diff --git a/attributes/server.rb b/attributes/server.rb
index c48d2cf7a..03cad74ed 100644
--- a/attributes/server.rb
+++ b/attributes/server.rb
@@ -178,6 +178,7 @@
 
 default['mysql']['tunable']['sync_binlog']                     = 0
 default['mysql']['tunable']['skip_slave_start']                = false
+default['mysql']['tunable']['read_only']                       = false
 
 default['mysql']['tunable']['log_error']                       = nil
 default['mysql']['tunable']['log_warnings']                    = false
diff --git a/templates/default/my.cnf.erb b/templates/default/my.cnf.erb
index aaa7754c5..b274ea0ea 100644
--- a/templates/default/my.cnf.erb
+++ b/templates/default/my.cnf.erb
@@ -185,6 +185,9 @@ sync_binlog             = <%= node['mysql']['tunable']['sync_binlog'] %>
 <%- if node['mysql']['tunable']['skip_slave_start'] %>
 skip_slave_start
 <%- end %>
+<%- if node['mysql']['tunable']['read_only'] %>
+read_only = 1
+<%- end %>
 
 <%- if node['mysql']['tunable']['transaction-isolation'] %>
 transaction-isolation = <%= node['mysql']['tunable']['transaction-isolation'] %>