diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index f14f97f..cc49559 100755
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@
 add_definitions(-DBOOST_NO_TYPEID)
 
 option(YOCTO "Enable Building in Yocto" OFF)
+option(USE_OVERLAYS "Enable Overlay Usage" ON)
 
 if(NOT YOCTO)
     include_directories(${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/include/non-yocto)
@@ -100,6 +101,11 @@
 target_link_libraries(entity-manager ${Boost_LIBRARIES})
 target_link_libraries(entity-manager sdbusplus)
 
+if(USE_OVERLAYS)
+    # overlays can be disabled because they require a kernel patch as of today
+    target_compile_definitions(entity-manager PRIVATE OVERLAYS=1)
+endif()
+
 if(NOT YOCTO)
     add_dependencies(entity-manager nlohmann-json)
     add_dependencies(fru-device sdbusplus)
diff --git a/src/EntityManager.cpp b/src/EntityManager.cpp
index e9e35b8..ec1b285 100644
--- a/src/EntityManager.cpp
+++ b/src/EntityManager.cpp
@@ -1257,9 +1257,12 @@
                 registerCallbacks(io, dbusMatches, systemConfiguration,
                                   objServer);
                 io.post([&, newConfiguration]() {
+
+#ifdef OVERLAYS
                     // todo: for now, only add new configurations,
                     // unload to come later unloadOverlays();
                     loadOverlays(newConfiguration);
+#endif
                     io.post([&]() {
                         if (!writeJsonFiles(systemConfiguration))
                         {