diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 8ae4231ca1..6426e9a4ed 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -181,6 +181,23 @@ The above will default in devstack to using the OVS on each compute host. To cha
     Q_ML2_PLUGIN_VLAN_TYPE_OPTIONS   VLAN TypeDriver options. Defaults to none.
     Q_AGENT_EXTRA_AGENT_OPTS         Extra configuration options to pass to the OVS or LinuxBridge Agent.
 
+# Heat
+
+Heat is disabled by default. To enable it you'll need the following settings
+in your `localrc` :
+
+    enable_service heat h-api h-api-cfn h-api-cw h-eng
+
+Heat can also run in standalone mode, and be configured to orchestrate
+on an external OpenStack cloud. To launch only Heat in standalone mode
+you'll need the following settings in your `localrc` :
+
+    disable_all_services
+    enable_service rabbit mysql heat h-api h-api-cfn h-api-cw h-eng
+    HEAT_STANDALONE=True
+    KEYSTONE_SERVICE_HOST=...
+    KEYSTONE_AUTH_HOST=...
+
 # Tempest
 
 If tempest has been successfully configured, a basic set of smoke tests can be run as follows:
diff --git a/lib/heat b/lib/heat
index 85177738dc..1b715f2b55 100644
--- a/lib/heat
+++ b/lib/heat
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ set +o xtrace
 HEAT_DIR=$DEST/heat
 HEATCLIENT_DIR=$DEST/python-heatclient
 HEAT_AUTH_CACHE_DIR=${HEAT_AUTH_CACHE_DIR:-/var/cache/heat}
-
+HEAT_STANDALONE=`trueorfalse False $HEAT_STANDALONE`
 
 # Functions
 # ---------
@@ -83,6 +83,7 @@ function configure_heat() {
     iniset $HEAT_API_CFN_CONF keystone_authtoken signing_dir $HEAT_AUTH_CACHE_DIR/api-cfn
     iniset $HEAT_API_CFN_CONF ec2authtoken auth_uri $KEYSTONE_SERVICE_PROTOCOL://$KEYSTONE_SERVICE_HOST:$KEYSTONE_SERVICE_PORT/v2.0
     iniset $HEAT_API_CFN_CONF ec2authtoken keystone_ec2_uri $KEYSTONE_SERVICE_PROTOCOL://$KEYSTONE_SERVICE_HOST:$KEYSTONE_SERVICE_PORT/v2.0/ec2tokens
+    [[ "$HEAT_STANDALONE" = "True" ]] && iniset $HEAT_API_CFN_CONF paste_deploy flavor standalone
 
     iniset_rpc_backend heat $HEAT_API_CFN_CONF DEFAULT
 
@@ -104,7 +105,7 @@ function configure_heat() {
     iniset $HEAT_API_CONF keystone_authtoken signing_dir $HEAT_AUTH_CACHE_DIR/api
     iniset $HEAT_API_CONF ec2authtoken auth_uri $KEYSTONE_SERVICE_PROTOCOL://$KEYSTONE_SERVICE_HOST:$KEYSTONE_SERVICE_PORT/v2.0
     iniset $HEAT_API_CONF ec2authtoken keystone_ec2_uri $KEYSTONE_SERVICE_PROTOCOL://$KEYSTONE_SERVICE_HOST:$KEYSTONE_SERVICE_PORT/v2.0/ec2tokens
-
+    [[ "$HEAT_STANDALONE" = "True" ]] && iniset $HEAT_API_CONF paste_deploy flavor standalone
     iniset_rpc_backend heat $HEAT_API_CONF DEFAULT
 
 
@@ -142,6 +143,7 @@ function configure_heat() {
     iniset $HEAT_API_CW_CONF keystone_authtoken signing_dir $HEAT_AUTH_CACHE_DIR/api-cloudwatch
     iniset $HEAT_API_CW_CONF ec2authtoken auth_uri $KEYSTONE_SERVICE_PROTOCOL://$KEYSTONE_SERVICE_HOST:$KEYSTONE_SERVICE_PORT/v2.0
     iniset $HEAT_API_CW_CONF ec2authtoken keystone_ec2_uri $KEYSTONE_SERVICE_PROTOCOL://$KEYSTONE_SERVICE_HOST:$KEYSTONE_SERVICE_PORT/v2.0/ec2tokens
+    [[ "$HEAT_STANDALONE" = "True" ]] && iniset $HEAT_API_CW_CONF paste_deploy flavor standalone
 
     iniset_rpc_backend heat $HEAT_API_CW_CONF DEFAULT