diff --git a/cloudflare-ddns.py b/cloudflare-ddns.py
index 051031f..fcefc96 100755
--- a/cloudflare-ddns.py
+++ b/cloudflare-ddns.py
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ def getIPs():
     aaaa = None
     global ipv4_enabled
     global ipv6_enabled
+    global purgeUnknownRecords
     if ipv4_enabled:
         try:
             a = requests.get("https://1.1.1.1/cdn-cgi/trace").text.split("\n")
@@ -43,7 +44,8 @@ def getIPs():
             if not shown_ipv4_warning:
                 shown_ipv4_warning = True
                 print("🧩 IPv4 not detected")
-            deleteEntries("A")
+            if purgeUnknownRecords:
+                deleteEntries("A")
     if ipv6_enabled:
         try:
             aaaa = requests.get("https://[2606:4700:4700::1111]/cdn-cgi/trace").text.split("\n")
@@ -54,7 +56,8 @@ def getIPs():
             if not shown_ipv6_warning:
                 shown_ipv6_warning = True
                 print("🧩 IPv6 not detected")
-            deleteEntries("AAAA")
+            if purgeUnknownRecords:
+                deleteEntries("AAAA")
     ips = {}
     if(a is not None):
         ips["ipv4"] = {
@@ -118,12 +121,13 @@ def commitRecord(ip):
                 print("➕ Adding new record " + str(record))
                 response = cf_api(
                     "zones/" + option['zone_id'] + "/dns_records", "POST", option, {}, record)
-            for identifier in duplicate_ids:
-                identifier = str(identifier)
-                print("🗑️ Deleting stale record " + identifier)
-                response = cf_api(
-                    "zones/" + option['zone_id'] + "/dns_records/" + identifier,
-                    "DELETE", option)
+            if purgeUnknownRecords:
+                for identifier in duplicate_ids:
+                    identifier = str(identifier)
+                    print("🗑️ Deleting stale record " + identifier)
+                    response = cf_api(
+                        "zones/" + option['zone_id'] + "/dns_records/" + identifier,
+                        "DELETE", option)
     return True
 
 def cf_api(endpoint, method, config, headers={}, data=False):
@@ -165,6 +169,7 @@ if __name__ == '__main__':
     shown_ipv6_warning = False
     ipv4_enabled = True
     ipv6_enabled = True
+    purgeUnknownRecords = False
 
     if(version < 3.5):
         raise Exception("🐍 This script requires Python 3.5+")
@@ -185,6 +190,11 @@ if __name__ == '__main__':
             ipv4_enabled = True
             ipv6_enabled = True
             print("⚙️ Individually disable IPv4 or IPv6 with new config.json options. Read more about it here: https://github.com/timothymiller/cloudflare-ddns/blob/master/README.md")
+        try:
+            purgeUnknownRecords = config["purgeUnknownRecords"]
+        except:
+            purgeUnknownRecords = False
+            print("⚙️ No config detected for 'purgeUnknownRecords' - defaulting to False")
         if(len(sys.argv) > 1):
             if(sys.argv[1] == "--repeat"):
                 delay = 5*60
diff --git a/config-example.json b/config-example.json
index b83a0c3..da86e68 100755
--- a/config-example.json
+++ b/config-example.json
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 {
+  "purgeUnknownRecords": false,
   "cloudflare": [
     {
       "authentication": {