diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 4a2b5943e..1b319157f 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -866,6 +866,7 @@ Below is the complete list of available options that can be used to customize yo
 | `NGINX_PROXY_BUFFERING` | Enable `proxy_buffering`. Defaults to `off`. |
 | `NGINX_ACCEL_BUFFERING` | Enable `X-Accel-Buffering` header. Default to `no` |
 | `NGINX_X_FORWARDED_PROTO` | Advanced configuration option for the `proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto` setting in the gitlab nginx vHost configuration. Defaults to `https` when `GITLAB_HTTPS` is `true`, else defaults to `$scheme`. |
+| `NGINX_RETAIN_IP_HEADER` | set to `true` if docker container runs behind a reverse proxy (like CDN), nginx will retain HTTP header `X-Real-IP` and `X-Forwarded-For`. `false` by default. |
 | `REDIS_HOST` | The hostname of the redis server. Defaults to `localhost` |
 | `REDIS_PORT` | The connection port of the redis server. Defaults to `6379`. |
 | `REDIS_DB_NUMBER` | The redis database number. Defaults to '0'. |
diff --git a/assets/runtime/env-defaults b/assets/runtime/env-defaults
index ec8940b77..6592e5e4b 100644
--- a/assets/runtime/env-defaults
+++ b/assets/runtime/env-defaults
@@ -161,6 +161,7 @@ NGINX_SERVER_NAMES_HASH_BUCKET_SIZE=${NGINX_SERVER_NAMES_HASH_BUCKET_SIZE:-32};
 NGINX_WORKERS=${NGINX_WORKERS:-1}
 NGINX_ACCEL_BUFFERING=${NGINX_ACCEL_BUFFERING:-no}
 NGINX_PROXY_BUFFERING=${NGINX_PROXY_BUFFERING:-off}
+NGINX_RETAIN_IP_HEADER=${NGINX_RETAIN_IP_HEADER:-false}
 case ${GITLAB_HTTPS} in
   true) NGINX_X_FORWARDED_PROTO=${NGINX_X_FORWARDED_PROTO:-https} ;;
   *)    NGINX_X_FORWARDED_PROTO=${NGINX_X_FORWARDED_PROTO:-\$scheme} ;;
diff --git a/assets/runtime/functions b/assets/runtime/functions
index ac2bab4c3..0e808093f 100644
--- a/assets/runtime/functions
+++ b/assets/runtime/functions
@@ -902,6 +902,15 @@ nginx_configure_gitlab_ipv6() {
   fi
 }
 
+nginx_configure_gitlab_retain_ip_header() {
+  if [[ ${NGINX_RETAIN_IP_HEADER} == true ]]; then
+    sed -i \
+      -e "/X-Real-IP/d" \
+      -e "/X-Forwarded-For/d" \
+      ${GITLAB_NGINX_CONFIG}
+  fi
+}
+
 nginx_configure_gitlab() {
   echo "Configuring nginx::gitlab..."
   update_template ${GITLAB_NGINX_CONFIG} \
@@ -916,6 +925,7 @@ nginx_configure_gitlab() {
   nginx_configure_gitlab_ssl
   nginx_configure_gitlab_hsts
   nginx_configure_gitlab_ipv6
+  nginx_configure_gitlab_retain_ip_header
 }
 
 nginx_configure_gitlab_ci() {