diff --git a/includes/features.menu.inc b/includes/features.menu.inc
index 3060aa0..0f797fb 100644
--- a/includes/features.menu.inc
+++ b/includes/features.menu.inc
@@ -131,12 +131,19 @@ function menu_custom_features_rebuild($module) {
  * Implements hook_features_export_options().
  */
 function menu_links_features_export_options() {
+  $options = array();
+
+  // kill switch for menu items, that can cause massive slow downs in the UI
+  if (!variable_get('features_export_menu_links', TRUE)) {
+    return $options;
+  }
+
   global $menu_admin;
   // Need to set this to TRUE in order to get menu links that the
   // current user may not have access to (i.e. user/login)
   $menu_admin = TRUE;
   $menu_links = menu_parent_options(menu_get_menus(), array('mlid' => 0));
-  $options = array();
+
   foreach ($menu_links as $key => $name) {
     list($menu_name, $mlid) = explode(':', $key, 2);
     if ($mlid != 0) {