diff --git a/cli/sfconfig/cmd/dev/run.go b/cli/sfconfig/cmd/dev/run.go
index 6ec0f141..742f7434 100644
--- a/cli/sfconfig/cmd/dev/run.go
+++ b/cli/sfconfig/cmd/dev/run.go
@@ -35,14 +35,17 @@ var DevCmd = &cobra.Command{
 var DevPrepareCmd = &cobra.Command{
 	Use:   "prepare",
 	Short: "prepare dev environment",
-	Run:   func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) { Run() },
+	Run:   func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) { Run(cmd) },
 }
 
 func init() {
+	var installPrometheus bool
+	DevPrepareCmd.Flags().BoolVar(&installPrometheus, "with-prometheus", false, "Add this flag to spin a prometheus instance as well")
 	DevCmd.AddCommand(DevPrepareCmd)
 }
 
-func Run() {
+func Run(cmd *cobra.Command) {
+	withPrometheus, _ := cmd.Flags().GetBool("with-prometheus")
 	ctrl.SetLogger(zap.New(zap.UseFlagOptions(&zap.Options{Development: true})))
 	sfconfig := config.GetSFConfigOrDie()
 	fmt.Println("sfconfig started with: ", sfconfig)
@@ -59,10 +62,13 @@ func Run() {
 	EnsureNamespaces(&env)
 	EnsureMicroshiftWorkarounds(&env)
 	EnsureCertManager(&env)
+	// the Prometheus Operator is a dependency of the SF Operator so we must install it regardless of the --with-prometheus flag
 	EnsurePrometheusOperator(&env)
 	gerrit.EnsureGerrit(&env, sfconfig.FQDN)
 	EnsureGerritAccess(sfconfig.FQDN)
-	sfprometheus.EnsurePrometheus(&env, sfconfig.FQDN, false)
+	if withPrometheus {
+		sfprometheus.EnsurePrometheus(&env, sfconfig.FQDN, false)
+	}
 	EnsureDemoConfig(&env, &sfconfig)
 	nodepool.CreateNamespaceForNodepool(&env, "", "nodepool", "")
 	EnsureCRD()
diff --git a/roles/run-tests/defaults/main.yaml b/roles/run-tests/defaults/main.yaml
index 91ae9f48..a370aca9 100644
--- a/roles/run-tests/defaults/main.yaml
+++ b/roles/run-tests/defaults/main.yaml
@@ -1,2 +1,3 @@
 ---
 microshift_host: "microshift.dev"
+test_monitoring: false
diff --git a/roles/run-tests/tasks/main.yaml b/roles/run-tests/tasks/main.yaml
index e17c3481..c285c409 100644
--- a/roles/run-tests/tasks/main.yaml
+++ b/roles/run-tests/tasks/main.yaml
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@
       when: "{{ mode == 'olm' }}"
     - name: zuul-client-api
     - name: test-monitoring
+      when: "{{ test_monitoring == 'true' }}"
     - name: zuul-components
     - name: test-log-forwarding
   loop_control:
diff --git a/roles/sfconfig-dev-prepare/tasks/main.yaml b/roles/sfconfig-dev-prepare/tasks/main.yaml
index c5919786..ecaa7025 100644
--- a/roles/sfconfig-dev-prepare/tasks/main.yaml
+++ b/roles/sfconfig-dev-prepare/tasks/main.yaml
@@ -1,5 +1,8 @@
 ---
+- set_fact:
+    with_prometheus_flag: "{{ '--with-prometheus' if test_monitoring == 'true' else '' }}"
+
 - name: Run the sfconfig dev prepare
-  command: "tools/sfconfig dev prepare"
+  command: "tools/sfconfig dev prepare {{ with_prometheus_flag }}"
   args:
     chdir: "{{ zuul.project.src_dir }}"
diff --git a/zuul.d/jobs.yaml b/zuul.d/jobs.yaml
index cb2a478b..581ef771 100644
--- a/zuul.d/jobs.yaml
+++ b/zuul.d/jobs.yaml
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@
         - 199.204.44.24
         - 199.204.47.54
       inject_dev_ssh_keys: true
+      test_monitoring: "false"
 
 - job:
     name: sf-operator-multinode