diff --git a/include/proxysql_glovars.hpp b/include/proxysql_glovars.hpp
index 2c64902d9..644799421 100644
--- a/include/proxysql_glovars.hpp
+++ b/include/proxysql_glovars.hpp
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ class ProxySQL_GlobalVariables {
 	struct  {
 		bool gdbg;
 		bool nostart;
+		bool use_proxysql_mem;
 		pthread_mutex_t start_mutex;
 		bool foreground;
 #ifdef DEBUG
diff --git a/lib/ProxySQL_GloVars.cpp b/lib/ProxySQL_GloVars.cpp
index d03b40525..7e3258086 100644
--- a/lib/ProxySQL_GloVars.cpp
+++ b/lib/ProxySQL_GloVars.cpp
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ ProxySQL_GlobalVariables::ProxySQL_GlobalVariables() {
 	global.gdbg=false;
 	global.nostart=false;
 	global.foreground=false;
+	global.use_proxysql_mem=false;
 	pthread_mutex_init(&global.start_mutex,NULL);
 #ifdef DEBUG
 	global.gdb=0;
@@ -65,6 +66,7 @@ opt.add(
 	opt->add((const char *)"",0,0,0,(const char *)"Starts only the admin service",(const char *)"-n",(const char *)"--no-start");
 	opt->add((const char *)"",0,0,0,(const char *)"Run in foreground",(const char *)"-f",(const char *)"--foreground");
 	opt->add((const char *)"~/proxysql.cnf",0,1,0,(const char *)"Configuraton file",(const char *)"-c",(const char *)"--config");
+	opt->add((const char *)"",0,1,0,(const char *)"Disable custom memory allocator",(const char *)"-m",(const char *)"--no-memory");
 	opt->add((const char *)"",0,1,0,(const char *)"Datadir",(const char *)"-D",(const char *)"--datadir");
 	opt->add((const char *)"",0,1,0,(const char *)"Configuration DB path",(const char *)"-a",(const char *)"--admin-pathdb");
 	opt->add((const char *)"",0,1,0,(const char *)"Administration Unix Socket",(const char *)"-S",(const char *)"--admin-socket");
@@ -116,6 +118,9 @@ void ProxySQL_GlobalVariables::process_opts_pre() {
 		GloVars.__cmd_proxysql_datadir=strdup(datadir.c_str());
 	}
 
+	if (opt->isSet("-m")) {
+		global.use_proxysql_mem=true;
+	}
 
 #ifdef DEBUG
 	init_debug_struct();
diff --git a/lib/proxysql_mem.cpp b/lib/proxysql_mem.cpp
index 7e7e5901d..3ae2f5da0 100644
--- a/lib/proxysql_mem.cpp
+++ b/lib/proxysql_mem.cpp
@@ -39,34 +39,41 @@ static inline void __push_mem_block(l_sfc *sfc, void *m) {
 
 l_sfp * l_mem_init() {
   l_sfp *s=(l_sfp *)__x_malloc(sizeof(l_sfp));
-  int i;
-  for (i=0; i<L_SFP_ARRAY_LEN; i++) {
-    s->sfc[i].stack=NULL;
-    s->sfc[i].mem_blocks=NULL;
-    s->sfc[i].elem_size=L_SFC_MIN_ELEM_SIZE * (1 << i) ;
-    s->sfc[i].alloc_cnt=0;
-    s->sfc[i].free_cnt=0;
-    s->sfc[i].blocks_cnt=0;
-    s->sfc[i].__mem_l_free_count=0;
-  }
+	if (GloVars.global.use_proxysql_mem==true) {
+	  int i;
+  	for (i=0; i<L_SFP_ARRAY_LEN; i++) {
+	    s->sfc[i].stack=NULL;
+  	  s->sfc[i].mem_blocks=NULL;
+    	s->sfc[i].elem_size=L_SFC_MIN_ELEM_SIZE * (1 << i) ;
+	    s->sfc[i].alloc_cnt=0;
+  	  s->sfc[i].free_cnt=0;
+    	s->sfc[i].blocks_cnt=0;
+	    s->sfc[i].__mem_l_free_count=0;
+  	}
+	}
   return s;
 }
 
 
 void l_mem_destroy(l_sfp *s) {
   size_t i,j;
-  for (i=0; i<L_SFP_ARRAY_LEN; i++) {
-    for (j=0;j<s->sfc[i].blocks_cnt;j++) {
-      free(s->sfc[i].mem_blocks[j]);
-    }
-    if (s->sfc[i].mem_blocks) {
-      free(s->sfc[i].mem_blocks);
-    }
-  }
+	if (GloVars.global.use_proxysql_mem==true) {
+	  for (i=0; i<L_SFP_ARRAY_LEN; i++) {
+  	  for (j=0;j<s->sfc[i].blocks_cnt;j++) {
+	      free(s->sfc[i].mem_blocks[j]);
+	    }
+  	  if (s->sfc[i].mem_blocks) {
+	      free(s->sfc[i].mem_blocks);
+  	  }
+	  }
+	}
 	free(s);
 }
 
 void * __l_alloc(l_sfp *sfp, size_t size) {
+	if (GloVars.global.use_proxysql_mem==false) {
+		return malloc(size);
+	}
   if (size>L_SFC_MAX_ELEM_SIZE) {
     return __x_malloc(size);
   }
@@ -119,6 +126,10 @@ void * l_alloc0(size_t size) {
 
 
 void __l_free(l_sfp *sfp, size_t size, void *p) {
+	if (GloVars.global.use_proxysql_mem==false) {
+		free(p);
+		return;
+	}
   if (size>L_SFC_MAX_ELEM_SIZE) {
     free(p);
     return;