diff --git a/lib/cinder b/lib/cinder
index ade3b82c3a..81174474e4 100644
--- a/lib/cinder
+++ b/lib/cinder
@@ -66,6 +66,10 @@ CINDER_SERVICE_PORT=${CINDER_SERVICE_PORT:-8776}
 CINDER_SERVICE_PORT_INT=${CINDER_SERVICE_PORT_INT:-18776}
 CINDER_SERVICE_PROTOCOL=${CINDER_SERVICE_PROTOCOL:-$SERVICE_PROTOCOL}
 
+# What type of LVM device should Cinder use for LVM backend
+# Defaults to default, which is thick, the other valid choice
+# is thin, which as the name implies utilizes lvm thin provisioning.
+CINDER_LVM_TYPE=${CINDER_LVM_TYPE:-default}
 
 # Default backends
 # The backend format is type:name where type is one of the supported backend
diff --git a/lib/cinder_backends/lvm b/lib/cinder_backends/lvm
index 35ad209db7..411b82c190 100644
--- a/lib/cinder_backends/lvm
+++ b/lib/cinder_backends/lvm
@@ -51,6 +51,7 @@ function configure_cinder_backend_lvm {
     iniset $CINDER_CONF $be_name volume_driver "cinder.volume.drivers.lvm.LVMVolumeDriver"
     iniset $CINDER_CONF $be_name volume_group $VOLUME_GROUP_NAME-$be_name
     iniset $CINDER_CONF $be_name iscsi_helper "$CINDER_ISCSI_HELPER"
+    iniset $CINDER_CONF $be_name lvm_type "$CINDER_LVM_TYPE"
 
     if [[ "$CINDER_SECURE_DELETE" == "False" ]]; then
         iniset $CINDER_CONF $be_name volume_clear none