diff --git a/.github/scripts/test-cilium-envoy-toggle.py b/.github/scripts/test-cilium-envoy-toggle.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1b04178
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/scripts/test-cilium-envoy-toggle.py
@@ -0,0 +1,120 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+"""Regression test for the Cilium Envoy toggle.
+
+The `cilium_envoy` variable lets users enable or disable the Cilium Envoy
+proxy. The Install/upgrade Cilium task in
+roles/k3s_server_post/tasks/cilium.yml passes the value through to Helm as
+`envoy.enabled`. This test:
+
+  - loads the real "Install Cilium" task and confirms the install/upgrade
+    command actually contains the `envoy.enabled` Helm value,
+  - renders the conditional that computes the Helm value and confirms it
+    produces `true` when cilium_envoy is enabled and `false` when disabled,
+  - confirms the task stays forward/backward compatible (no raw `true` /
+    `false` hardcoded in place of the conditional).
+"""
+
+from __future__ import print_function
+
+import os
+import re
+import subprocess
+
+import yaml
+from jinja2 import Environment
+
+ENVOY_EXPRESSION = '{{ "true" if cilium_envoy else "false" }}'
+
+
+def repo_root():
+    return subprocess.check_output(
+        ["git", "rev-parse", "--show-toplevel"], text=True
+    ).strip()
+
+
+def fail(message):
+    raise SystemExit("Cilium Envoy toggle test failed: " + message)
+
+
+def extract_install_command(path):
+    """Return the command string for the 'Install Cilium' task.
+
+    Walks both top-level tasks and tasks nested inside a `block`/`always`/
+    `rescue` list, since the Cilium deploy steps are grouped under the
+    'Prepare Cilium CLI on first master and deploy CNI' block.
+    """
+    with open(path, encoding="utf-8") as handle:
+        doc = yaml.safe_load(handle)
+
+    def find_command(tasks):
+        for task in tasks:
+            if not isinstance(task, dict):
+                continue
+            if task.get("name") == "Install Cilium":
+                command = task.get("ansible.builtin.command")
+                if command is None:
+                    raise SystemExit(
+                        "Cilium Envoy toggle test failed: "
+                        "'Install Cilium' task has no ansible.builtin.command"
+                    )
+                return command
+            # Recurse into block/always/rescue sub-lists.
+            for key in ("block", "always", "rescue"):
+                nested = task.get(key)
+                if isinstance(nested, list):
+                    found = find_command(nested)
+                    if found is not None:
+                        return found
+        return None
+
+    command = find_command(doc)
+    if command is None:
+        raise SystemExit(
+            "Cilium Envoy toggle test failed: could not find 'Install Cilium' task"
+        )
+    return command
+
+
+def assert_envoy_in_command(command):
+    if "envoy.enabled" not in command:
+        fail("install command is missing --helm-set envoy.enabled")
+    if ENVOY_EXPRESSION not in command:
+        fail(
+            "install command does not use the cilium_envoy conditional: "
+            "expected {0!r}".format(ENVOY_EXPRESSION)
+        )
+    # The conditional must be a WYSIWYG helm-set value, not a pre-rendered
+    # true/false literal (which would ignore the cilium_envoy variable).
+    if re.search(r"--helm-set envoy\.enabled=true(?:$|\s)", command):
+        fail("install command hardcodes envoy.enabled=true")
+    if re.search(r"--helm-set envoy\.enabled=false(?:$|\s)", command):
+        fail("install command hardcodes envoy.enabled=false")
+
+
+def assert_render():
+    env = Environment()
+
+    def render_for(value):
+        template = env.from_string(ENVOY_EXPRESSION)
+        return template.render(cilium_envoy=value)
+
+    if render_for(True) != "true":
+        fail("envoy conditional did not render 'true' when enabled")
+    if render_for(False) != "false":
+        fail("envoy conditional did not render 'false' when disabled")
+
+
+def main():
+    root = repo_root()
+    cilium_tasks = os.path.join(
+        root, "roles", "k3s_server_post", "tasks", "cilium.yml"
+    )
+    command = extract_install_command(cilium_tasks)
+    assert_envoy_in_command(command)
+    assert_render()
+
+    print("Cilium Envoy toggle regression test passed")
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    main()
diff --git a/.pre-commit-config.yaml b/.pre-commit-config.yaml
index 871a131..0b80f6d 100644
--- a/.pre-commit-config.yaml
+++ b/.pre-commit-config.yaml
@@ -70,6 +70,15 @@ repos:
           - Jinja2>=3.1
         pass_filenames: false
         files: ^roles/k3s_server_post/templates/cilium\.crs\.j2$|^\.github/scripts/test-cilium-bgp-manifest\.py$
+      - id: cilium-envoy-toggle-test
+        name: Cilium Envoy toggle test
+        entry: python3 .github/scripts/test-cilium-envoy-toggle.py
+        language: python
+        additional_dependencies:
+          - Jinja2>=3.1
+          - PyYAML
+        pass_filenames: false
+        files: ^roles/k3s_server_post/tasks/cilium\.yml$|^\.github/scripts/test-cilium-envoy-toggle\.py$
       - id: kube-vip-manifest-test
         name: kube-vip manifest test
         entry: python3 .github/scripts/test-kube-vip-manifest.py
diff --git a/inventory/sample/group_vars/all.yml b/inventory/sample/group_vars/all.yml
index 4e461b6..26295ab 100644
--- a/inventory/sample/group_vars/all.yml
+++ b/inventory/sample/group_vars/all.yml
@@ -24,6 +24,10 @@ cilium_mode: native # native when nodes are on the same subnet or use BGP, other
 cilium_tag: v1.20.0 # cilium version tag
 cilium_cli_tag: v0.19.7 # cilium cli version tag
 cilium_hubble: true # enable hubble observability relay and ui
+cilium_envoy: true # enable the Envoy proxy for Cilium L7 policies
+
+# disable cilium_envoy to skip the Envoy proxy entirely (e.g. no L7 policies)
+# cilium_envoy: false
 
 # if using calico or cilium, you may specify the cluster pod cidr pool
 cluster_cidr: 10.52.0.0/16
diff --git a/roles/k3s_server_post/defaults/main.yml b/roles/k3s_server_post/defaults/main.yml
index ec03c3b..0d64546 100644
--- a/roles/k3s_server_post/defaults/main.yml
+++ b/roles/k3s_server_post/defaults/main.yml
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ cilium_bgp_peer_asn: 64512
 cilium_bgp_neighbors: []
 cilium_bgp_neighbors_groups: ['k3s_all']
 cilium_bgp_lb_cidr: 192.168.31.0/24
+cilium_envoy: true
 cilium_hubble: true
 cilium_mode: native
 cilium_tag: v1.20.0
diff --git a/roles/k3s_server_post/tasks/cilium.yml b/roles/k3s_server_post/tasks/cilium.yml
index 78fd24e..46bca62 100644
--- a/roles/k3s_server_post/tasks/cilium.yml
+++ b/roles/k3s_server_post/tasks/cilium.yml
@@ -178,6 +178,7 @@
         --helm-set hubble.enabled={{ "true" if cilium_hubble else "false" }}
         --helm-set hubble.relay.enabled={{ "true" if cilium_hubble else "false" }}
         --helm-set hubble.ui.enabled={{ "true" if cilium_hubble else "false" }}
+        --helm-set envoy.enabled={{ "true" if cilium_envoy else "false" }}
         {% if kube_proxy_replacement is not false %}
         --helm-set loadBalancer.algorithm={{ bpf_lb_algorithm }}
         --helm-set loadBalancer.mode={{ bpf_lb_mode }}