diff --git a/dmemcache.inc b/dmemcache.inc
index 5b0629a..47f7ac9 100644
--- a/dmemcache.inc
+++ b/dmemcache.inc
@@ -35,7 +35,9 @@ $_memcache_statistics = array();
 function dmemcache_set($key, $value, $exp = 0, $bin = 'cache', $mc = NULL) {
   global $_memcache_statistics;
   $full_key = dmemcache_key($key, $bin);
-  $_memcache_statistics[] = array('set', $bin, $full_key, '');
+  if (dmemcache_collect_stats()) {
+    $_memcache_statistics[] = array('set', $bin, $full_key, '');
+  }
   if ($mc || ($mc = dmemcache_object($bin))) {
     if ($mc instanceof Memcached) {
       return $mc->set($full_key, $value, $exp);
@@ -71,7 +73,9 @@ function dmemcache_set($key, $value, $exp = 0, $bin = 'cache', $mc = NULL) {
 function dmemcache_add($key, $value, $exp = 0, $bin = 'cache', $mc = NULL, $flag = FALSE) {
   global $_memcache_statistics;
   $full_key = dmemcache_key($key, $bin);
-  $_memcache_statistics[] = array('add', $bin, $full_key, '');
+  if (dmemcache_collect_stats()) {
+    $_memcache_statistics[] = array('add', $bin, $full_key, '');
+  }
   if ($mc || ($mc = dmemcache_object($bin))) {
     if ($mc instanceof Memcached) {
       return $mc->add($full_key, $value, $exp);
@@ -95,15 +99,15 @@ function dmemcache_get($key, $bin = 'cache', $mc = NULL) {
   global $_memcache_statistics;
   $result = FALSE;
   $full_key = dmemcache_key($key, $bin);
-  $statistics = array('get', $bin, $full_key);
   $success = '0';
   if ($mc || $mc = dmemcache_object($bin)) {
     $track_errors = ini_set('track_errors', '1');
     $php_errormsg = '';
 
     $result = @$mc->get($full_key);
-    $statistics[] = (bool) $result;
-    $_memcache_statistics[] = $statistics;
+    if (dmemcache_collect_stats()) {
+      $_memcache_statistics[] = array('get', $bin, $full_key, (bool)$result);
+    }
 
     if (!empty($php_errormsg)) {
       register_shutdown_function('watchdog', 'memcache', 'Exception caught in dmemcache_get: !msg', array('!msg' => $php_errormsg), WATCHDOG_WARNING);
@@ -129,7 +133,9 @@ function dmemcache_get_multi($keys, $bin = 'cache', $mc = NULL) {
   $statistics = array();
   foreach ($keys as $key => $cid) {
     $full_key = dmemcache_key($cid, $bin);
-    $statistics[$full_key] = array('getMulti', $bin, $full_key);
+    if (dmemcache_collect_stats()) {
+      $statistics[$full_key] = array('getMulti', $bin, $full_key);
+    }
     $full_keys[$cid] = $full_key;
   }
   $results = array();
@@ -150,9 +156,11 @@ function dmemcache_get_multi($keys, $bin = 'cache', $mc = NULL) {
       ini_set('track_errors', $track_errors);
     }
   }
-  foreach ($statistics as $key => $values) {
-    $values[] = isset($results[$key]) ? '1': '0';
-    $_memcache_statistics[] = $values;
+  if (dmemcache_collect_stats()) {
+    foreach ($statistics as $key => $values) {
+      $values[] = isset($results[$key]) ? '1': '0';
+      $_memcache_statistics[] = $values;
+    }
   }
 
