diff --git a/internal/archiver/archiver.go b/internal/archiver/archiver.go
index 63a1691b3..19d16c4d3 100644
--- a/internal/archiver/archiver.go
+++ b/internal/archiver/archiver.go
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/restic/restic/internal/debug"
 	"github.com/restic/restic/internal/errors"
+	"github.com/restic/restic/internal/feature"
 	"github.com/restic/restic/internal/fs"
 	"github.com/restic/restic/internal/restic"
 	"golang.org/x/sync/errgroup"
@@ -188,11 +189,13 @@ func (arch *Archiver) nodeFromFileInfo(snPath, filename string, fi os.FileInfo)
 	if !arch.WithAtime {
 		node.AccessTime = node.ModTime
 	}
-	if node.Links == 1 || node.Type == "dir" {
-		// the DeviceID is only necessary for hardlinked files
-		// when using subvolumes or snapshots their deviceIDs tend to change which causes
-		// restic to upload new tree blobs
-		node.DeviceID = 0
+	if feature.Flag.Enabled(feature.DeviceIDForHardlinks) {
+		if node.Links == 1 || node.Type == "dir" {
+			// the DeviceID is only necessary for hardlinked files
+			// when using subvolumes or snapshots their deviceIDs tend to change which causes
+			// restic to upload new tree blobs
+			node.DeviceID = 0
+		}
 	}
 	// overwrite name to match that within the snapshot
 	node.Name = path.Base(snPath)
diff --git a/internal/archiver/archiver_test.go b/internal/archiver/archiver_test.go
index 3d50e555f..411994911 100644
--- a/internal/archiver/archiver_test.go
+++ b/internal/archiver/archiver_test.go
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/restic/restic/internal/backend/mem"
 	"github.com/restic/restic/internal/checker"
 	"github.com/restic/restic/internal/errors"
+	"github.com/restic/restic/internal/feature"
 	"github.com/restic/restic/internal/fs"
 	"github.com/restic/restic/internal/repository"
 	"github.com/restic/restic/internal/restic"
@@ -2125,6 +2126,8 @@ const (
 )
 
 func TestMetadataChanged(t *testing.T) {
+	defer feature.TestSetFlag(t, feature.Flag, feature.DeviceIDForHardlinks, true)()
+
 	files := TestDir{
 		"testfile": TestFile{
 			Content: "foo bar test file",
diff --git a/internal/feature/registry.go b/internal/feature/registry.go
index 620c9ec35..6a9874786 100644
--- a/internal/feature/registry.go
+++ b/internal/feature/registry.go
@@ -7,11 +7,13 @@ var Flag = New()
 const (
 	ExampleFeature       FlagName = "example-feature"
 	DeprecateLegacyIndex FlagName = "deprecate-legacy-index"
+	DeviceIDForHardlinks FlagName = "device-id-for-hardlinks"
 )
 
 func init() {
 	Flag.SetFlags(map[FlagName]FlagDesc{
 		ExampleFeature:       {Type: Alpha, Description: "just for testing"},
 		DeprecateLegacyIndex: {Type: Beta, Description: "disable support for index format used by restic 0.1.0. Use `restic repair index` to update the index if necessary."},
+		DeviceIDForHardlinks: {Type: Alpha, Description: "store deviceID only for hardlinks to reduce metadata changes for example when using btrfs subvolumes. Will be removed in a future restic version after repository format 3 is available"},
 	})
 }