diff --git a/docs/user-guide/nginx-configuration/configmap.md b/docs/user-guide/nginx-configuration/configmap.md
index eec4ab782..2cec835f1 100755
--- a/docs/user-guide/nginx-configuration/configmap.md
+++ b/docs/user-guide/nginx-configuration/configmap.md
@@ -115,6 +115,7 @@ The following table shows a configuration option's name, type, and the default v
 |[proxy-stream-responses](#proxy-stream-responses)|int|1|
 |[bind-address](#bind-address)|[]string|""|
 |[use-forwarded-headers](#use-forwarded-headers)|bool|"false"|
+|[enable-real-ip](#enable-real-ip)|bool|"false"|
 |[forwarded-for-header](#forwarded-for-header)|string|"X-Forwarded-For"|
 |[compute-full-forwarded-for](#compute-full-forwarded-for)|bool|"false"|
 |[proxy-add-original-uri-header](#proxy-add-original-uri-header)|bool|"false"|
@@ -745,6 +746,10 @@ If true, NGINX passes the incoming `X-Forwarded-*` headers to upstreams. Use thi
 
 If false, NGINX ignores incoming `X-Forwarded-*` headers, filling them with the request information it sees. Use this option if NGINX is exposed directly to the internet, or it's behind a L3/packet-based load balancer that doesn't alter the source IP in the packets.
 
+## enable-real-ip
+
+`enable-real-ip` enables the configuration of [http://nginx.org/en/docs/http/ngx_http_realip_module.html](http://nginx.org/en/docs/http/ngx_http_realip_module.html). Specific attributes of the module can be configured further by using `forwarded-for-header` and `proxy-real-ip-cidr` settings.
+
 ## forwarded-for-header
 
 Sets the header field for identifying the originating IP address of a client. _**default:**_ X-Forwarded-For
diff --git a/internal/ingress/controller/config/config.go b/internal/ingress/controller/config/config.go
index e089a1191..64b98ef09 100644
--- a/internal/ingress/controller/config/config.go
+++ b/internal/ingress/controller/config/config.go
@@ -479,6 +479,9 @@ type Configuration struct {
 	// Sets whether to use incoming X-Forwarded headers.
 	UseForwardedHeaders bool `json:"use-forwarded-headers"`
 
+	// Sets whether to enable the real ip module
+	EnableRealIp bool `json:"enable-real-ip"`
+
 	// Sets the header field for identifying the originating IP address of a client
 	// Default is X-Forwarded-For
 	ForwardedForHeader string `json:"forwarded-for-header,omitempty"`
@@ -712,6 +715,7 @@ func NewDefault() Configuration {
 		EnableUnderscoresInHeaders:       false,
 		ErrorLogLevel:                    errorLevel,
 		UseForwardedHeaders:              false,
+		EnableRealIp:                     false,
 		ForwardedForHeader:               "X-Forwarded-For",
 		ComputeFullForwardedFor:          false,
 		ProxyAddOriginalURIHeader:        false,
diff --git a/rootfs/etc/nginx/template/nginx.tmpl b/rootfs/etc/nginx/template/nginx.tmpl
index 0b6240d1d..21b6ff24c 100755
--- a/rootfs/etc/nginx/template/nginx.tmpl
+++ b/rootfs/etc/nginx/template/nginx.tmpl
@@ -119,7 +119,7 @@ http {
 
