diff --git a/jetty-server/src/main/java/org/eclipse/jetty/server/Server.java b/jetty-server/src/main/java/org/eclipse/jetty/server/Server.java
index 55eb8a9b9cbf..1cfa49967dd5 100644
--- a/jetty-server/src/main/java/org/eclipse/jetty/server/Server.java
+++ b/jetty-server/src/main/java/org/eclipse/jetty/server/Server.java
@@ -81,6 +81,7 @@ public class Server extends HandlerWrapper implements Attributes
     private final List<Connector> _connectors = new CopyOnWriteArrayList<>();
     private SessionIdManager _sessionIdManager;
     private String _tmpDirPosixPerms = "rwx------";
+    private boolean _workDirPersistent = true;
     private boolean _stopAtShutdown;
     private boolean _dumpAfterStart = false;
     private boolean _dumpBeforeStop = false;
@@ -216,6 +217,11 @@ public String getTempDirectoryPosixPermissions()
         return _tmpDirPosixPerms;
     }
 
+    public boolean isWorkDirectoryPersistent()
+    {
+        return _workDirPersistent;
+    }
+
     /**
      * @return Returns the connectors.
      */
@@ -600,6 +606,11 @@ public void setTempDirectoryPosixPermissions(String perms)
         _tmpDirPosixPerms = perms;
     }
 
+    public void setWorkDirectoryPersistent(boolean flag)
+    {
+        _workDirPersistent = flag;
+    }
+
     /*
      * @see org.eclipse.util.AttributesMap#clearAttributes()
      */
diff --git a/jetty-webapp/src/main/java/org/eclipse/jetty/webapp/WebInfConfiguration.java b/jetty-webapp/src/main/java/org/eclipse/jetty/webapp/WebInfConfiguration.java
index d81885c220e1..b49202393b87 100644
--- a/jetty-webapp/src/main/java/org/eclipse/jetty/webapp/WebInfConfiguration.java
+++ b/jetty-webapp/src/main/java/org/eclipse/jetty/webapp/WebInfConfiguration.java
@@ -460,7 +460,10 @@ public void resolveTempDirectory(WebAppContext context)
             File work = new File(jettyBase, "work");
             if (work.exists() && work.isDirectory() && work.canWrite())
             {
-                context.setPersistTempDirectory(true);
+                if (context.getServer().isWorkDirectoryPersistent())
+                {
+                    context.setPersistTempDirectory(true);
+                }
                 makeTempDirectory(work, context);
                 return;
             }