diff --git a/docs/configuration.md b/docs/configuration.md
index 9725677..fb7373a 100644
--- a/docs/configuration.md
+++ b/docs/configuration.md
@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@ Some `site.github` values can be overridden by environment variables.
 - `PAGES_GITHUB_HOSTNAME` – the `site.github.hostname` (default: `github.com`)
 - `PAGES_PAGES_HOSTNAME` – the `site.github.pages_hostname` (default: `github.io`)
 - `NO_NETRC` – set if you don't want the fallback to `~/.netrc`
+- `PAGES_DISABLE_NETWORK` – set to prevent all network accesses (disables features that need to access the GitHub API)
 
 ## Using with GitHub Enterprise
 
diff --git a/lib/jekyll-github-metadata/client.rb b/lib/jekyll-github-metadata/client.rb
index f655152..aab378b 100644
--- a/lib/jekyll-github-metadata/client.rb
+++ b/lib/jekyll-github-metadata/client.rb
@@ -110,15 +110,19 @@ def authenticated?
       def internet_connected?
         return @internet_connected if defined?(@internet_connected)
 
-        require "resolv"
-        begin
-          Resolv::DNS.open do |dns|
-            dns.timeouts = 2
-            dns.getaddress("api.github.com")
-          end
-          @internet_connected = true
-        rescue Resolv::ResolvError
+        if ENV["PAGES_DISABLE_NETWORK"]
           @internet_connected = false
+        else
+          require "resolv"
+          begin
+            Resolv::DNS.open do |dns|
+              dns.timeouts = 2
+              dns.getaddress("api.github.com")
+            end
+            @internet_connected = true
+          rescue Resolv::ResolvError
+            @internet_connected = false
+          end
         end
       end
 
diff --git a/spec/client_spec.rb b/spec/client_spec.rb
index 0d56158..7ab97f2 100644
--- a/spec/client_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/client_spec.rb
@@ -38,4 +38,20 @@
       subject.contributors("jekyll/github-metadata")
     end.to raise_error(described_class::BadCredentialsError)
   end
+
+  it "supresses network accesses if requested" do
+    WebMock.disable_net_connect!
+
+    with_env("PAGES_DISABLE_NETWORK", "1") do
+      expect(subject.contributors("jekyll/github-metadata")).to be(false)
+    end
+  end
+
+  it "allows network accesses by default" do
+    WebMock.disable_net_connect!
+
+    expect do
+      subject.contributors("jekyll/github-metadata")
+    end.to raise_error(WebMock::NetConnectNotAllowedError)
+  end
 end