diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 61c85aa63..8a681d960 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -99,6 +99,10 @@ To implement version specific parameters, specify the version, such as [mysqld-5
 If you don’t want to use the default configuration, you can also supply your options to the `$options` parameter instead of `$override_options`.
 Please note that `$options` and `$override_options` are mutually exclusive, you can only use one of them.
 
+By default, the puppet won't reload/restart mysqld when you change an existing
+configuration. If you want to do that, you can set
+`mysql::server::reload_on_config_change` to true.
+
 ### Create a database
 
 To create a database with a user and some assigned privileges:
diff --git a/manifests/server.pp b/manifests/server.pp
index 7f9d7d7f8..e15d0a426 100644
--- a/manifests/server.pp
+++ b/manifests/server.pp
@@ -82,6 +82,8 @@
 #   Optional hash of grants, which are passed to [mysql_grant](#mysql_grant).
 # @param databases
 #   Optional hash of databases to create, which are passed to [mysql_database](#mysql_database).
+# @param reload_on_config_change
+#   By default, a my.cnf change won't reload/restart the database. Turn this flag to true to enable it
 # @param enabled
 #   _Deprecated_
 # @param manage_service
@@ -123,6 +125,7 @@
   Hash                                                                  $users                   = {},
   Hash                                                                  $grants                  = {},
   Hash                                                                  $databases               = {},
+  Boolean                                                               $reload_on_config_change = false,
   # Deprecated parameters
   Optional[Variant[String[1], Boolean]]        $enabled                 = undef,
   Optional[Variant[String[1], Boolean]]        $manage_service          = undef,
diff --git a/manifests/server/service.pp b/manifests/server/service.pp
index 51da0a7ac..d15c05094 100644
--- a/manifests/server/service.pp
+++ b/manifests/server/service.pp
@@ -42,7 +42,11 @@
     # only establish ordering between config file and service if
     # we're managing the config file.
     if $mysql::server::manage_config_file {
-      File['mysql-config-file'] -> Service['mysqld']
+      if $mysql::server::reload_on_config_change {
+        File['mysql-config-file'] ~> Service['mysqld']
+      } else {
+        File['mysql-config-file'] -> Service['mysqld']
+      }
     }
 
     if $mysql::server::override_options and $mysql::server::override_options['mysqld']
diff --git a/spec/classes/mysql_server_spec.rb b/spec/classes/mysql_server_spec.rb
index 7c8e54efb..6d7c93985 100644
--- a/spec/classes/mysql_server_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/classes/mysql_server_spec.rb
@@ -15,6 +15,8 @@
         it { is_expected.to contain_class('mysql::server::service') }
         it { is_expected.to contain_class('mysql::server::root_password') }
         it { is_expected.to contain_class('mysql::server::providers') }
+        it { is_expected.to contain_file('mysql-config-file').that_comes_before('Service[mysqld]') }
+        it { is_expected.not_to contain_file('mysql-config-file').that_notifies('Service[mysqld]') }
       end
 
       context 'with remove_default_accounts set' do
@@ -152,6 +154,11 @@
 
           it { is_expected.to contain_file('mysql-config-file').without_content(%r{^bind-address}) }
         end
+        context 'with reload_on_config_change' do
+          let(:params) { { 'reload_on_config_change' => true } }
+
+          it { is_expected.to contain_file('mysql-config-file').that_notifies('Service[mysqld]') }
+        end
       end
 
       context 'mysql::server::root_password' do