diff --git a/elasticsearch/README.md b/elasticsearch/README.md
index 2870a8a4e..c234def4b 100644
--- a/elasticsearch/README.md
+++ b/elasticsearch/README.md
@@ -128,6 +128,7 @@ support multiple versions with minimal changes.
 | `antiAffinity`                     | Setting this to hard enforces the [anti-affinity][] rules. If it is set to soft it will be done "best effort". Other values will be ignored                                                                                                               | `hard`                                          |
 | `clusterHealthCheckParams`         | The [Elasticsearch cluster health status params][] that will be used by readiness [probe][] command                                                                                                                                                       | `wait_for_status=green&timeout=1s`              |
 | `clusterName`                      | This will be used as the Elasticsearch [cluster.name][] and should be unique per cluster in the namespace                                                                                                                                                 | `elasticsearch`                                 |
+| `enableServiceLinks`               | Set to false to disabling service links, which can cause slow pod startup times when there are many services in the current namespace.                                                                                                                    | `true`                                          |
 | `envFrom`                          | Templatable string to be passed to the [environment from variables][] which will be appended to the `envFrom:` definition for the container                                                                                                               | `[]`                                            |
 | `esConfig`                         | Allows you to add any config files in `/usr/share/elasticsearch/config/` such as `elasticsearch.yml` and `log4j2.properties`. See [values.yaml][] for an example of the formatting                                                                        | `{}`                                            |
 | `esJavaOpts`                       | [Java options][] for Elasticsearch. This is where you should configure the [jvm heap size][]                                                                                                                                                              | `-Xmx1g -Xms1g`                                 |
diff --git a/elasticsearch/templates/statefulset.yaml b/elasticsearch/templates/statefulset.yaml
index acb1afbc8..f79b8f48f 100644
--- a/elasticsearch/templates/statefulset.yaml
+++ b/elasticsearch/templates/statefulset.yaml
@@ -143,6 +143,9 @@ spec:
       {{- if .Values.imagePullSecrets }}
       imagePullSecrets:
 {{ toYaml .Values.imagePullSecrets | indent 8 }}
+      {{- end }}
+      {{- if semverCompare ">1.13" .Capabilities.KubeVersion.GitVersion }}
+      enableServiceLinks: {{ .Values.enableServiceLinks }}
       {{- end }}
       initContainers:
       {{- if .Values.sysctlInitContainer.enabled }}
diff --git a/elasticsearch/values.yaml b/elasticsearch/values.yaml
index f5a162b99..b8a2742ce 100755
--- a/elasticsearch/values.yaml
+++ b/elasticsearch/values.yaml
@@ -159,6 +159,11 @@ nodeAffinity: {}
 # the same time when bootstrapping the cluster
 podManagementPolicy: "Parallel"
 
+# The environment variables injected by service links are not used, but can lead to slow Elasticsearch boot times when
+# there are many services in the current namespace.
+# If you experience slow pod startups you probably want to set this to `false`.
+enableServiceLinks: true
+
 protocol: http
 httpPort: 9200
 transportPort: 9300