diff --git a/doc/sphinx-guides/source/installation/config.rst b/doc/sphinx-guides/source/installation/config.rst
index 94c16e2f81a..92a04959c64 100644
--- a/doc/sphinx-guides/source/installation/config.rst
+++ b/doc/sphinx-guides/source/installation/config.rst
@@ -165,6 +165,7 @@ Here are the configuration options for handles:
 - :ref:`:Authority <:Authority>`
 - :ref:`:IdentifierGenerationStyle <:IdentifierGenerationStyle>` (optional)
 - :ref:`:DataFilePIDFormat <:DataFilePIDFormat>` (optional)
+- :ref:`:IndependentHandleService <:IndependentHandleService>` (optional)
 
 Note: If you are **minting your own handles** and plan to set up your own handle service, please refer to `Handle.Net documentation <http://handle.net/hnr_documentation.html>`_.
 
@@ -1088,6 +1089,14 @@ If you don't want to register file-based PIDs for your installation, set:
 
 Note: File-level PID registration was added in 4.9 and is required until version 4.9.3.
 
+:IndependentHandleService
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+
+Specific for Handle PIDs. Set this setting to true if you want to use a Handle service which is setup to work 'independently' (No communication with the Global Handle Registry). 
+By default this setting is absent and Dataverse assumes it to be false.
+
+``curl -X PUT -d 'true' http://localhost:8080/api/admin/settings/:IndependentHandleService``
+
 :ApplicationTermsOfUse
 ++++++++++++++++++++++
 
diff --git a/src/main/java/edu/harvard/iq/dataverse/HandlenetServiceBean.java b/src/main/java/edu/harvard/iq/dataverse/HandlenetServiceBean.java
index c13a50d1cf9..0549baaf8ae 100644
--- a/src/main/java/edu/harvard/iq/dataverse/HandlenetServiceBean.java
+++ b/src/main/java/edu/harvard/iq/dataverse/HandlenetServiceBean.java
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@ public void reRegisterHandle(DvObject dvObject) {
             
             logger.log(Level.INFO, "Re-registering an existing handle id {0}", handle);
             
-            String authHandle = getHandleAuthority(dvObject);
+            String authHandle = getAuthenticationHandle(dvObject);
 
             HandleResolver resolver = new HandleResolver();
 
@@ -148,7 +148,7 @@ public Throwable registerNewHandle(DvObject dvObject) {
 
         logger.log(Level.INFO, "Creating NEW handle {0}", handle);
 
-        String authHandle = getHandleAuthority(dvObject);
+        String authHandle = getAuthenticationHandle(dvObject);
 
         PublicKeyAuthenticationInfo auth = getAuthInfo(handlePrefix);
         HandleResolver resolver = new HandleResolver();
@@ -233,7 +233,7 @@ private PublicKeyAuthenticationInfo getAuthInfo(String handlePrefix) {
         key = readKey(adminCredFile);        
         PrivateKey privkey = null;
         privkey = readPrivKey(key, adminCredFile);
-        String authHandle =  getHandleAuthority(handlePrefix);
+        String authHandle =  getAuthenticationHandle(handlePrefix);
         PublicKeyAuthenticationInfo auth =
                 new PublicKeyAuthenticationInfo(Util.encodeString(authHandle), handlenetIndex, privkey);
         return auth;
@@ -308,13 +308,17 @@ private String getDvObjectHandle(DvObject dvObject) {
         return handle;
     }
     
-    private String getHandleAuthority(DvObject dvObject){
-        return getHandleAuthority(dvObject.getAuthority());
+    private String getAuthenticationHandle(DvObject dvObject){
+        return getAuthenticationHandle(dvObject.getAuthority());
     }
     
-    private String getHandleAuthority(String handlePrefix) {
-        logger.log(Level.FINE,"getHandleAuthority");
-        return "0.NA/" + handlePrefix;
+    private String getAuthenticationHandle(String handlePrefix) {
+        logger.log(Level.FINE,"getAuthenticationHandle");
+        if (systemConfig.isIndependentHandleService()) {
+            return handlePrefix + "/ADMIN";
+        } else {
+            return "0.NA/" + handlePrefix;
+        }
     }
 
     @Override
@@ -355,7 +359,7 @@ public String modifyIdentifierTargetURL(DvObject dvObject) throws Exception  {
     @Override
     public void deleteIdentifier(DvObject dvObject) throws Exception  {
         String handle = getDvObjectHandle(dvObject);
-        String authHandle = getAuthHandle(dvObject);
+        String authHandle = getAuthenticationHandle(dvObject);
 
         String adminCredFile = System.getProperty("dataverse.handlenet.admcredfile");
         int handlenetIndex = System.getProperty("dataverse.handlenet.index")!=null? Integer.parseInt(System.getProperty("dataverse.handlenet.index")) : 300;
@@ -389,11 +393,6 @@ private boolean updateIdentifierStatus(DvObject dvObject, String statusIn) {
         reRegisterHandle(dvObject); // No Need to register new - this is only called when a handle exists
         return true;
     }
-
-    private String getAuthHandle(DvObject dvObject) {
-        // TODO hack: GNRSServiceBean retrieved this from vdcNetworkService
-        return "0.NA/" + dvObject.getAuthority();
-    }
     
     @Override
     public List<String> getProviderInformation(){
diff --git a/src/main/java/edu/harvard/iq/dataverse/settings/SettingsServiceBean.java b/src/main/java/edu/harvard/iq/dataverse/settings/SettingsServiceBean.java
index 0c60708a5a6..cb0a193b5c1 100644
--- a/src/main/java/edu/harvard/iq/dataverse/settings/SettingsServiceBean.java
+++ b/src/main/java/edu/harvard/iq/dataverse/settings/SettingsServiceBean.java
@@ -366,7 +366,12 @@ Whether Harvesting (OAI) service is enabled
          * 
          */
         FilePIDsEnabled,
-        
+
+        /**
+         * Indicates if the Handle service is setup to work 'independently' (No communication with the Global Handle Registry)
+         */
+        IndependentHandleService,
+
         /**
          * Archiving can be configured by providing an Archiver class name (class must extend AstractSubmitToArchiverCommand)
          * and a list of settings that should be passed to the Archiver.
diff --git a/src/main/java/edu/harvard/iq/dataverse/util/SystemConfig.java b/src/main/java/edu/harvard/iq/dataverse/util/SystemConfig.java
index fd059640780..1d980c53bf9 100644
--- a/src/main/java/edu/harvard/iq/dataverse/util/SystemConfig.java
+++ b/src/main/java/edu/harvard/iq/dataverse/util/SystemConfig.java
@@ -1058,4 +1058,8 @@ public boolean isFilePIDsEnabled() {
         return settingsService.isTrueForKey(SettingsServiceBean.Key.FilePIDsEnabled, safeDefaultIfKeyNotFound);
     }
     
+    public boolean isIndependentHandleService() {
+        boolean safeDefaultIfKeyNotFound = false;
+        return settingsService.isTrueForKey(SettingsServiceBean.Key.IndependentHandleService, safeDefaultIfKeyNotFound);
+    }
 }