diff --git a/toolkit/system/dbus/nsNetworkManagerListener.cpp b/toolkit/system/dbus/nsNetworkManagerListener.cpp
index 12b18fff5d23..42e2d8edf2d3 100644
--- a/toolkit/system/dbus/nsNetworkManagerListener.cpp
+++ b/toolkit/system/dbus/nsNetworkManagerListener.cpp
@@ -45,6 +45,8 @@
 #include "nsServiceManagerUtils.h"
 #include "nsIObserverService.h"
 #include "nsStringAPI.h"
+#include "nsIPrefBranch2.h"
+#include "nsIPrefService.h"
 
 // Define NetworkManager API constants. This avoids a dependency on
 // NetworkManager-devel.
@@ -187,7 +189,17 @@ nsNetworkManagerListener::UpdateNetworkStatus(DBusMessage* msg) {
   if (!dbus_message_get_args(msg, NULL, DBUS_TYPE_UINT32, &result,
                              DBUS_TYPE_INVALID))
     return;
-  
+
+  // Don't update status if disabled by pref
+  nsCOMPtr<nsIPrefBranch2> prefs =
+    do_GetService(NS_PREFSERVICE_CONTRACTID);
+  if (prefs) {
+    PRBool ignore = PR_FALSE;
+    prefs->GetBoolPref("toolkit.networkmanager.disable", &ignore);
+    if (ignore)
+      return;
+  }
+
   mNetworkManagerActive = PR_TRUE;
   
   PRBool wasUp = mLinkUp;