diff --git a/API_README.md b/API_README.md
index 43506aa2f..0d0f8f236 100644
--- a/API_README.md
+++ b/API_README.md
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ Allows customers to easily access the Okta Management APIs
 This C# SDK is automatically generated by the [OpenAPI Generator](https://openapi-generator.tech) project:
 
 - API version: 5.1.0
-- SDK version: 8.0.0
+- SDK version: 8.0.1
 - Build package: org.openapitools.codegen.languages.CSharpNetCoreClientCodegen
     For more information, please visit [https://developer.okta.com/](https://developer.okta.com/)
 
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 2f19eeb82..e93935ee2 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -433,7 +433,7 @@ This library looks for configuration in the following sources:
 Higher numbers win. In other words, configuration passed via the constructor will override configuration found in environment variables, which will override configuration in `okta.yaml` (if any), and so on.
 
 Note that `json` files cannot be used if they contain JavaScript comments. Comments are not allowed by JSON format.
- 
+
 ### YAML configuration
  
 When you use an API Token instead of OAuth 2.0 the full YAML configuration looks like:
@@ -510,6 +510,15 @@ okta:
     rateLimit:
       maxRetries: 4
 ```
+ 
+ Beginning in version 8.0.1, If you have need for a `proxy` node in your configuration unrelated to a web proxy for the Okta API client or you want to disable the proxy without removing it from your configuration, set `useProxy` to `false`:
+
+ ```json
+ {
+    "useProxy" : false
+    "proxy" : "non web proxy settings"
+ }
+ ```
 
 ### Environment variables
  
diff --git a/openapi3/config.json b/openapi3/config.json
index 2e8b675c4..1f2182b01 100644
--- a/openapi3/config.json
+++ b/openapi3/config.json
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
     "packageName" : "Okta.Sdk",
     "outputDir" : "../",
     "inputSpec" : "./management.yaml", 
-    "packageVersion" : "8.0.0",
+    "packageVersion" : "8.0.1",
     "packageDescription" : "Official .NET SDK for the Okta API",
     "packageTitle" : "Official .NET SDK for the Okta API",
     "packageCompany" : "Okta, Inc.",
diff --git a/openapi3/templates/ApiClient.mustache b/openapi3/templates/ApiClient.mustache
index 70716a88d..4e54fbd94 100644
--- a/openapi3/templates/ApiClient.mustache
+++ b/openapi3/templates/ApiClient.mustache
@@ -486,7 +486,7 @@ namespace {{packageName}}.Client
             {
                 clientOptions.Proxy = _proxy;
             }
-            else if (configuration.Proxy != null)
+            else if (configuration.Proxy != null && configuration.UseProxy == true)
             {
                 clientOptions.Proxy = ProxyConfiguration.GetProxy(configuration.Proxy);
             }
diff --git a/openapi3/templates/Configuration.mustache b/openapi3/templates/Configuration.mustache
index 7252160f7..97ac9d249 100644
--- a/openapi3/templates/Configuration.mustache
+++ b/openapi3/templates/Configuration.mustache
@@ -395,6 +395,7 @@ namespace {{packageName}}.Client
         [System.Diagnostics.CodeAnalysis.SuppressMessage("ReSharper", "VirtualMemberCallInConstructor")]
         public Configuration()
         {
+            UseProxy = true; // Set to true to avoid change of default behavior.  See #691.
             Proxy = null;
             UserAgent = "{{httpUserAgent}}{{^httpUserAgent}}/{{{gitRepoId}}}/csharp/oasv3{{/httpUserAgent}}";
             OktaDomain = "{{{basePath}}}";
@@ -587,6 +588,13 @@ namespace {{packageName}}.Client
         /// <value>X509 Certificate collection.</value>
         public X509CertificateCollection ClientCertificates { get; set; }
 
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Gets or sets a value indicating whether to use the proxy settings defined
+        /// in the Proxy node of the configuration.
+        /// </summary>
+        /// <value>Value indicating whether to use the proxy settings defined in the Proxy node.</value>
+        public bool? UseProxy { get; set; }
+
         /// <summary>
         /// Gets or sets the access token for OAuth2 authentication.
