diff --git a/puppet/services/swift-ringbuilder.yaml b/puppet/services/swift-ringbuilder.yaml
index 8ed4e9f48b..5c70b6abd0 100644
--- a/puppet/services/swift-ringbuilder.yaml
+++ b/puppet/services/swift-ringbuilder.yaml
@@ -38,7 +38,10 @@ parameters:
     default: {}
     description: 'A hash of additional raw devices to use as Swift backend (eg. {sdb: {}})'
     type: json
-
+  SwiftUseLocalDir:
+    default: true
+    description: 'Use a local directory for Swift storage services when building rings'
+    type: boolean
 
 outputs:
   role_data:
@@ -56,7 +59,7 @@ outputs:
             expression: $.data.raw_disk_lists.flatten()
             data:
               raw_disk_lists:
-              - [':%PORT%/d1']
+              - {if: [{get_param: SwiftUseLocalDir}, [':%PORT%/d1'], []]}
               - repeat:
                   template: ':%PORT%/DEVICE'
                   for_each: