diff --git a/conf/vanilla/autoload_configs/sofia.conf.xml b/conf/vanilla/autoload_configs/sofia.conf.xml
index d764a59e51..629a0019fa 100644
--- a/conf/vanilla/autoload_configs/sofia.conf.xml
+++ b/conf/vanilla/autoload_configs/sofia.conf.xml
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 
   <global_settings>
     <param name="log-level" value="0"/>
+    <!-- <param name="abort-on-empty-external-ip" value="true"/> -->
     <!-- <param name="auto-restart" value="false"/> -->
     <param name="debug-presence" value="0"/>
     <!-- <param name="capture-server" value="udp:homer.domain.com:5060"/> -->
diff --git a/src/mod/endpoints/mod_sofia/mod_sofia.h b/src/mod/endpoints/mod_sofia/mod_sofia.h
index c71b2d0559..59b5200780 100644
--- a/src/mod/endpoints/mod_sofia/mod_sofia.h
+++ b/src/mod/endpoints/mod_sofia/mod_sofia.h
@@ -405,6 +405,7 @@ struct mod_sofia_globals {
 	uint32_t max_reg_threads;
 	time_t presence_epoch;
 	int presence_year;
+	int abort_on_empty_external_ip;
 };
 extern struct mod_sofia_globals mod_sofia_globals;
 
diff --git a/src/mod/endpoints/mod_sofia/sofia.c b/src/mod/endpoints/mod_sofia/sofia.c
index 6c33cf45a5..f2388d6879 100644
--- a/src/mod/endpoints/mod_sofia/sofia.c
+++ b/src/mod/endpoints/mod_sofia/sofia.c
@@ -4416,6 +4416,8 @@ switch_status_t config_sofia(sofia_config_t reload, char *profile_name)
 			char *val = (char *) switch_xml_attr_soft(param, "value");
 			if (!strcasecmp(var, "log-level")) {
 				su_log_set_level(NULL, atoi(val));
+			} else if (!strcasecmp(var, "abort-on-empty-external-ip")) {
+				mod_sofia_globals.abort_on_empty_external_ip = switch_true(val);
 			} else if (!strcasecmp(var, "tracelevel")) {
 				mod_sofia_globals.tracelevel = switch_log_str2level(val);
 			} else if (!strcasecmp(var, "debug-presence")) {
@@ -5059,7 +5061,9 @@ switch_status_t config_sofia(sofia_config_t reload, char *profile_name)
 							}
 						} else {
 							switch_log_printf(SWITCH_CHANNEL_LOG, SWITCH_LOG_ERROR, "Invalid ext-rtp-ip\n");
-							switch_goto_status(SWITCH_STATUS_GENERR, done);
+							if (mod_sofia_globals.abort_on_empty_external_ip) {
+								switch_goto_status(SWITCH_STATUS_GENERR, done);
+							}
 						}
 					} else if (!strcasecmp(var, "rtp-ip")) {
 						char *ip = mod_sofia_globals.guess_ip;