diff --git a/src/lib_node_config/config_file.ml b/src/lib_node_config/config_file.ml
index 32c2d2ec384f1b616a8cc5760d8438b676a86aef..d74d89e684439328bc9d616cc3f706848e106989 100644
--- a/src/lib_node_config/config_file.ml
+++ b/src/lib_node_config/config_file.ml
@@ -918,7 +918,7 @@ let update ?(disable_config_validation = false) ?data_dir ?min_connections
     ?(enable_testchain = default_p2p.enable_testchain) ?(cors_origins = [])
     ?(cors_headers = []) ?rpc_tls ?log_output ?log_coloring
     ?synchronisation_threshold ?history_mode ?network ?latency
-    ?enable_http_cache_headers ?context_pruning cfg =
+    ?enable_http_cache_headers ?context_pruning ?storage_maintenance_delay cfg =
   let open Lwt_result_syntax in
   let disable_config_validation =
     cfg.disable_config_validation || disable_config_validation
@@ -1046,6 +1046,10 @@ let update ?(disable_config_validation = false) ?data_dir ?min_connections
         history_mode = Option.either history_mode cfg.shell.history_mode;
         context_pruning =
           Option.either context_pruning cfg.shell.context_pruning;
+        storage_maintenance_delay =
+          Option.either
+            storage_maintenance_delay
+            cfg.shell.storage_maintenance_delay;
       }
   in
   (* If --network is specified it overrides the "network" entry of the
diff --git a/src/lib_node_config/config_file.mli b/src/lib_node_config/config_file.mli
index 7e57aec842ca03a7a1a78d830927a591e28c38ee..f108669c3eb8266a8065bd92f3243b8722bb7fec 100644
--- a/src/lib_node_config/config_file.mli
+++ b/src/lib_node_config/config_file.mli
@@ -144,6 +144,7 @@ val update :
   ?latency:int ->
   ?enable_http_cache_headers:bool ->
   ?context_pruning:Storage_maintenance.context_pruning ->
+  ?storage_maintenance_delay:Storage_maintenance.delay ->
   t ->
   t tzresult Lwt.t
 
diff --git a/src/lib_node_config/shared_arg.ml b/src/lib_node_config/shared_arg.ml
index a740b326c48d124396049e03b643c4a4ee8be408..4a6f5130e136344b7298d52be44fb2ba688cbf1a 100644
--- a/src/lib_node_config/shared_arg.ml
+++ b/src/lib_node_config/shared_arg.ml
@@ -73,6 +73,7 @@ type t = {
     Shell_limits.operation_metadata_size_limit option;
   enable_http_cache_headers : bool option;
   context_pruning : Storage_maintenance.context_pruning option;
+  storage_maintenance_delay : Storage_maintenance.delay;
 }
 
 type error +=
@@ -194,7 +195,7 @@ let wrap data_dir config_file network connections max_download_speed
     log_coloring history_mode synchronisation_threshold latency
     disable_config_validation allow_all_rpc media_type
     max_active_rpc_connections metrics_addr operation_metadata_size_limit
-    enable_http_cache_headers context_pruning =
+    enable_http_cache_headers context_pruning storage_maintenance_delay =
   let actual_data_dir =
     Option.value ~default:Config_file.default_data_dir data_dir
   in
@@ -248,6 +249,7 @@ let wrap data_dir config_file network connections max_download_speed
     operation_metadata_size_limit;
     enable_http_cache_headers;
     context_pruning;
+    storage_maintenance_delay;
   }
 
 let process_command run =
@@ -765,7 +767,7 @@ module Term = struct
     in
     let parse str =
       match str with
-      | "disabled" -> `Ok Disabled
+      | "disabled" -> `Ok (Disabled : Storage_maintenance.context_pruning)
       | "enabled" -> `Ok Enabled
       | _ ->
           `Error
@@ -776,6 +778,19 @@ module Term = struct
       & opt (some (parse, pp_context_pruning)) None
       & info ~docs ~doc ["context-pruning"])
 
