diff --git a/lib/cli/daemonutility.cpp b/lib/cli/daemonutility.cpp
index b586544ee..802f1e758 100644
--- a/lib/cli/daemonutility.cpp
+++ b/lib/cli/daemonutility.cpp
@@ -100,6 +100,10 @@ static void IncludePackage(const String& packagePath, bool& success)
 bool DaemonUtility::ValidateConfigFiles(const std::vector<std::string>& configs, const String& objectsFile)
 {
 	bool success;
+
+	Namespace::Ptr systemNS = ScriptGlobal::Get("System");
+	VERIFY(systemNS);
+
 	if (!objectsFile.IsEmpty())
 		ConfigCompilerContext::GetInstance()->OpenObjectsFile(objectsFile);
 
@@ -138,17 +142,20 @@ bool DaemonUtility::ValidateConfigFiles(const std::vector<std::string>& configs,
 	if (!success)
 		return false;
 
-	/* Load cluster synchronized configuration files */
+	/* Load cluster synchronized configuration files. This can be disabled for staged sync validations. */
+	bool ignoreZonesVarDir = false;
+	if (systemNS->Contains("IgnoreZonesVarDir")) {
+		ignoreZonesVarDir = Convert::ToBool(systemNS->Get("IgnoreZonesVarDir"));
+	}
+
 	String zonesVarDir = Configuration::DataDir + "/api/zones";
-	if (Utility::PathExists(zonesVarDir))
+
+	if (!ignoreZonesVarDir && Utility::PathExists(zonesVarDir))
 		Utility::Glob(zonesVarDir + "/*", std::bind(&IncludeNonLocalZone, _1, "_cluster", std::ref(success)), GlobDirectory);
 
 	if (!success)
 		return false;
 
-	Namespace::Ptr systemNS = ScriptGlobal::Get("System");
-	VERIFY(systemNS);
-
 	/* This is initialized inside the IcingaApplication class. */
 	Value vAppType;
 	VERIFY(systemNS->Get("ApplicationType", &vAppType));
diff --git a/lib/remote/apilistener-filesync.cpp b/lib/remote/apilistener-filesync.cpp
index 68b96b9df..f1d590293 100644
--- a/lib/remote/apilistener-filesync.cpp
+++ b/lib/remote/apilistener-filesync.cpp
@@ -391,7 +391,7 @@ void ApiListener::AsyncTryActivateZonesStage(const String& stageConfigDir, const
 		"daemon",
 		"--validate",
 		"--define",
-		"ZonesDir=" + GetApiZonesStageDir()
+		"System.IgnoreZonesVarDir=true"
 	});
 
 	Process::Ptr process = new Process(Process::PrepareCommand(args));