diff --git a/locator/ec2_multi_region_snitch.cc b/locator/ec2_multi_region_snitch.cc
index f0b399cc47..b01bc2373f 100644
--- a/locator/ec2_multi_region_snitch.cc
+++ b/locator/ec2_multi_region_snitch.cc
@@ -20,7 +20,8 @@ static constexpr const char* PRIVATE_MAC_QUERY = "/latest/meta-data/network/inte
 
 namespace locator {
 ec2_multi_region_snitch::ec2_multi_region_snitch(const snitch_config& cfg)
-    : ec2_snitch(cfg) {}
+    : ec2_snitch(cfg)
+    , _broadcast_rpc_address_specified_by_user(cfg.broadcast_rpc_address_specified_by_user) {}
 
 future<> ec2_multi_region_snitch::start() {
     _state = snitch_state::initializing;
@@ -61,7 +62,9 @@ future<> ec2_multi_region_snitch::start() {
             // value to a public address in cassandra.yaml.
             //
             utils::fb_utilities::set_broadcast_address(local_public_address);
-            utils::fb_utilities::set_broadcast_rpc_address(local_public_address);
+            if (!_broadcast_rpc_address_specified_by_user) {
+                utils::fb_utilities::set_broadcast_rpc_address(local_public_address);
+            }
 
             if (!local_public_address.addr().is_ipv6()) {
                 sstring priv_addr = aws_api_call(AWS_QUERY_SERVER_ADDR, AWS_QUERY_SERVER_PORT, PRIVATE_IP_QUERY_REQ).get0();
diff --git a/locator/ec2_multi_region_snitch.hh b/locator/ec2_multi_region_snitch.hh
index 7e8db3b640..2fca3914e3 100644
--- a/locator/ec2_multi_region_snitch.hh
+++ b/locator/ec2_multi_region_snitch.hh
@@ -24,5 +24,6 @@ public:
     }
 private:
     sstring _local_private_address;
+    bool _broadcast_rpc_address_specified_by_user;
 };
 } // namespace locator
diff --git a/locator/snitch_base.hh b/locator/snitch_base.hh
index e3bc9f5888..e37392c40a 100644
--- a/locator/snitch_base.hh
+++ b/locator/snitch_base.hh
@@ -45,6 +45,7 @@ struct snitch_config {
     sstring name = "SimpleSnitch";
     sstring properties_file_name = "";
     unsigned io_cpu_id = 0;
+    bool broadcast_rpc_address_specified_by_user = false;
 
     // GCE-specific
     sstring gce_meta_server_url = "";
diff --git a/main.cc b/main.cc
index 9c49d61a5a..ac6d6e8347 100644
--- a/main.cc
+++ b/main.cc
@@ -870,6 +870,7 @@ To start the scylla server proper, simply invoke as: scylla server (or just scyl
             supervisor::notify("creating snitch");
             snitch_config snitch_cfg;
             snitch_cfg.name = cfg->endpoint_snitch();
+            snitch_cfg.broadcast_rpc_address_specified_by_user = !cfg->broadcast_rpc_address().empty();
             sharded<locator::snitch_ptr>& snitch = i_endpoint_snitch::snitch_instance();
             snitch.start(snitch_cfg, std::ref(gossiper)).get();
             auto stop_snitch = defer_verbose_shutdown("snitch", [&snitch] {