+  let storage_maintenance_delay =
+    let open Storage_maintenance in
+    let doc = "Configures the storage maintenance delays" in
+    let get_storage_maintenance_delay_arg str =
+      match str with
+      | "disabled" -> `Ok Disabled
+      | _ -> `Error "storage-maintenance-delay only supports \"disabled\" mode"
+    in
+    Arg.(
+      value
+      & opt (get_storage_maintenance_delay_arg, pp_delay) Disabled
+      & info ~docs ~doc ["storage-maintenance-delay"])
+
   (* Args. *)
 
   let args =
@@ -790,7 +805,7 @@ module Term = struct
     $ log_output $ log_coloring $ history_mode $ synchronisation_threshold
     $ latency $ disable_config_validation $ allow_all_rpc $ media_type
     $ max_active_rpc_connections $ metrics_addr $ operation_metadata_size_limit
-    $ enable_http_cache_headers $ context_pruning
+    $ enable_http_cache_headers $ context_pruning $ storage_maintenance_delay
 end
 
 let read_config_file args =
@@ -940,6 +955,7 @@ let patch_config ?(may_override_network = false) ?(emit = Event.emit)
     operation_metadata_size_limit;
     enable_http_cache_headers;
     context_pruning;
+    storage_maintenance_delay;
   } =
     args
   in
@@ -1099,6 +1115,7 @@ let patch_config ?(may_override_network = false) ?(emit = Event.emit)
     ?latency
     ?enable_http_cache_headers
     ?context_pruning
+    ~storage_maintenance_delay
     cfg
 
 let read_and_patch_config_file ?may_override_network ?emit
diff --git a/src/lib_node_config/shared_arg.mli b/src/lib_node_config/shared_arg.mli
index 60a3a543124d87bbf7e1e844931e4adc781e27b3..d58c8a141fcb5c0855cbc26dd8d0d712eebb8987 100644
--- a/src/lib_node_config/shared_arg.mli
+++ b/src/lib_node_config/shared_arg.mli
@@ -91,6 +91,7 @@ type t = {
       (** Adds Cache-control header directives to RPC responses for queries
           that are relative to the head block. *)
   context_pruning : Storage_maintenance.context_pruning option;
+  storage_maintenance_delay : Storage_maintenance.delay;
 }
 
 val process_command : unit tzresult Lwt.t -> unit Cmdliner.Term.ret
diff --git a/src/lib_shell_services/shell_limits.ml b/src/lib_shell_services/shell_limits.ml
index e8092ba291034963350d87317b5434dc6e5c0732..f8e8589cf87001d3d4d9375a466478fca9835115 100644
--- a/src/lib_shell_services/shell_limits.ml
+++ b/src/lib_shell_services/shell_limits.ml
@@ -247,6 +247,8 @@ let chain_validator_limits_encoding =
 
 let default_storage_maintenance_context_pruning = Storage_maintenance.Enabled
 
+let default_storage_maintenance_delay = Storage_maintenance.Disabled
+
 type limits = {
   block_validator_limits : block_validator_limits;
   prevalidator_limits : prevalidator_limits;
@@ -254,6 +256,7 @@ type limits = {
   chain_validator_limits : chain_validator_limits;
   history_mode : History_mode.t option;
   context_pruning : Storage_maintenance.context_pruning option;
+  storage_maintenance_delay : Storage_maintenance.delay option;
 }
 
 let default_limits =
@@ -264,6 +267,7 @@ let default_limits =
     chain_validator_limits = default_chain_validator_limits;
     history_mode = None;
     context_pruning = Some Enabled;
+    storage_maintenance_delay = Some Disabled;
   }
 
 let limits_encoding =
@@ -276,19 +280,22 @@ let limits_encoding =
            chain_validator_limits;
            history_mode;
            context_pruning;
+           storage_maintenance_delay;
          } ->
       ( peer_validator_limits,
         block_validator_limits,
         prevalidator_limits,
         chain_validator_limits,
         history_mode,
-        context_pruning ))
+        context_pruning,
+        storage_maintenance_delay ))
     (fun ( peer_validator_limits,
            block_validator_limits,
            prevalidator_limits,
            chain_validator_limits,
            history_mode,
-           context_pruning ) ->
+           context_pruning,
+           storage_maintenance_delay ) ->
       {
         peer_validator_limits;
         block_validator_limits;
@@ -296,8 +303,9 @@ let limits_encoding =
         chain_validator_limits;
         history_mode;
         context_pruning;
+        storage_maintenance_delay;
       })
-    (obj6
+    (obj7
        (dft
           "peer_validator"
           peer_validator_limits_encoding
@@ -315,4 +323,5 @@ let limits_encoding =
           chain_validator_limits_encoding
           default_chain_validator_limits)
        (opt "history_mode" History_mode.encoding)
-       (opt "context_pruning" Storage_maintenance.context_pruning_encoding))
+       (opt "context_pruning" Storage_maintenance.context_pruning_encoding)
+       (opt "storage_maintenance_delay" Storage_maintenance.delay_encoding))
diff --git a/src/lib_shell_services/shell_limits.mli b/src/lib_shell_services/shell_limits.mli
index 79a8ee85501f3388ef6c5d48587c948144756850..86813499bc559c5befc86ec260fcc207b6918670 100644
--- a/src/lib_shell_services/shell_limits.mli
+++ b/src/lib_shell_services/shell_limits.mli
@@ -96,6 +96,8 @@ val chain_validator_limits_encoding : chain_validator_limits Data_encoding.t
 val default_storage_maintenance_context_pruning :
   Storage_maintenance.context_pruning
 
