diff --git a/cinder/tests/unit/volume/drivers/vmware/test_vmware_vmdk.py b/cinder/tests/unit/volume/drivers/vmware/test_vmware_vmdk.py
index d17a95068e3..c417858fd61 100644
--- a/cinder/tests/unit/volume/drivers/vmware/test_vmware_vmdk.py
+++ b/cinder/tests/unit/volume/drivers/vmware/test_vmware_vmdk.py
@@ -97,6 +97,7 @@ class VMwareVcVmdkDriverTestCase(test.TestCase):
         self._config.vmware_connection_pool_size = self.POOL_SIZE
         self._config.vmware_adapter_type = self.ADAPTER_TYPE
         self._config.vmware_snapshot_format = self.SNAPSHOT_FORMAT
+        self._config.vmware_lazy_create = True
 
         self._db = mock.Mock()
         self._driver = vmdk.VMwareVcVmdkDriver(configuration=self._config,
@@ -169,6 +170,14 @@ class VMwareVcVmdkDriverTestCase(test.TestCase):
 
         verify_volume_creation.assert_called_once_with(volume)
 
+    @mock.patch.object(VMDK_DRIVER, '_create_backing')
+    def test_create_volume_with_lazy_create_disabled(self, create_backing):
+        self._config.vmware_lazy_create = False
+        volume = self._create_volume_dict()
+        self._driver.create_volume(volume)
+
+        create_backing.assert_called_once_with(volume)
+
     @mock.patch.object(VMDK_DRIVER, 'volumeops')
     def test_delete_volume_without_backing(self, vops):
         vops.get_backing.return_value = None
diff --git a/cinder/volume/drivers/vmware/vmdk.py b/cinder/volume/drivers/vmware/vmdk.py
index 72ee32fc5bb..88b540daabd 100644
--- a/cinder/volume/drivers/vmware/vmdk.py
+++ b/cinder/volume/drivers/vmware/vmdk.py
@@ -144,6 +144,12 @@ vmdk_opts = [
                choices=['template', 'COW'],
                default='template',
                help='Volume snapshot format in vCenter server.'),
+    cfg.BoolOpt('vmware_lazy_create',
+                default=True,
+                help='If true, the backend volume in vCenter server is created'
+                     ' lazily when the volume is created without any source. '
+                     'The backend volume is created when the volume is '
+                     'attached, uploaded to image service or during backup.'),
 ]
 
 CONF = cfg.CONF
@@ -251,7 +257,8 @@ class VMwareVcVmdkDriver(driver.VolumeDriver):
     #         support for revert-to-snapshot
     #         improve scalability of querying volumes in backend (bug 1600754)
     # 3.1.0 - support adapter type change using retype
-    VERSION = '3.1.0'
+    # 3.2.0 - config option to disable lazy creation of backend volume
+    VERSION = '3.2.0'
 
     # ThirdPartySystems wiki page
     CI_WIKI_NAME = "VMware_CI"
@@ -355,7 +362,10 @@ class VMwareVcVmdkDriver(driver.VolumeDriver):
 
         :param volume: Volume object
         """
-        self._verify_volume_creation(volume)
+        if self.configuration.vmware_lazy_create:
+            self._verify_volume_creation(volume)
+        else:
+            self._create_backing(volume)
 
     def _delete_volume(self, volume):
         """Delete the volume backing if it is present.
diff --git a/releasenotes/notes/vmware_lazy_create-52f52f71105d2067.yaml b/releasenotes/notes/vmware_lazy_create-52f52f71105d2067.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..e90520c323f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/releasenotes/notes/vmware_lazy_create-52f52f71105d2067.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+---
+features:
+  - |
+    VMware VMDK driver now supports a config option
+    ``vmware_lazy_create`` to disable the default behavior of
+    lazy creation of raw volumes in the backend.