diff --git a/devstack/designate_plugins/backend-bind9 b/devstack/designate_plugins/backend-bind9
index 8e714e722..c576e15e5 100644
--- a/devstack/designate_plugins/backend-bind9
+++ b/devstack/designate_plugins/backend-bind9
@@ -115,6 +115,7 @@ function configure_designate_backend {
         rndc_port: $DESIGNATE_SERVICE_PORT_RNDC
         rndc_config_file: $BIND_CFG_DIR/rndc.conf
         rndc_key_file: $BIND_CFG_DIR/rndc.key
+        clean_zonefile: true
 EOF
 
     sudo chown $STACK_USER $BIND_CFG_DIR
diff --git a/doc/source/admin/backends/sample_yaml_snippets/bind.yaml b/doc/source/admin/backends/sample_yaml_snippets/bind.yaml
index e2076268d..fcea27303 100644
--- a/doc/source/admin/backends/sample_yaml_snippets/bind.yaml
+++ b/doc/source/admin/backends/sample_yaml_snippets/bind.yaml
@@ -15,3 +15,4 @@
         rndc_host: 192.0.2.2
         rndc_port: 953
         rndc_key_file: /etc/designate/rndc.key
+        clean_zonefile: false