+val default_storage_maintenance_delay : Storage_maintenance.delay
+
 type limits = {
   block_validator_limits : block_validator_limits;
   prevalidator_limits : prevalidator_limits;
@@ -103,6 +105,7 @@ type limits = {
   chain_validator_limits : chain_validator_limits;
   history_mode : History_mode.t option;
   context_pruning : Storage_maintenance.context_pruning option;
+  storage_maintenance_delay : Storage_maintenance.delay option;
 }
 
 val default_limits : limits
diff --git a/src/lib_shell_services/storage_maintenance.ml b/src/lib_shell_services/storage_maintenance.ml
index ccd56d0dac3a3d3b4e8b955748ca211981730610..c7c0d1b683c34d79334f2f5367bd51f311795eb0 100644
--- a/src/lib_shell_services/storage_maintenance.ml
+++ b/src/lib_shell_services/storage_maintenance.ml
@@ -38,3 +38,27 @@ let context_pruning_encoding =
 let pp_context_pruning fmt = function
   | Disabled -> Format.fprintf fmt "disabled"
   | Enabled -> Format.fprintf fmt "enabled"
+
+type delay = Disabled
+
+let delay_encoding =
+  let open Data_encoding in
+  def
+    "storage_maintenance_delay"
+    ~title:"storage maintenance delay"
+    ~description:"Delay prior to the storage maintenance trigger"
+    (union
+       ~tag_size:`Uint8
+       [
+         case
+           ~title:"disabled"
+           ~description:
+             "When disabled, the storage maintenance is triggered without any \
+              delay, as soon as a new cycle starts."
+           (Tag 0)
+           (constant "disabled")
+           (function Disabled -> Some ())
+           (fun () -> Disabled);
+       ])
+
+let pp_delay fmt = function Disabled -> Format.fprintf fmt "disabled"
diff --git a/src/lib_shell_services/storage_maintenance.mli b/src/lib_shell_services/storage_maintenance.mli
index aed282bf3d6479c087ca2993d1fc4d4fbef56a56..1a96fb55dfaef888e7f4a47b045d4e6c1c1ae254 100644
--- a/src/lib_shell_services/storage_maintenance.mli
+++ b/src/lib_shell_services/storage_maintenance.mli
@@ -19,3 +19,14 @@ type context_pruning = Enabled | Disabled
 val context_pruning_encoding : context_pruning Data_encoding.t
 
 val pp_context_pruning : Format.formatter -> context_pruning -> unit
+
+(** The type [delay] specifies whether or not a storage maintenance
+    should be delayed or not.
+    Setting it to [Disabled] will trigger the storage maintenance as
+    soon as possible, that is, at the very beginning of a new cycle
+    dawn. *)
+type delay = Disabled
+
+val delay_encoding : delay Data_encoding.t
+
+val pp_delay : Format.formatter -> delay -> unit
diff --git a/tezt/lib_tezos/node.ml b/tezt/lib_tezos/node.ml
index a6c20d5aa4e4322afddcbf4f7afd6f7eec4c719b..66e5a459f72061fa88813c03c69eb386e3a51cc4 100644
--- a/tezt/lib_tezos/node.ml
+++ b/tezt/lib_tezos/node.ml
@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@ type argument =
   | Max_active_rpc_connections of int
   | Enable_http_cache_headers
   | Context_pruning of string
+  | Storage_maintenance_delay of string
 
 let make_argument = function
   | Network x -> ["--network"; x]
@@ -78,6 +79,7 @@ let make_argument = function
       ["--max-active-rpc-connections"; string_of_int n]
   | Enable_http_cache_headers -> ["--enable-http-cache-headers"]
   | Context_pruning x -> ["--context-pruning"; x]
+  | Storage_maintenance_delay x -> ["--storage-maintenance-delay"; x]
 
 let make_arguments arguments = List.flatten (List.map make_argument arguments)
 
