diff --git a/index/scorch/persister.go b/index/scorch/persister.go
index f1a372e7..cab2d035 100644
--- a/index/scorch/persister.go
+++ b/index/scorch/persister.go
@@ -633,14 +633,19 @@ func (s *Scorch) removeOldBoltSnapshots() (numRemoved int, err error) {
 		return 0, err
 	}
 
-	if len(persistedEpochs) <= NumSnapshotsToKeep {
+	numSnapshotsToKeep := NumSnapshotsToKeep
+	if val, ok := s.config["numSnapshotsToKeep"].(float64); ok && val > 0 {
+		numSnapshotsToKeep = int(val)
+	}
+
+	if len(persistedEpochs) <= numSnapshotsToKeep {
 		// we need to keep everything
 		return 0, nil
 	}
 
 	// make a map of epochs to protect from deletion
-	protectedEpochs := make(map[uint64]struct{}, NumSnapshotsToKeep)
-	for _, epoch := range persistedEpochs[0:NumSnapshotsToKeep] {
+	protectedEpochs := make(map[uint64]struct{}, numSnapshotsToKeep)
+	for _, epoch := range persistedEpochs[0:numSnapshotsToKeep] {
 		protectedEpochs[epoch] = struct{}{}
 	}