         ///
diff --git a/openapi3/templates/IReadableConfiguration.mustache b/openapi3/templates/IReadableConfiguration.mustache
index 103563d82..7cfe06649 100644
--- a/openapi3/templates/IReadableConfiguration.mustache
+++ b/openapi3/templates/IReadableConfiguration.mustache
@@ -12,6 +12,13 @@ namespace {{packageName}}.Client
     /// </summary>
     public interface IReadableConfiguration
     {
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Gets or sets a value indicating whether to use the proxy settings defined
+        /// in the Proxy node of the configuration.
+        /// </summary>
+        /// <value>Value indicating whether to use the proxy settings defined in the Proxy node.</value>
+        bool? UseProxy { get; set; }
+
         /// <summary>
         /// Gets the access token.
         /// </summary>
diff --git a/src/Okta.Sdk.UnitTest/Api/ApiClientShould.cs b/src/Okta.Sdk.UnitTest/Api/ApiClientShould.cs
index 7a9fc79b2..8febb89a2 100644
--- a/src/Okta.Sdk.UnitTest/Api/ApiClientShould.cs
+++ b/src/Okta.Sdk.UnitTest/Api/ApiClientShould.cs
@@ -11,6 +11,8 @@
 using Polly;
 using RestSharp;
 using System.Collections.Generic;
+using System.IO;
+using Newtonsoft.Json;
 using RichardSzalay.MockHttp;
 
 namespace Okta.Sdk.UnitTest.Api
@@ -381,5 +383,40 @@ public async Task AddHeadersWhenRetrying401DpopTokenRequest()
             dpopHeader = request.Parameters.FirstOrDefault(x => x.Name == "DPoP");
             dpopHeader.Value.Should().Be("myDpopJwt2");
         }
+        
+        // Test for the conditions described in the github issue comment here: https://github.com/okta/okta-sdk-dotnet/issues/691#issuecomment-2130299272
+        [Fact]
+        public void NotFailOnEmptyProxyConfig()
+        {
+            Exception thrown = null;
+            string appSettingsPath = Path.Combine(Directory.GetCurrentDirectory(), "appsettings.json");
+            try
+            {
+                dynamic appsettings = new
+                {
+                    useProxy = false, // advice to the configuration system not to treat proxy section as http client proxy.
+                                      // Assume that it is used in an unrelated way
+                                      // see https://github.com/okta/okta-sdk-dotnet/issues/691#issuecomment-2130299272
+                    proxy = new
+                    {
+                        host = "not a good uri"
+                    }
+                };
+                
+                File.WriteAllText(appSettingsPath, JsonConvert.SerializeObject(appsettings));
+                var apiClient = new ApiClient();
+                var client = apiClient.GetConfiguredClient(Configuration.GetConfigurationOrDefault());
+            }
+            catch (Exception ex)
+            {
+                thrown = ex;
+            }
+            finally
+            {
+                File.Delete(appSettingsPath);
+            }
+
+            thrown.Should().BeNull("because no exception was thrown");
+        }
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/Okta.Sdk.UnitTest/Okta.Sdk.UnitTest.csproj b/src/Okta.Sdk.UnitTest/Okta.Sdk.UnitTest.csproj
index 194a2b71a..6823680cc 100644
--- a/src/Okta.Sdk.UnitTest/Okta.Sdk.UnitTest.csproj
+++ b/src/Okta.Sdk.UnitTest/Okta.Sdk.UnitTest.csproj
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
   <PropertyGroup>
     <AssemblyName>Okta.Sdk.UnitTest</AssemblyName>
     <RootNamespace>Okta.Sdk.UnitTest</RootNamespace>
-    <TargetFramework>net7.0</TargetFramework>
+    <TargetFramework>net8.0</TargetFramework>
     <IsPackable>false</IsPackable>
   </PropertyGroup>
 
diff --git a/src/Okta.Sdk/Client/ApiClient.cs b/src/Okta.Sdk/Client/ApiClient.cs
index e997539e4..860264d33 100644
--- a/src/Okta.Sdk/Client/ApiClient.cs
+++ b/src/Okta.Sdk/Client/ApiClient.cs
@@ -476,7 +476,7 @@ internal RestClient GetConfiguredClient(IReadableConfiguration configuration)
             {
                 clientOptions.Proxy = _proxy;
             }
-            else if (configuration.Proxy != null)
+            else if (configuration.Proxy != null && configuration.UseProxy == true)
             {
                 clientOptions.Proxy = ProxyConfiguration.GetProxy(configuration.Proxy);
             }
diff --git a/src/Okta.Sdk/Client/Configuration.cs b/src/Okta.Sdk/Client/Configuration.cs
index deef5d838..684c28df1 100644
--- a/src/Okta.Sdk/Client/Configuration.cs
+++ b/src/Okta.Sdk/Client/Configuration.cs
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ public class Configuration : IReadableConfiguration
         /// Version of the package.
