diff --git a/cmd/ipfs/init.go b/cmd/ipfs/init.go
index ab6bf17ed..9be22982b 100644
--- a/cmd/ipfs/init.go
+++ b/cmd/ipfs/init.go
@@ -39,6 +39,8 @@ Available profiles:
         running IPFS on machines with public IPv4 addresses.
     'test' - Reduces external interference of IPFS daemon, this
         is useful when using the daemon in test environments.
+    'lowpower' - Reduces daemon overhead on the system. May affect node
+        functionality.
 
 ipfs uses a repository in the local file system. By default, the repo is
 located at ~/.ipfs. To change the repo location, set the $IPFS_PATH
diff --git a/repo/config/discovery.go b/repo/config/discovery.go
index 30c24ea19..64f7af64a 100644
--- a/repo/config/discovery.go
+++ b/repo/config/discovery.go
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 package config
 
 type Discovery struct {
-	MDNS    MDNS
+	MDNS MDNS
 
 	//Routing sets default daemon routing mode.
 	Routing string
diff --git a/repo/config/profile.go b/repo/config/profile.go
index 74383cda6..6aa5f5053 100644
--- a/repo/config/profile.go
+++ b/repo/config/profile.go
@@ -73,6 +73,11 @@ var Profiles = map[string]Transformer{
 		c.Datastore.Spec = DefaultDatastoreConfig().Spec
 		return nil
 	},
+	"lowpower": func(c *Config) error {
+		c.Discovery.Routing = "dhtclient"
+		c.Reprovider.Interval = "0"
+		return nil
+	},
 }
 
 func appendSingle(a []string, b []string) []string {
diff --git a/test/sharness/t0020-init.sh b/test/sharness/t0020-init.sh
index 65f811bc6..2252f938c 100755
--- a/test/sharness/t0020-init.sh
+++ b/test/sharness/t0020-init.sh
@@ -167,6 +167,20 @@ test_expect_success "clean up ipfs dir" '
   rm -rf "$IPFS_PATH"
 '
 
+test_expect_success "'ipfs init --profile=lowpower' succeeds" '
+	BITS="1024" &&
+	ipfs init --bits="$BITS" --profile=lowpower
+'
+
+test_expect_success "'ipfs config Discovery.Routing' looks good" '
+	ipfs config Discovery.Routing > actual_config &&
+	test $(cat actual_config) = "dhtclient"
+'
+
+test_expect_success "clean up ipfs dir" '
+	rm -rf "$IPFS_PATH"
+'
+
 test_init_ipfs
 
 test_launch_ipfs_daemon
diff --git a/test/sharness/t0021-config.sh b/test/sharness/t0021-config.sh
index 5ade07d03..17bb0930c 100755
--- a/test/sharness/t0021-config.sh
+++ b/test/sharness/t0021-config.sh
@@ -45,7 +45,8 @@ CONFIG_SET_JSON_TEST='{
   "MDNS": {
     "Enabled": true,
     "Interval": 10
-  }
+  },
+  "Routing": "dht"
 }'
 
 test_profile_apply_revert() {