@@ -102,7 +104,8 @@ let is_redundant = function
   | Version, Version
   | Max_active_rpc_connections _, Max_active_rpc_connections _
   | Enable_http_cache_headers, Enable_http_cache_headers
-  | Context_pruning _, Context_pruning _ ->
+  | Context_pruning _, Context_pruning _
+  | Storage_maintenance_delay _, Storage_maintenance_delay _ ->
       true
   | Metrics_addr addr1, Metrics_addr addr2 -> addr1 = addr2
   | Peer peer1, Peer peer2 -> peer1 = peer2
@@ -129,7 +132,8 @@ let is_redundant = function
   | Version, _
   | Max_active_rpc_connections _, _
   | Enable_http_cache_headers, _
-  | Context_pruning _, _ ->
+  | Context_pruning _, _
+  | Storage_maintenance_delay _, _ ->
       false
 
 (* Some arguments should not be written in the config file by [Node.init]
diff --git a/tezt/lib_tezos/node.mli b/tezt/lib_tezos/node.mli
index 451ea8d7ba5b68b6adffdf1bc33121da0cb04da1..888f3e1c2c83f9ad173d67d509cdcdf7f0072347 100644
--- a/tezt/lib_tezos/node.mli
+++ b/tezt/lib_tezos/node.mli
@@ -101,6 +101,7 @@ type argument =
   | Max_active_rpc_connections of int  (** [--max-active-rpc-connections] *)
   | Enable_http_cache_headers  (** [--enable-http-cache-headers] *)
   | Context_pruning of string  (** [--context-pruning] *)
+  | Storage_maintenance_delay of string  (** [--storage-maintenance-delay]*)
 
 (** A TLS configuration for the node: paths to a [.crt] and a [.key] file.
 
diff --git a/tezt/tests/storage_maintenance.ml b/tezt/tests/storage_maintenance.ml
index 467c8c85f1d9ec6c1c8da425da624a8f7bbd37f2..ae9fab0694d0f6810d934952158904d5dc4b105d 100644
--- a/tezt/tests/storage_maintenance.ml
+++ b/tezt/tests/storage_maintenance.ml
@@ -69,4 +69,59 @@ let test_context_pruning_call =
   let* () = wait_context_gc and* () = wait_context_split in
   unit
 
-let register ~protocols = test_context_pruning_call protocols
+let wait_for_complete_storage_maintenance node target =
+  let filter json =
+    let level = JSON.(json |> as_int) in
+    if level = target then Some () else None
+  in
+  let wait_for_ending_merge () =
+    Node.wait_for node "end_merging_stores.v0" @@ fun _json -> Some ()
+  in
+  let* () = Node.wait_for node "start_merging_stores.v0" filter in
+  wait_for_ending_merge ()
+
+let test_disabled_maintenance_delay =
+  Protocol.register_test
+    ~__FILE__
+    ~title:(Format.asprintf "storage maintenance disabled delay")
+    ~tags:[team; "storage"; "maintenance"; "delay"; "disabled"]
+  @@ fun protocol ->
+  let* node =
+    Node.init
+      Node.[Synchronisation_threshold 0; Storage_maintenance_delay "disabled"]
+  in
+  let* client = Client.init ~endpoint:(Node node) () in
+  let* () = Client.activate_protocol_and_wait ~protocol ~node client in
+  let blocks_per_cycle = 8 in
+  let blocks_to_bake = 2 * blocks_per_cycle in
+  let wait_merge =
+    wait_for_complete_storage_maintenance node (blocks_per_cycle + 1)
+  in
+  let* () = bake_blocks node client ~blocks_to_bake in
+  Log.info "Waiting for the merge" ;
+  let* () = wait_merge in
+  unit
+
+(* This is a temporary test to ensure that only the disabled mode is
+   implemented. *)
+let test_only_disabled_is_implemented =
+  Protocol.register_test
+    ~__FILE__
+    ~title:(Format.asprintf "storage maintenance allows disabled only")
+    ~tags:[team; "storage"; "maintenance"; "delay"; "enable"]
+    ~uses_client:false
+    ~uses_admin_client:false
+  @@ fun _protocol ->
+  let node = Node.create Node.[Synchronisation_threshold 0] in
+  let* () =
+    Node.spawn_config_update node [Storage_maintenance_delay "enabled"]
+    |> Process.check_error
+         ~msg:(rex "only supports \"disabled\" mode")
+         ~exit_code:124
+  in
+  unit
+
+let register ~protocols =
+  test_context_pruning_call protocols ;
+  test_disabled_maintenance_delay protocols ;
+  test_only_disabled_is_implemented protocols