diff --git a/compute_tools/src/compute.rs b/compute_tools/src/compute.rs
index 617b330704..977708a18f 100644
--- a/compute_tools/src/compute.rs
+++ b/compute_tools/src/compute.rs
@@ -442,7 +442,7 @@ impl ComputeNode {
 
         let pg = self.start_postgres(spec.storage_auth_token.clone())?;
 
-        if spec.spec.mode == ComputeMode::Primary {
+        if spec.spec.mode == ComputeMode::Primary && !spec.spec.skip_pg_catalog_updates {
             self.apply_config(&compute_state)?;
         }
 
diff --git a/control_plane/src/endpoint.rs b/control_plane/src/endpoint.rs
index b28315a35d..d3131ac476 100644
--- a/control_plane/src/endpoint.rs
+++ b/control_plane/src/endpoint.rs
@@ -450,6 +450,7 @@ impl Endpoint {
 
         // Create spec file
         let spec = ComputeSpec {
+            skip_pg_catalog_updates: false,
             format_version: 1.0,
             operation_uuid: None,
             cluster: Cluster {
diff --git a/libs/compute_api/src/spec.rs b/libs/compute_api/src/spec.rs
index 4014774a7e..c2ad30f86f 100644
--- a/libs/compute_api/src/spec.rs
+++ b/libs/compute_api/src/spec.rs
@@ -27,6 +27,12 @@ pub struct ComputeSpec {
     pub cluster: Cluster,
     pub delta_operations: Option<Vec<DeltaOp>>,
 
+    /// An optinal hint that can be passed to speed up startup time if we know
+    /// that no pg catalog mutations (like role creation, database creation,
+    /// extension creation) need to be done on the actual database to start.
+    #[serde(default)] // Default false
+    pub skip_pg_catalog_updates: bool,
+
     // Information needed to connect to the storage layer.
     //
     // `tenant_id`, `timeline_id` and `pageserver_connstring` are always needed.