diff --git a/packages/create-gatsby/src/__tests__/tracking.ts b/packages/create-gatsby/src/__tests__/tracking.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..42bd45bb0abcb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/create-gatsby/src/__tests__/tracking.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,61 @@
+let isTrackingEnabled: () => boolean
+
+const get = jest.fn()
+const set = jest.fn()
+
+jest.doMock(`../get-config-store`, () => {
+  return {
+    getConfigStore: (): unknown => {
+      return {
+        get,
+        set,
+      }
+    },
+  }
+})
+
+describe(`isTrackingEnabled`, () => {
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    jest.resetModules()
+    isTrackingEnabled = require(`../tracking`).isTrackingEnabled
+  })
+
+  it(`is enabled by default`, () => {
+    const enabled = isTrackingEnabled()
+    expect(enabled).toBeTrue()
+  })
+
+  it(`respects the setting of the config store`, () => {
+    get.mockImplementationOnce(key => {
+      if (key === `telemetry.enabled`) {
+        return false
+      } else {
+        return true
+      }
+    })
+
+    const enabled = isTrackingEnabled()
+    expect(enabled).toBeFalse()
+
+    const cachedEnabled = isTrackingEnabled()
+    expect(cachedEnabled).toBeFalse()
+  })
+
+  describe(`process.env.GATSBY_TELEMETRY_DISABLED`, () => {
+    beforeAll(() => {
+      process.env.GATSBY_TELEMETRY_DISABLED = `true`
+    })
+
+    it(`respects the setting of the environment variable`, () => {
+      const enabled = isTrackingEnabled()
+      expect(enabled).toBeFalse()
+
+      const cachedEnabled = isTrackingEnabled()
+      expect(cachedEnabled).toBeFalse()
+    })
+
+    afterAll(() => {
+      process.env.GATSBY_TELEMETRY_DISABLED = undefined
+    })
+  })
+})
diff --git a/packages/create-gatsby/src/is-truthy.ts b/packages/create-gatsby/src/is-truthy.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..25b0c67e77c18
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/create-gatsby/src/is-truthy.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+// Copied from gatsby-core-utils to avoid depending on it, similar to get-config-store
+//
+// Returns true for `true`, true, positive numbers
+// Returns false for `false`, false, 0, negative integers and anything else
+export function isTruthy(value: any): boolean {
+  // Return if Boolean
+  if (typeof value === `boolean`) return value
+
+  // Return false if null or undefined
+  if (value === undefined || value === null) return false
+
+  // If the String is true or false
+  if (value.toLowerCase() === `true`) return true
+  if (value.toLowerCase() === `false`) return false
+
+  // Now check if it's a number
+  const number = parseInt(value, 10)
+  if (isNaN(number)) return false
+  if (number > 0) return true
+
+  // Default to false
+  return false
+}
diff --git a/packages/create-gatsby/src/tracking.ts b/packages/create-gatsby/src/tracking.ts
index d0c2d60801895..712119a7935da 100644
--- a/packages/create-gatsby/src/tracking.ts
+++ b/packages/create-gatsby/src/tracking.ts
@@ -1,11 +1,16 @@
 import fetch from "node-fetch"
 import { v4 as uuidv4 } from "@lukeed/uuid"
 import { getConfigStore } from "./get-config-store"
+import { isTruthy } from "./is-truthy"
 
 const store = getConfigStore()
 const gatsbyCliVersion = require(`../package.json`).version
 const analyticsApi =
   process.env.GATSBY_TELEMETRY_API || `https://analytics.gatsbyjs.com/events`
+let trackingEnabled: boolean | undefined
+const trackingDisabledFromEnvVar: boolean | undefined = isTruthy(
+  process.env.GATSBY_TELEMETRY_DISABLED
+)
 
 const getMachineId = (): string => {
   let machineId = store.get(`telemetry.machineId`)
@@ -28,7 +33,34 @@ export interface ITrackCliArgs {
 
 const sessionId = uuidv4()
 
+// Adapted from gatsby-telemetry
+export function isTrackingEnabled(): boolean {
+  // Cache the result
+  if (trackingEnabled !== undefined) {
+    return trackingEnabled
+  }
+
+  let enabled = store.get(`telemetry.enabled`) as boolean | null
+
+  if (enabled === undefined || enabled === null) {
+    enabled = true
+    store.set(`telemetry.enabled`, enabled)
+  }
+
+  if (trackingDisabledFromEnvVar) {
+    enabled = false
+  }
+
+  trackingEnabled = enabled
+
+  return enabled
+}
+
 export const trackCli = (eventType: string, args?: ITrackCliArgs): void => {
+  if (!isTrackingEnabled()) {
+    return
+  }
+
   fetch(analyticsApi, {
     method: `POST`,
     headers: {