diff --git a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/deleteproject/Configuration.java b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/deleteproject/Configuration.java
index be7186d..cd11508 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/deleteproject/Configuration.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/deleteproject/Configuration.java
@@ -14,11 +14,16 @@
 
 package com.googlesource.gerrit.plugins.deleteproject;
 
+import static java.util.stream.Collectors.toList;
+
 import com.google.gerrit.extensions.annotations.PluginName;
 import com.google.gerrit.server.config.PluginConfig;
 import com.google.gerrit.server.config.PluginConfigFactory;
 import com.google.inject.Inject;
 import com.google.inject.Singleton;
+import java.util.Arrays;
+import java.util.List;
+import java.util.regex.Pattern;
 
 @Singleton
 public class Configuration {
@@ -27,6 +32,7 @@
   private final boolean allowDeletionWithTags;
   private final boolean hideProjectOnPreserve;
   private final String deletedProjectsParent;
+  private final List<Pattern> protectedProjects;
 
   @Inject
   public Configuration(PluginConfigFactory pluginConfigFactory, @PluginName String pluginName) {
@@ -34,6 +40,11 @@
     allowDeletionWithTags = cfg.getBoolean("allowDeletionOfReposWithTags", true);
     hideProjectOnPreserve = cfg.getBoolean("hideProjectOnPreserve", false);
     deletedProjectsParent = cfg.getString("parentForDeletedProjects", DELETED_PROJECTS_PARENT);
+    protectedProjects =
+        Arrays.asList(cfg.getStringList("protectedProject"))
+            .stream()
+            .map(Pattern::compile)
+            .collect(toList());
   }
 
   public boolean deletionWithTagsAllowed() {
@@ -47,4 +58,8 @@
   public String getDeletedProjectsParent() {
     return deletedProjectsParent;
   }
+
+  public List<Pattern> protectedProjects() {
+    return protectedProjects;
+  }
 }
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/deleteproject/ProtectedProjects.java b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/deleteproject/ProtectedProjects.java
index 4157dad..c1e697d 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/deleteproject/ProtectedProjects.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/deleteproject/ProtectedProjects.java
@@ -28,17 +28,29 @@
 public class ProtectedProjects {
   private final AllProjectsName allProjectsName;
   private final AllUsersName allUsersName;
+  private final Configuration config;
 
   @Inject
   ProtectedProjects(
-      AllProjectsNameProvider allProjectsNameProvider, AllUsersNameProvider allUsersNameProvider) {
+      AllProjectsNameProvider allProjectsNameProvider,
+      AllUsersNameProvider allUsersNameProvider,
+      Configuration config) {
     this.allProjectsName = allProjectsNameProvider.get();
     this.allUsersName = allUsersNameProvider.get();
+    this.config = config;
+  }
+
+  private boolean isDefaultProtected(Project.NameKey name) {
+    return name.equals(allProjectsName) || name.equals(allUsersName);
+  }
+
+  private boolean isCustomProtected(Project.NameKey name) {
+    return config.protectedProjects().stream().anyMatch(p -> p.matcher(name.get()).matches());
   }
 
   @VisibleForTesting
   public boolean isProtected(Project.NameKey name) {
-    return name.equals(allProjectsName) || name.equals(allUsersName);
+    return isDefaultProtected(name) || isCustomProtected(name);
   }
 
   public boolean isProtected(ProjectResource rsrc) {
diff --git a/src/main/resources/Documentation/config.md b/src/main/resources/Documentation/config.md
index cbb1719..65f996d 100644
--- a/src/main/resources/Documentation/config.md
+++ b/src/main/resources/Documentation/config.md
@@ -43,3 +43,13 @@
 	is set to true.
 
 	By default `Deleted-Projects`.
+
+<a id="protectedProject">
+`plugin.@PLUGIN@.protectedProject`
+:	The name of a project that is protected against deletion. May be an exact
+	name or a regular expression.
+
+	May be specified more than once to specify multiple project names or
+	patterns.
+
+	By default not set.
diff --git a/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/deleteproject/ProtectedProjectsTest.java b/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/deleteproject/ProtectedProjectsTest.java
index 5b11a7b..9133f64 100644
--- a/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/deleteproject/ProtectedProjectsTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/deleteproject/ProtectedProjectsTest.java
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
 import static com.google.common.truth.Truth.assertThat;
 import static org.mockito.Mockito.when;
 
+import com.google.common.collect.ImmutableList;
 import com.google.gerrit.reviewdb.client.Project;
 import com.google.gerrit.server.config.AllProjectsName;
 import com.google.gerrit.server.config.AllProjectsNameProvider;
@@ -24,6 +25,7 @@
 import com.google.gerrit.server.config.AllUsersNameProvider;
 import com.google.gerrit.server.config.PluginConfig;
 import com.google.gerrit.server.config.PluginConfigFactory;
+import java.util.List;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.lib.Config;
 import org.junit.Before;
 import org.junit.Test;
@@ -39,15 +41,18 @@
   @Mock private AllUsersNameProvider allUsersMock;
   @Mock private PluginConfigFactory pluginConfigFactoryMock;
 
+  private PluginConfig pluginConfig;
+  private Configuration deleteConfig;
   private ProtectedProjects protectedProjects;
 
   @Before
   public void setup() throws Exception {
     when(allProjectsMock.get()).thenReturn(new AllProjectsName("All-Projects"));
     when(allUsersMock.get()).thenReturn(new AllUsersName("All-Users"));
-    PluginConfig pluginConfig = new PluginConfig(PLUGIN_NAME, new Config());
+    pluginConfig = new PluginConfig(PLUGIN_NAME, new Config());
     when(pluginConfigFactoryMock.getFromGerritConfig(PLUGIN_NAME)).thenReturn(pluginConfig);
-    protectedProjects = new ProtectedProjects(allProjectsMock, allUsersMock);
+    deleteConfig = new Configuration(pluginConfigFactoryMock, PLUGIN_NAME);
+    protectedProjects = new ProtectedProjects(allProjectsMock, allUsersMock, deleteConfig);
   }
 
   @Test
@@ -65,6 +70,25 @@
     assertNotProtected("test-project");
   }
 
+  @Test
+  public void customProjectIsProtected() throws Exception {
+    List<String> projects = ImmutableList.of("Custom-Parent", "^protected-.*");
+    pluginConfig.setStringList("protectedProject", projects);
+    when(pluginConfigFactoryMock.getFromGerritConfig(PLUGIN_NAME)).thenReturn(pluginConfig);
+    deleteConfig = new Configuration(pluginConfigFactoryMock, PLUGIN_NAME);
+    assertThat(deleteConfig.protectedProjects()).hasSize(projects.size());
+    protectedProjects = new ProtectedProjects(allProjectsMock, allUsersMock, deleteConfig);
+
+    assertProtected("protected-project-1");
+    assertProtected("protected-project-2");
+    assertProtected("Custom-Parent");
+    assertNotProtected("test-project");
+    assertNotProtected("protected");
+    assertNotProtected("my-protected-project");
+    assertNotProtected("Another-Custom-Parent");
+    assertNotProtected("Custom-Parent-2");
+  }
+
   private void assertProtected(String name) {
     assertThat(protectedProjects.isProtected(new Project.NameKey(name))).isTrue();
   }