diff --git a/coremods/service_support.py b/coremods/service_support.py
index 6d23041..6cc6b80 100644
--- a/coremods/service_support.py
+++ b/coremods/service_support.py
@@ -141,6 +141,8 @@ def _services_dynamic_part(irc, channel):
     if irc.has_cap('visible-state-only'):
         # No-op on bot-only servers.
         return
+    if irc.serverdata.get('join_empty_channels', conf.conf['pylink'].get('join_empty_channels', False)):
+        return
 
     # If all remaining users in the channel are service bots, make them all part.
     if all(irc.get_service_bot(u) for u in irc.channels[channel].users):
diff --git a/example-conf.yml b/example-conf.yml
index 6c78682..2272cff 100644
--- a/example-conf.yml
+++ b/example-conf.yml
@@ -80,6 +80,11 @@ pylink:
     # of all database-enabled plugins to take effect.
     #save_delay: 300
 
+    # Determines whether that service bots should join preconfigured channels even if they are empty.
+    # This can also be overriden per-network via the "join_empty_channels" variable.
+    # This defaults to False if not set.
+    #join_empty_channels: false
+
 login:
     # NOTE: for users migrating from PyLink < 1.1, the old login:user/login:password settings
     # have been deprecated. We strongly recommend migrating to the new "accounts:" block below, as
diff --git a/utils.py b/utils.py
index 8aa6f08..bb6942b 100644
--- a/utils.py
+++ b/utils.py
@@ -150,7 +150,7 @@ class ServiceBot():
         else:
             raise NotImplementedError("Network specific plugins not supported yet.")
 
-    def join(self, irc, channels, ignore_empty=True):
+    def join(self, irc, channels, ignore_empty=None):
         """
         Joins the given service bot to the given channel(s). "channels" can be
         an iterable of channel names or the name of a single channel (type 'str').
@@ -160,8 +160,8 @@ class ServiceBot():
         marked persistent). This option is automatically *disabled* on networks
         where we cannot monitor channels that we're not in (e.g. Clientbot).
 
-        Before PyLink 2.0-alpha3, this function implicitly marks channels i
-        receives to be persistent - this is no longer the case!
+        Before PyLink 2.0-alpha3, this function implicitly marked channels it
+        receives to be persistent. This behaviour is no longer the case.
         """
         uid = self.uids.get(irc.name)
         if uid is None:
@@ -173,6 +173,10 @@ class ServiceBot():
         if irc.has_cap('visible-state-only'):
             # Disable dynamic channel joining on networks where we can't monitor channels for joins.
             ignore_empty = False
+        elif ignore_empty is None:
+            ignore_empty = not (irc.serverdata.get('join_empty_channels',
+                                                   conf.conf['pylink'].get('join_empty_channels',
+                                                                           False)))
 
         # Specify modes to join the services bot with.
         joinmodes = irc.get_service_option(self.name, 'joinmodes', default='')