diff --git a/libretroshare/src/rsserver/p3face.h b/libretroshare/src/rsserver/p3face.h
index a2637ceaf..661cb244f 100644
--- a/libretroshare/src/rsserver/p3face.h
+++ b/libretroshare/src/rsserver/p3face.h
@@ -161,7 +161,9 @@ public:
 		p3ChatService *chatSrv;
 		p3StatusService *mStatusSrv;
 		p3GxsTunnelService *mGxsTunnels;
+#ifdef RS_USE_I2P_BOB
 		p3I2pBob *mI2pBob;
+#endif
 
         // This list contains all threaded services. It will be used to shut them down properly.
 
diff --git a/libretroshare/src/rsserver/rsinit.cc b/libretroshare/src/rsserver/rsinit.cc
index 1c4e2a062..fa21b82e7 100644
--- a/libretroshare/src/rsserver/rsinit.cc
+++ b/libretroshare/src/rsserver/rsinit.cc
@@ -923,8 +923,10 @@ int RsServer::StartupRetroShare()
 	mNetMgr->setManagers(mPeerMgr, mLinkMgr);
 
 	rsAutoProxyMonitor *autoProxy = rsAutoProxyMonitor::instance();
+#ifdef RS_USE_I2P_BOB
 	mI2pBob = new p3I2pBob(mPeerMgr);
 	autoProxy->addProxy(autoProxyType::I2PBOB, mI2pBob);
+#endif
 
 	//load all the SSL certs as friends
 	//        std::list<std::string> sslIds;
@@ -1649,7 +1651,9 @@ int RsServer::StartupRetroShare()
 	mConfigMgr->addConfiguration("wire.cfg", wire_ns);
 #endif
 #endif //RS_ENABLE_GXS
+#ifdef RS_USE_I2P_BOB
 	mConfigMgr->addConfiguration("I2PBOB.cfg", mI2pBob);
+#endif
 
 	mPluginsManager->addConfigurations(mConfigMgr) ;
 
@@ -1795,7 +1799,9 @@ int RsServer::StartupRetroShare()
 	/**************************************************************************/
 
 	// auto proxy threads
+#ifdef RS_USE_I2P_BOB
 	startServiceThread(mI2pBob, "I2P-BOB");
+#endif
 
 #ifdef RS_ENABLE_GXS
 	// Must Set the GXS pointers before starting threads.
diff --git a/retroshare-gui/src/gui/settings/ServerPage.cpp b/retroshare-gui/src/gui/settings/ServerPage.cpp
index f0f8566e0..37291be0f 100755
--- a/retroshare-gui/src/gui/settings/ServerPage.cpp
+++ b/retroshare-gui/src/gui/settings/ServerPage.cpp
@@ -83,6 +83,10 @@ ServerPage::ServerPage(QWidget * parent, Qt::WindowFlags flags)
   manager = NULL ;
   mOngoingConnectivityCheck = -1;
 
+#ifndef RS_USE_I2P_BOB
+  ui.hiddenServiceTab->removeTab(TAB_HIDDEN_SERVICE_I2P_BOB);	// warning: the order of operation here is very important.
+#endif
+
   if(RsAccounts::isHiddenNode())
   {
 	  if(RsAccounts::isTorAuto())
diff --git a/retroshare.pri b/retroshare.pri
index 6bccc1f5a..994ced0f2 100644
--- a/retroshare.pri
+++ b/retroshare.pri
@@ -140,6 +140,11 @@ rs_macos10.15:CONFIG -= rs_macos10.11
 CONFIG *= no_rs_jsonapi
 rs_jsonapi:CONFIG -= no_rs_jsonapi
 
+# Disable i2p BOB support for automatically setting up an i2p tunnel for RS
+# "CONFIG+=no_rs_bob"
+CONFIG *= rs_bob
+no_rs_bob:CONFIG -= rs_bob
+
 # To enable channel indexing append the following assignation to qmake command
 # line "CONFIG+=rs_deep_channel_index"
 CONFIG *= no_rs_deep_channel_index
@@ -550,6 +555,10 @@ rs_webui {
     DEFINES *= RS_WEBUI
 }
 
+rs_bob {
+    DEFINES *= RS_USE_I2P_BOB
+}
+
 rs_deep_channels_index:DEFINES *= RS_DEEP_CHANNEL_INDEX
 
 rs_deep_files_index:DEFINES *= RS_DEEP_FILES_INDEX