diff --git a/Documentation/pgm-init.txt b/Documentation/pgm-init.txt
index b28a617..4a758c3 100644
--- a/Documentation/pgm-init.txt
+++ b/Documentation/pgm-init.txt
@@ -104,7 +104,9 @@
 	Show cache statistics at the end of program.
 
 --reindex-threads::
-	Number of threads to use for reindex after init. Defaults to 1.
+	Number of threads to use for reindex after init. Defaults to 1. Can be
+	set to -1 to skip reindex after init. Skipping reindex will also not
+	automatically start the daemon.
 
 == CONTEXT
 This command can only be run on a server which has direct local access to the
diff --git a/java/com/google/gerrit/pgm/Init.java b/java/com/google/gerrit/pgm/Init.java
index 2a746b8..c05bff5 100644
--- a/java/com/google/gerrit/pgm/Init.java
+++ b/java/com/google/gerrit/pgm/Init.java
@@ -163,7 +163,7 @@
         });
     modules.add(new GerritServerConfigModule());
     Guice.createInjector(modules).injectMembers(this);
-    if (!ReplicaUtil.isReplica(run.flags.cfg)) {
+    if (reindexThreads != -1 && !ReplicaUtil.isReplica(run.flags.cfg)) {
       List<String> indicesToReindex = new ArrayList<>();
       for (SchemaDefinitions<?> schemaDef : schemaDefs) {
         if (!indexStatus.exists(schemaDef.getName())) {
@@ -226,7 +226,7 @@
   }
 
   void start(SiteRun run) throws Exception {
-    if (run.flags.autoStart) {
+    if (reindexThreads != -1 && run.flags.autoStart) {
       if (HostPlatform.isWin32()) {
         System.err.println("Automatic startup not supported on Win32.");
       } else {