     {{/* Enable the real_ip module only if we use either X-Forwarded headers or Proxy Protocol. */}}
     {{/* we use the value of the real IP for the geo_ip module */}}
-    {{ if or $cfg.UseForwardedHeaders $cfg.UseProxyProtocol }}
+    {{ if or (or $cfg.UseForwardedHeaders $cfg.UseProxyProtocol) $cfg.EnableRealIp }}
     {{ if $cfg.UseProxyProtocol }}
     real_ip_header      proxy_protocol;
     {{ else }}
diff --git a/test/e2e/settings/enable_real_ip.go b/test/e2e/settings/enable_real_ip.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..027f4c1f8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/e2e/settings/enable_real_ip.go
@@ -0,0 +1,113 @@
+/*
+Copyright 2017 The Kubernetes Authors.
+
+Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+limitations under the License.
+*/
+
+package settings
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"net/http"
+	"strings"
+
+	"github.com/onsi/ginkgo"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
+
+	"k8s.io/ingress-nginx/test/e2e/framework"
+)
+
+var _ = framework.DescribeSetting("enable-real-ip", func() {
+	f := framework.NewDefaultFramework("enable-real-ip")
+
+	setting := "enable-real-ip"
+
+	ginkgo.BeforeEach(func() {
+		f.NewEchoDeployment()
+		f.UpdateNginxConfigMapData(setting, "false")
+	})
+
+	ginkgo.It("trusts X-Forwarded-For header only when setting is true", func() {
+		host := "forwarded-for-header"
+
+		f.UpdateNginxConfigMapData(setting, "true")
+
+		ing := framework.NewSingleIngress(host, "/", host, f.Namespace, framework.EchoService, 80, nil)
+		f.EnsureIngress(ing)
+
+		f.WaitForNginxServer(host,
+			func(server string) bool {
+				return strings.Contains(server, "server_name "+host) &&
+					!strings.Contains(server, "proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $full_x_forwarded_proto;")
+			})
+
+		ginkgo.By("ensuring single values are parsed correctly")
+		body := f.HTTPTestClient().
+			GET("/").
+			WithHeader("Host", host).
+			WithHeader("X-Forwarded-Port", "1234").
+			WithHeader("X-Forwarded-Proto", "myproto").
+			WithHeader("X-Forwarded-For", "1.2.3.4").
+			WithHeader("X-Forwarded-Host", "myhost").
+			Expect().
+			Status(http.StatusOK).
+			Body().
+			Raw()
+
+		assert.NotContains(ginkgo.GinkgoT(), body, fmt.Sprintf("host=myhost"))
+		assert.NotContains(ginkgo.GinkgoT(), body, fmt.Sprintf("x-forwarded-host=myhost"))
+		assert.NotContains(ginkgo.GinkgoT(), body, fmt.Sprintf("x-forwarded-proto=myproto"))
+		assert.NotContains(ginkgo.GinkgoT(), body, fmt.Sprintf("x-forwarded-port=1234"))
+		assert.Contains(ginkgo.GinkgoT(), body, fmt.Sprintf("host=%s", host))
+		assert.Contains(ginkgo.GinkgoT(), body, fmt.Sprintf("x-forwarded-host=%s", host))
+		assert.Contains(ginkgo.GinkgoT(), body, fmt.Sprintf("x-forwarded-proto=http"))
+		assert.Contains(ginkgo.GinkgoT(), body, fmt.Sprintf("x-forwarded-port=80"))
+		assert.Contains(ginkgo.GinkgoT(), body, fmt.Sprintf("x-forwarded-for=1.2.3.4"))
+	})
+
+	ginkgo.It("should not trust X-Forwarded-For header when setting is false", func() {
+		host := "forwarded-for-header"
+
+		f.UpdateNginxConfigMapData(setting, "false")
+
+		f.EnsureIngress(framework.NewSingleIngress(host, "/", host, f.Namespace, framework.EchoService, 80, nil))
+
+		f.WaitForNginxServer(host,
+			func(server string) bool {
+				return strings.Contains(server, "server_name "+host) &&
+					strings.Contains(server, "proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $pass_access_scheme;")
+			})
+
+		body := f.HTTPTestClient().
+			GET("/").
+			WithHeader("Host", host).
+			WithHeader("X-Forwarded-Port", "1234").
+			WithHeader("X-Forwarded-Proto", "myproto").
+			WithHeader("X-Forwarded-For", "1.2.3.4").
+			WithHeader("X-Forwarded-Host", "myhost").
+			Expect().
+			Status(http.StatusOK).
+			Body().
+			Raw()
+
+		assert.Contains(ginkgo.GinkgoT(), body, fmt.Sprintf("host=%s", host))
+		assert.Contains(ginkgo.GinkgoT(), body, fmt.Sprintf("x-forwarded-port=80"))
+		assert.Contains(ginkgo.GinkgoT(), body, fmt.Sprintf("x-forwarded-proto=http"))
+		assert.Contains(ginkgo.GinkgoT(), body, fmt.Sprintf("x-original-forwarded-for=1.2.3.4"))
+		assert.NotContains(ginkgo.GinkgoT(), body, fmt.Sprintf("host=myhost"))
+		assert.NotContains(ginkgo.GinkgoT(), body, fmt.Sprintf("x-forwarded-host=myhost"))
+		assert.NotContains(ginkgo.GinkgoT(), body, fmt.Sprintf("x-forwarded-proto=myproto"))
+		assert.NotContains(ginkgo.GinkgoT(), body, fmt.Sprintf("x-forwarded-port=1234"))
+		assert.NotContains(ginkgo.GinkgoT(), body, fmt.Sprintf("x-forwarded-for=1.2.3.4"))
+	})
+})