diff --git a/doc/source/reference/notifications.rst b/doc/source/reference/notifications.rst
index f9f5f7b8b172..113228b6a1e4 100644
--- a/doc/source/reference/notifications.rst
+++ b/doc/source/reference/notifications.rst
@@ -29,6 +29,14 @@ following::
         "payload": <json serialized dict, defined by the sender>
     }
 
+Notifications can be completely disabled by setting the following in
+your nova configuration file:
+
+.. code-block:: ini
+
+  [oslo_messaging_notifications]
+  driver = noop
+
 There are two types of notifications in Nova: legacy notifications which have
 an unversioned payload and newer notifications which have a versioned payload.
 
diff --git a/nova/conf/notifications.py b/nova/conf/notifications.py
index c415eca3758f..13ee9f3c3718 100644
--- a/nova/conf/notifications.py
+++ b/nova/conf/notifications.py
@@ -94,7 +94,10 @@ Specifies which notification format shall be used by nova.
 The default value is fine for most deployments and rarely needs to be changed.
 This value can be set to 'versioned' once the infrastructure moves closer to
 consuming the newer format of notifications. After this occurs, this option
-will be removed (possibly in the "P" release).
+will be removed.
+
+Note that notifications can be completely disabled by setting ``driver=noop``
+in the ``[oslo_messaging_notifications]`` group.
 
 Possible values:
 * unversioned: Only the legacy unversioned notifications are emitted.