diff --git a/network/route.go b/network/route.go
index 844e3c3..57fe12d 100644
--- a/network/route.go
+++ b/network/route.go
@@ -23,6 +23,15 @@ import (
 // routing table at add-time.
 const VPNRouteMetric = 9999
 
+// PreferLocalRoutes controls whether routes added by AddRoutes are given the
+// explicit high VPNRouteMetric priority, so that an overlapping local/
+// connected route always takes precedence over the VPN route to the same
+// destination. Defaults to false (routes are added with the OS default
+// metric/priority, matching behavior prior to the introduction of
+// VPNRouteMetric); callers that want local routes to win opt in by setting
+// this to true (e.g. from a config value) before routes are added.
+var PreferLocalRoutes = false
+
 // DarwinAddRoute adds a route via the BSD routing table. Unlike Linux/Windows,
 // BSD's routing table has no per-route metric - preference between an
 // overlapping local route and this VPN route is instead resolved by
@@ -83,12 +92,15 @@ func LinuxAddRoute(destination string, gateway string, interfaceName string) err
 		return fmt.Errorf("invalid destination address: %v", err)
 	}
 
-	// Create route. Priority is set explicitly (rather than left at the
-	// default of 0) so that this route never outranks a local/connected
-	// route to the same destination - see VPNRouteMetric.
+	// Create route. When PreferLocalRoutes is enabled, Priority is set
+	// explicitly (rather than left at the default of 0) so that this route
+	// never outranks a local/connected route to the same destination - see
+	// VPNRouteMetric.
 	route := &netlink.Route{
-		Dst:      ipNet,
-		Priority: VPNRouteMetric,
+		Dst: ipNet,
+	}
+	if PreferLocalRoutes {
+		route.Priority = VPNRouteMetric
 	}
 
 	if gateway != "" {
@@ -135,8 +147,10 @@ func LinuxRemoveRoute(destination string, interfaceName string) error {
 	// a local/native route to the same destination on a different
 	// interface (or with a different metric) must never be touched.
 	route := &netlink.Route{
-		Dst:      ipNet,
-		Priority: VPNRouteMetric,
+		Dst: ipNet,
+	}
+	if PreferLocalRoutes {
+		route.Priority = VPNRouteMetric
 	}
 
 	if interfaceName != "" {
diff --git a/network/route_windows.go b/network/route_windows.go
index 5bca2d1..a5a3eea 100644
--- a/network/route_windows.go
+++ b/network/route_windows.go
@@ -84,11 +84,15 @@ func WindowsAddRoute(destination string, gateway string, interfaceName string) e
 		return fmt.Errorf("either gateway or interface must be specified")
 	}
 
-	// Add the route using winipcfg. Metric is set explicitly (rather than a
-	// low value like 1, which would nearly always outrank local routes) so
-	// that an overlapping local/connected route is preferred over this VPN
-	// route - see VPNRouteMetric.
-	err = luid.AddRoute(prefix, nextHop, VPNRouteMetric)
+	// Add the route using winipcfg. When PreferLocalRoutes is enabled,
+	// metric is set explicitly (rather than a low value like 1, which would
+	// nearly always outrank local routes) so that an overlapping local/
+	// connected route is preferred over this VPN route - see VPNRouteMetric.
+	var metric uint32
+	if PreferLocalRoutes {
+		metric = VPNRouteMetric
+	}
+	err = luid.AddRoute(prefix, nextHop, metric)
 	if err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("failed to add route: %v", err)
 	}
@@ -152,15 +156,19 @@ func WindowsRemoveRoute(destination string, interfaceName string) error {
 	}
 
 	// Find and delete matching route. When we know which interface we added
-	// the route on, only delete the entry on that interface with our
-	// VPNRouteMetric so we never remove an unrelated local/native route to
-	// the same destination.
+	// the route on, only delete the entry on that interface with the metric
+	// we added it with (see PreferLocalRoutes) so we never remove an
+	// unrelated local/native route to the same destination.
+	var wantMetric uint32
+	if PreferLocalRoutes {
+		wantMetric = VPNRouteMetric
+	}
 	for _, route := range routes {
 		routePrefix := route.DestinationPrefix.Prefix()
 		if routePrefix != prefix {
 			continue
 		}
-		if haveLuid && (route.InterfaceLUID != luid || route.Metric != VPNRouteMetric) {
+		if haveLuid && (route.InterfaceLUID != luid || route.Metric != wantMetric) {
 			continue
 		}
 		logger.Info("Removing route to %s on interface %s", destination, interfaceName)