709b017bab 100644
--- a/packages/gatsby/cache-dir/.eslintrc.json
+++ b/packages/gatsby/cache-dir/.eslintrc.json
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
   },
   "globals": {
     "__PATH_PREFIX__": false,
+    "__DISABLE_ALL_REDIRECTS_BECASUE_IM_USING_GATSBY_AS_A_STATIC_PAGE_GENERATOR__": false,
     "___emitter": false
   }
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}
diff --git a/packages/gatsby/cache-dir/__tests__/static-entry.js b/packages/gatsby/cache-dir/__tests__/static-entry.js
index 03d857d15a1de..9076cb8fa84c5 100644
--- a/packages/gatsby/cache-dir/__tests__/static-entry.js
+++ b/packages/gatsby/cache-dir/__tests__/static-entry.js
@@ -136,6 +136,7 @@ describe(`develop-static-entry`, () => {
 describe(`static-entry`, () => {
   beforeEach(() => {
     global.__PATH_PREFIX__ = ``
+    global.__DISABLE_ALL_REDIRECTS_BECASUE_IM_USING_GATSBY_AS_A_STATIC_PAGE_GENERATOR__ = false
   })
 
   test(`onPreRenderHTML can be used to replace headComponents`, done => {
diff --git a/packages/gatsby/cache-dir/production-app.js b/packages/gatsby/cache-dir/production-app.js
index 0e174ab30376e..aba69300d4503 100644
--- a/packages/gatsby/cache-dir/production-app.js
+++ b/packages/gatsby/cache-dir/production-app.js
@@ -65,6 +65,8 @@ apiRunnerAsync(`onClientEntry`).then(() => {
   if (
     // Make sure the window.page object is defined
     page &&
+    // Prevent navigation when acting as a single/static page generator
+    !__DISABLE_ALL_REDIRECTS_BECASUE_IM_USING_GATSBY_AS_A_STATIC_PAGE_GENERATOR__ &&
     // The canonical path doesn't match the actual path (i.e. the address bar)
     __PATH_PREFIX__ + page.path !== browserLoc.pathname &&
     // ...and if matchPage is specified, it also doesn't match the actual path
diff --git a/packages/gatsby/cache-dir/static-entry.js b/packages/gatsby/cache-dir/static-entry.js
index 3e0cb708ba184..77e46a18e637d 100644
--- a/packages/gatsby/cache-dir/static-entry.js
+++ b/packages/gatsby/cache-dir/static-entry.js
@@ -376,6 +376,7 @@ export default (pagePath, callback) => {
     replacePostBodyComponents,
     pathname: pagePath,
     pathPrefix: __PATH_PREFIX__,
+    disableAllRedirectsBecasueImUsingGatsbyAsAStaticPageGenerator: __DISABLE_ALL_REDIRECTS_BECASUE_IM_USING_GATSBY_AS_A_STATIC_PAGE_GENERATOR__,
   })
 
   const html = `<!DOCTYPE html>${renderToStaticMarkup(
diff --git a/packages/gatsby/src/joi-schemas/joi.js b/packages/gatsby/src/joi-schemas/joi.js
index 7a5d1f97a69df..322cdd337f02a 100644
--- a/packages/gatsby/src/joi-schemas/joi.js
+++ b/packages/gatsby/src/joi-schemas/joi.js
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ export const gatsbyConfigSchema = Joi.object().keys({
   polyfill: Joi.boolean(),
   siteMetadata: Joi.object(),
   pathPrefix: Joi.string(),
+  disableAllRedirectsBecasueImUsingGatsbyAsAStaticPageGenerator: Joi.boolean(),
   mapping: Joi.object(),
   plugins: Joi.array(),
   proxy: Joi.object().keys({
diff --git a/packages/gatsby/src/utils/eslint-config.js b/packages/gatsby/src/utils/eslint-config.js
index 0f5136124a040..28158f2a637ea 100644
--- a/packages/gatsby/src/utils/eslint-config.js
+++ b/packages/gatsby/src/utils/eslint-config.js
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ module.exports = schema => {
     baseConfig: {
       globals: {
         graphql: true,
+        __DISABLE_ALL_REDIRECTS_BECASUE_IM_USING_GATSBY_AS_A_STATIC_PAGE_GENERATOR__: false,
         __PATH_PREFIX__: true,
       },
       extends: `react-app`,
diff --git a/packages/gatsby/src/utils/webpack.config.js b/packages/gatsby/src/utils/webpack.config.js
index dd7ca1eb5f175..70c5057dd8cd0 100644
--- a/packages/gatsby/src/utils/webpack.config.js
+++ b/packages/gatsby/src/utils/webpack.config.js
@@ -181,6 +181,8 @@ module.exports = async (
       // optimizations for React) and what the link prefix is (__PATH_PREFIX__).
       plugins.define({
         ...processEnv(stage, `development`),
+        __DISABLE_ALL_REDIRECTS_BECASUE_IM_USING_GATSBY_AS_A_STATIC_PAGE_GENERATOR__: store.getState()
+          .config.disableAllRedirectsBecasueImUsingGatsbyAsAStaticPageGenerator,
         __PATH_PREFIX__: JSON.stringify(
           program.prefixPaths ? store.getState().config.pathPrefix : ``
         ),