diff --git a/conf/gns3_server.conf b/conf/gns3_server.conf
index 366ac89e..0b628b4b 100644
--- a/conf/gns3_server.conf
+++ b/conf/gns3_server.conf
@@ -57,6 +57,9 @@ default_symbol_theme = Affinity-square-blue
 ; Option to enable or disable raw images to be uploaded to the server
 allow_raw_images = True
 
+; Option to automatically discover images in the images directory
+auto_discover_images = True
+
 ; Option to automatically send crash reports to the GNS3 team
 report_errors = True
 
diff --git a/gns3server/core/tasks.py b/gns3server/core/tasks.py
index 6d363baa..24de5940 100644
--- a/gns3server/core/tasks.py
+++ b/gns3server/core/tasks.py
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ from typing import Callable
 from fastapi import FastAPI
 
 from gns3server.controller import Controller
+from gns3server.config import Config
 from gns3server.compute import MODULES
 from gns3server.compute.port_manager import PortManager
 from gns3server.utils.http_client import HTTPClient
@@ -60,9 +61,10 @@ def create_startup_handler(app: FastAPI) -> Callable:
         # computing with server start
         from gns3server.compute.qemu import Qemu
 
-        # Start the discovering new images on file system 5 seconds after the server has started
-        # to give it a chance to process API requests
-        loop.call_later(5, asyncio.create_task, discover_images_on_filesystem(app))
+        if Config.instance().settings.Server.auto_discover_images is True:
+            # Start the discovering new images on file system 5 seconds after the server has started
+            # to give it a chance to process API requests
+            loop.call_later(5, asyncio.create_task, discover_images_on_filesystem(app))
 
         for module in MODULES:
             log.debug(f"Loading module {module.__name__}")
diff --git a/gns3server/db/tasks.py b/gns3server/db/tasks.py
index a31210a9..3b270b0d 100644
--- a/gns3server/db/tasks.py
+++ b/gns3server/db/tasks.py
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ from sqlalchemy.exc import SQLAlchemyError
 from sqlalchemy.ext.asyncio import create_async_engine, AsyncSession
 from gns3server.db.repositories.computes import ComputesRepository
 from gns3server.db.repositories.images import ImagesRepository
-from gns3server.utils.images import discover_images, check_valid_image_header, read_image_info, InvalidImageError
+from gns3server.utils.images import discover_images, check_valid_image_header, read_image_info, default_images_directory, InvalidImageError
 from gns3server import schemas
 
 from .models import Base
@@ -117,12 +117,16 @@ def image_filter(change: Change, path: str) -> bool:
 
 async def monitor_images_on_filesystem(app: FastAPI):
 
-    server_config = Config.instance().settings.Server
-    images_dir = os.path.expanduser(server_config.images_path)
+    directories_to_monitor = []
+    for image_type in ("qemu", "ios", "iou"):
+        image_dir = default_images_directory(image_type)
+        if os.path.isdir(image_dir):
+            log.debug(f"Monitoring for new images in '{image_dir}'")
+            directories_to_monitor.append(image_dir)
 
     try:
         async for changes in awatch(
-                images_dir,
+                *directories_to_monitor,
                 watch_filter=image_filter,
                 raise_interrupt=True
         ):
diff --git a/gns3server/schemas/config.py b/gns3server/schemas/config.py
index 6e99140a..b09be55a 100644
--- a/gns3server/schemas/config.py
+++ b/gns3server/schemas/config.py
@@ -137,6 +137,7 @@ class ServerSettings(BaseModel):
     configs_path: str = "~/GNS3/configs"
     default_symbol_theme: BuiltinSymbolTheme = BuiltinSymbolTheme.affinity_square_blue
     allow_raw_images: bool = True
+    auto_discover_images: bool = True
     report_errors: bool = True
     additional_images_paths: List[str] = Field(default_factory=list)
     console_start_port_range: int = Field(5000, gt=0, le=65535)
diff --git a/gns3server/utils/images.py b/gns3server/utils/images.py
index 8e5a48a2..5d7f0c9c 100644
--- a/gns3server/utils/images.py
+++ b/gns3server/utils/images.py
@@ -136,7 +136,8 @@ async def discover_images(image_type: str, skip_image_paths: list = None) -> Lis
     files = set()
     images = []
 
-    for directory in images_directories(image_type):
+    for directory in images_directories(image_type, include_parent_directory=False):
+        log.info(f"Discovering images in '{directory}'")
         for root, _, filenames in os.walk(os.path.normpath(directory)):
             for filename in filenames:
                 if filename.endswith(".tmp") or filename.endswith(".md5sum") or filename.startswith("."):
@@ -189,7 +190,7 @@ def default_images_directory(image_type):
         raise NotImplementedError(f"%s node type is not supported", image_type)
 
 
-def images_directories(image_type):
+def images_directories(image_type, include_parent_directory=True):
     """
     Return all directories where we will look for images
     by priority
@@ -199,7 +200,7 @@ def images_directories(image_type):
 
     server_config = Config.instance().settings.Server
     paths = []
-    img_dir = os.path.expanduser(server_config.images_path)
+
     type_img_directory = default_images_directory(image_type)
     try:
         os.makedirs(type_img_directory, exist_ok=True)
@@ -208,8 +209,10 @@ def images_directories(image_type):
         pass
     for directory in server_config.additional_images_paths:
         paths.append(directory)
-    # Compatibility with old topologies we look in parent directory
-    paths.append(img_dir)
+    if include_parent_directory:
+        # Compatibility with old topologies we look in parent directory
+        img_dir = os.path.expanduser(server_config.images_path)
+        paths.append(img_dir)
     # Return only the existing paths
     return [force_unix_path(p) for p in paths if os.path.exists(p)]