diff --git a/src/sentry/api/endpoints/system_options.py b/src/sentry/api/endpoints/system_options.py
index 78f69c7a4aa3db..2836b1e66ae9cc 100644
--- a/src/sentry/api/endpoints/system_options.py
+++ b/src/sentry/api/endpoints/system_options.py
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 
 import sentry
 from sentry import options
-from sentry.utils.email import get_mail_backend
+from sentry.utils.email import is_smtp_enabled
 from sentry.api.base import Endpoint
 from sentry.api.permissions import SuperuserPermission
 
@@ -23,17 +23,7 @@ def get(self, request):
         else:
             option_list = options.all()
 
-        # This is a fragile, hardcoded list of mail backends, but the likelihood of
-        # someone using something custom here is slim, and even if they did, the worst
-        # is they'd be prompted for SMTP information. These backends are guaranteed
-        # to not need SMTP information.
-        smtp_disabled = get_mail_backend() in (
-            'django.core.mail.backends.dummy.EmailBackend',
-            'django.core.mail.backends.console.EmailBackend',
-            'django.core.mail.backends.locmem.EmailBackend',
-            'django.core.mail.backends.filebased.EmailBackend',
-            'sentry.utils.email.PreviewBackend',
-        )
+        smtp_disabled = not is_smtp_enabled()
 
         results = {}
         for k in option_list:
diff --git a/src/sentry/conf/server.py b/src/sentry/conf/server.py
index 5f5cd38862ab3a..cbcb8ee17a410c 100644
--- a/src/sentry/conf/server.py
+++ b/src/sentry/conf/server.py
@@ -715,6 +715,18 @@ def create_partitioned_queues(name):
     'console': 'django.core.mail.backends.console.EmailBackend',
 }
 
+# set of backends that do not support needing SMTP mail.* settings
+# This list is a bit fragile and hardcoded, but it's unlikely that
+# a user will be using a different backend that also mandates SMTP
+# credentials.
+SENTRY_SMTP_DISABLED_BACKENDS = frozenset((
+    'django.core.mail.backends.dummy.EmailBackend',
+    'django.core.mail.backends.console.EmailBackend',
+    'django.core.mail.backends.locmem.EmailBackend',
+    'django.core.mail.backends.filebased.EmailBackend',
+    'sentry.utils.email.PreviewBackend',
+))
+
 # Should users without superuser permissions be allowed to
 # make projects public
 SENTRY_ALLOW_PUBLIC_PROJECTS = True
diff --git a/src/sentry/templatetags/sentry_react.py b/src/sentry/templatetags/sentry_react.py
index c3989d33721961..5f61dc5b4b3639 100644
--- a/src/sentry/templatetags/sentry_react.py
+++ b/src/sentry/templatetags/sentry_react.py
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
 from sentry.api.serializers.base import serialize
 from sentry.models import ProjectKey
 from sentry.utils import json
+from sentry.utils.email import is_smtp_enabled
 from sentry.utils.assets import get_asset_url
 from sentry.utils.functional import extract_lazy_object
 
@@ -41,8 +42,13 @@ def _needs_upgrade():
         # we want to force an upgrade, even if the values are set.
         return True
 
+    smtp_disabled = not is_smtp_enabled()
+
     # Check all required options to see if they've been set
     for key in options.filter(flag=options.FLAG_REQUIRED):
+        # Ignore mail.* keys if smtp is disabled
+        if smtp_disabled and key.name[:5] == 'mail.':
+            continue
         if not options.isset(key.name):
             return True
 
diff --git a/src/sentry/utils/email.py b/src/sentry/utils/email.py
index fe4a0d894f5a5d..47750b12978997 100644
--- a/src/sentry/utils/email.py
+++ b/src/sentry/utils/email.py
@@ -394,6 +394,15 @@ def send_mail(subject, message, from_email, recipient_list, fail_silently=False)
     )
 
 
+def is_smtp_enabled(backend=None):
+    """
+    Check if the current backend is SMTP based.
+    """
+    if backend is None:
+        backend = get_mail_backend()
+    return backend not in settings.SENTRY_SMTP_DISABLED_BACKENDS
+
+
 class PreviewBackend(BaseEmailBackend):
     """
     Email backend that can be used in local development to open messages in the