diff --git a/charts/consul/templates/ingress-gateways-deployment.yaml b/charts/consul/templates/ingress-gateways-deployment.yaml
index a0efdceff9..b0815296c2 100644
--- a/charts/consul/templates/ingress-gateways-deployment.yaml
+++ b/charts/consul/templates/ingress-gateways-deployment.yaml
@@ -294,6 +294,9 @@ spec:
             {{- if (and $root.Values.global.metrics.enabled $root.Values.global.metrics.enableGatewayMetrics) }}
             -telemetry-prom-scrape-path="/metrics"
             {{- end }}
+            {{- if and $root.Values.externalServers.enabled $root.Values.externalServers.skipServerWatch }}
+            -server-watch-disabled=true
+            {{- end }}
         livenessProbe:
           tcpSocket:
             port: 21000
diff --git a/charts/consul/templates/mesh-gateway-deployment.yaml b/charts/consul/templates/mesh-gateway-deployment.yaml
index 460bd06fa3..6ee57819f5 100644
--- a/charts/consul/templates/mesh-gateway-deployment.yaml
+++ b/charts/consul/templates/mesh-gateway-deployment.yaml
@@ -244,6 +244,9 @@ spec:
             {{- if (and .Values.global.metrics.enabled .Values.global.metrics.enableGatewayMetrics) }}
             -telemetry-prom-scrape-path="/metrics"
             {{- end }}
+            {{- if and .Values.externalServers.enabled .Values.externalServers.skipServerWatch }}
+            -server-watch-disabled=true
+            {{- end }}
         livenessProbe:
           tcpSocket:
             port: {{ .Values.meshGateway.containerPort }}
diff --git a/charts/consul/templates/terminating-gateways-deployment.yaml b/charts/consul/templates/terminating-gateways-deployment.yaml
index 52baf20903..958bbc5f4f 100644
--- a/charts/consul/templates/terminating-gateways-deployment.yaml
+++ b/charts/consul/templates/terminating-gateways-deployment.yaml
@@ -285,6 +285,9 @@ spec:
                 {{- if (and $root.Values.global.metrics.enabled $root.Values.global.metrics.enableGatewayMetrics) }}
                 -telemetry-prom-scrape-path="/metrics"
                 {{- end }}
+                {{- if and $root.Values.externalServers.enabled $root.Values.externalServers.skipServerWatch }}
+                -server-watch-disabled=true
+                {{- end }}
           livenessProbe:
             tcpSocket:
               port: 8443
diff --git a/charts/consul/test/unit/ingress-gateways-deployment.bats b/charts/consul/test/unit/ingress-gateways-deployment.bats
index 16327084bc..faf3451020 100644
--- a/charts/consul/test/unit/ingress-gateways-deployment.bats
+++ b/charts/consul/test/unit/ingress-gateways-deployment.bats
@@ -312,6 +312,27 @@ load _helpers
   [ "${actual}" = "null" ]
 }
 
+#--------------------------------------------------------------------
+# externalServers.skipServerWatch
+
+@test "ingressGateways/Deployment: sets server-watch-disabled flag when externalServers.enabled and externalServers.skipServerWatch is true" {
+  cd `chart_dir`
+  local object=$(helm template \
+      -s templates/ingress-gateways-deployment.yaml  \
+      --set 'ingressGateways.enabled=true' \
+      --set 'connectInject.enabled=true' \
+      --set 'global.tls.enabled=false' \
+      --set 'server.enabled=false' \
+      --set 'externalServers.enabled=true' \
+      --set 'externalServers.hosts[0]=consul' \
+      --set 'externalServers.skipServerWatch=true' \
+      . | tee /dev/stderr |
+      yq -s -r '.[0].spec.template.spec.containers[0].command[2]' | tee /dev/stderr)
+
+  local actual=$(echo $object | yq -r '. | contains("-server-watch-disabled")' | tee /dev/stderr)
+  [ "${actual}" = "true" ]
+}
+
 #--------------------------------------------------------------------
 # replicas
 
diff --git a/charts/consul/test/unit/mesh-gateway-deployment.bats b/charts/consul/test/unit/mesh-gateway-deployment.bats
index 30b612ef35..00daf34269 100755
--- a/charts/consul/test/unit/mesh-gateway-deployment.bats
+++ b/charts/consul/test/unit/mesh-gateway-deployment.bats
@@ -140,6 +140,27 @@ key2: value2' \
   [ "${actual}" = "null" ]
 }
 
+#--------------------------------------------------------------------
+# externalServers.skipServerWatch
+
+@test "meshGateway/Deployment: sets server-watch-disabled flag when externalServers.enabled and externalServers.skipServerWatch is true" {
+  cd `chart_dir`
+  local object=$(helm template \
+      -s templates/ingress-gateways-deployment.yaml  \
+      --set 'ingressGateways.enabled=true' \
+      --set 'connectInject.enabled=true' \
+      --set 'global.tls.enabled=false' \
+      --set 'server.enabled=false' \
+      --set 'externalServers.enabled=true' \
+      --set 'externalServers.hosts[0]=consul' \
+      --set 'externalServers.skipServerWatch=true' \
+      . | tee /dev/stderr |
+      yq -s -r '.[0].spec.template.spec.containers[0].command[2]' | tee /dev/stderr)
+
+  local actual=$(echo $object | yq -r '. | contains("-server-watch-disabled")' | tee /dev/stderr)
+  [ "${actual}" = "true" ]
+}
+
 #--------------------------------------------------------------------
 # replicas
 
diff --git a/charts/consul/test/unit/terminating-gateways-deployment.bats b/charts/consul/test/unit/terminating-gateways-deployment.bats
index 3f312cf760..79c338934e 100644
--- a/charts/consul/test/unit/terminating-gateways-deployment.bats
+++ b/charts/consul/test/unit/terminating-gateways-deployment.bats
@@ -369,6 +369,27 @@ load _helpers
   [ "${actual}" = "null" ]
 }
 
+#--------------------------------------------------------------------
+# externalServers.skipServerWatch
+
+@test "terminatingGateways/Deployment: sets server-watch-disabled flag when externalServers.enabled and externalServers.skipServerWatch is true" {
+  cd `chart_dir`
+  local object=$(helm template \
+      -s templates/ingress-gateways-deployment.yaml  \
+      --set 'ingressGateways.enabled=true' \
+      --set 'connectInject.enabled=true' \
+      --set 'global.tls.enabled=false' \
+      --set 'server.enabled=false' \
+      --set 'externalServers.enabled=true' \
+      --set 'externalServers.hosts[0]=consul' \
+      --set 'externalServers.skipServerWatch=true' \
+      . | tee /dev/stderr |
+      yq -s -r '.[0].spec.template.spec.containers[0].command[2]' | tee /dev/stderr)
+
+  local actual=$(echo $object | yq -r '. | contains("-server-watch-disabled")' | tee /dev/stderr)
+  [ "${actual}" = "true" ]
+}
+
 #--------------------------------------------------------------------
 # replicas