         /// </summary>
         /// <value>Version of the package.</value>
-        public const string Version = "8.0.0";
+        public const string Version = "8.0.1";
 
         /// <summary>
         /// Identifier for ISO 8601 DateTime Format
@@ -386,6 +386,7 @@ public static void Validate(IReadableConfiguration configuration)
         [System.Diagnostics.CodeAnalysis.SuppressMessage("ReSharper", "VirtualMemberCallInConstructor")]
         public Configuration()
         {
+            UseProxy = true; // Set to true to avoid change of default behavior.  See #691.
             Proxy = null;
             UserAgent = "/okta-sdk-dotnet/csharp/oasv3";
             OktaDomain = "https://subdomain.okta.com";
@@ -555,6 +556,13 @@ public string GetApiKeyWithPrefix(string apiKeyIdentifier)
         /// <value>X509 Certificate collection.</value>
         public X509CertificateCollection ClientCertificates { get; set; }
 
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Gets or sets a value indicating whether to use the proxy settings defined
+        /// in the Proxy node of the configuration.
+        /// </summary>
+        /// <value>Value indicating whether to use the proxy settings defined in the Proxy node.</value>
+        public bool? UseProxy { get; set; }
+
         /// <summary>
         /// Gets or sets the access token for OAuth2 authentication.
         ///
@@ -758,7 +766,7 @@ public static string ToDebugReport()
             report += "    OS: " + System.Environment.OSVersion + "\n";
             report += "    .NET Framework Version: " + System.Environment.Version  + "\n";
             report += "    Version of the API: 5.1.0\n";
-            report += "    SDK Package Version: 8.0.0\n";
+            report += "    SDK Package Version: 8.0.1\n";
 
             return report;
         }
diff --git a/src/Okta.Sdk/Client/IReadableConfiguration.cs b/src/Okta.Sdk/Client/IReadableConfiguration.cs
index 418a9f482..124126c02 100644
--- a/src/Okta.Sdk/Client/IReadableConfiguration.cs
+++ b/src/Okta.Sdk/Client/IReadableConfiguration.cs
@@ -21,6 +21,13 @@ namespace Okta.Sdk.Client
     /// </summary>
     public interface IReadableConfiguration
     {
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Gets or sets a value indicating whether to use the proxy settings defined
+        /// in the Proxy node of the configuration.
+        /// </summary>
+        /// <value>Value indicating whether to use the proxy settings defined in the Proxy node.</value>
+        bool? UseProxy { get; set; }
+
         /// <summary>
         /// Gets the access token.
         /// </summary>
diff --git a/src/Okta.Sdk/Okta.Sdk.csproj b/src/Okta.Sdk/Okta.Sdk.csproj
index 74032fddf..8991e1fb9 100644
--- a/src/Okta.Sdk/Okta.Sdk.csproj
+++ b/src/Okta.Sdk/Okta.Sdk.csproj
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
     <Description>Official .NET SDK for the Okta API</Description>
     <Copyright>Okta, Inc.</Copyright>
     <RootNamespace>Okta.Sdk</RootNamespace>
-    <Version>8.0.0</Version>
+    <Version>8.0.1</Version>
     <DocumentationFile>bin\$(Configuration)\$(TargetFramework)\Okta.Sdk.xml</DocumentationFile>
     <PackageLicenseFile>LICENSE</PackageLicenseFile>
     <PackageRequireLicenseAcceptance>True</PackageRequireLicenseAcceptance>