   // If $results is FALSE, convert it to an empty array.
@@ -180,7 +188,9 @@ function dmemcache_get_multi($keys, $bin = 'cache', $mc = NULL) {
 function dmemcache_delete($key, $bin = 'cache', $mc = NULL) {
   global $_memcache_statistics;
   $full_key = dmemcache_key($key, $bin);
-  $_memcache_statistics[] = array('delete', $bin, $full_key, '');
+  if (dmemcache_collect_stats()) {
+    $_memcache_statistics[] = array('delete', $bin, $full_key, '');
+  }
   if ($mc || ($mc = dmemcache_object($bin))) {
     return $mc->delete($full_key, 0);
   }
@@ -199,7 +209,9 @@ function dmemcache_delete($key, $bin = 'cache', $mc = NULL) {
  */
 function dmemcache_flush($bin = 'cache', $mc = NULL) {
   global $_memcache_statistics;
-  $_memcache_statistics[] = array('flush', $bin, '', '');
+  if (dmemcache_collect_stats()) {
+    $_memcache_statistics[] = array('flush', $bin, '', '');
+  }
   if ($mc || ($mc = dmemcache_object($bin))) {
     return memcache_flush($mc);
   }
@@ -458,3 +470,32 @@ function dmemcache_key($key, $bin = 'cache') {
 
   return $full_key;
 }
+
+/**
+ * Checks whether memcache stats need to be collected.
+ */
+function dmemcache_collect_stats() {
+  static $variable_get, $user_access, $module_exists;
+
+  // _drupal_bootstrap_variables() includes module.inc immediately after
+  // it calls variable_initialize(), so we're safe to use
+  // variable_get() here. If show_memcache_statistics is set in
+  // settings.php it should be available eary in the bootstrap so also
+  // check this.
+  global $conf;
+  if (!isset($variable_get) && (function_exists('module_list') || isset($conf['show_memcache_statistics']))) {
+    $variable_get = variable_get('show_memcache_statistics', TRUE);
+  }
+  // cache_get() / cache_set() may be called during module bootstrap so we need
+  // to wait for boostrap to finish to avoid an infinite loop. We can't use
+  // drupal_get_bootstrap_phase() as it has a bug, so check for global $theme.
+  elseif (!empty($variable_get) && !isset($module_exists) && !empty($GLOBALS['theme'])) {
+    $module_exists = module_exists('memcache_admin');
+    // If the module doesn't exist then the user can't have access.
+    $user_access = $module_exists && user_access('access memcache statistics');
+  }
+
+  return (!isset($variable_get) || $variable_get)
+    && (!isset($module_exists) || $module_exists)
+    && (!isset($user_access) || $user_access);
+}
diff --git a/memcache_admin/memcache_admin.install b/memcache_admin/memcache_admin.install
index 0622b20..0f2652e 100644
--- a/memcache_admin/memcache_admin.install
+++ b/memcache_admin/memcache_admin.install
@@ -11,3 +11,10 @@ function memcache_admin_update_7001() {
   drupal_flush_all_caches();
   menu_rebuild();
 }
+
+/**
+ * Implements hook_uninstall().
+ */
+function memcache_admin_uninstall() {
+  variable_del('show_memcache_statistics');
+}
diff --git a/memcache_admin/memcache_admin.module b/memcache_admin/memcache_admin.module
index 9760668..95496a0 100644
--- a/memcache_admin/memcache_admin.module
+++ b/memcache_admin/memcache_admin.module
@@ -104,9 +104,10 @@ function memcache_admin_menu() {
  * Settings form.
  */
 function memcache_admin_admin_settings() {
-  $form['show_memcache_statistics'] = array('#type' => 'checkbox',
+  $form['show_memcache_statistics'] = array(
+    '#type' => 'checkbox',
     '#title' => t('Show memcache statistics at the bottom of each page'),
-    '#default_value' => variable_get('show_memcache_statistics', 1),
+    '#default_value' => variable_get('show_memcache_statistics', TRUE),
     '#description' => t("These statistics will be visible to users with the 'access memcache statistics' permission."),
   );
   return system_settings_form($form);
@@ -433,7 +434,7 @@ function memcache_admin_stats_types($bin) {
     return array();
   }
 }
- 
+
 function theme_memcache_admin_stats_raw_table($variables) {
   $cluster = $variables['cluster'];
   $server = $variables['server'];