diff --git a/cmd/talosctl/cmd/mgmt/cluster/create.go b/cmd/talosctl/cmd/mgmt/cluster/create.go
index 23284caa9..12b74bf7a 100644
--- a/cmd/talosctl/cmd/mgmt/cluster/create.go
+++ b/cmd/talosctl/cmd/mgmt/cluster/create.go
@@ -76,6 +76,7 @@ const (
 	networkCIDRFlag               = "cidr"
 	nameserversFlag               = "nameservers"
 	clusterDiskSizeFlag           = "disk"
+	clusterDiskPreallocateFlag    = "disk-preallocate"
 	clusterDisksFlag              = "user-disk"
 	customCNIUrlFlag              = "custom-cni-url"
 	talosVersionFlag              = "talos-version"
@@ -124,6 +125,7 @@ var (
 	controlPlaneMemory         int
 	workersMemory              int
 	clusterDiskSize            int
+	clusterDiskPreallocate     bool
 	clusterDisks               []string
 	extraDisks                 int
 	extraDiskSize              int
@@ -796,7 +798,8 @@ func create(ctx context.Context, flags *pflag.FlagSet) error {
 	// append extra disks
 	for i := 0; i < extraDisks; i++ {
 		disks = append(disks, &provision.Disk{
-			Size: uint64(extraDiskSize) * 1024 * 1024,
+			Size:            uint64(extraDiskSize) * 1024 * 1024,
+			SkipPreallocate: !clusterDiskPreallocate,
 		})
 	}
 
@@ -997,7 +1000,8 @@ func getDisks() ([]*provision.Disk, error) {
 	// should have at least a single primary disk
 	disks := []*provision.Disk{
 		{
-			Size: uint64(clusterDiskSize) * 1024 * 1024,
+			Size:            uint64(clusterDiskSize) * 1024 * 1024,
+			SkipPreallocate: !clusterDiskPreallocate,
 		},
 	}
 
@@ -1042,8 +1046,9 @@ func getDisks() ([]*provision.Disk, error) {
 
 		disks = append(disks, &provision.Disk{
 			// add 1 MB to make extra room for GPT and alignment
-			Size:       diskSize + 2*1024*1024,
-			Partitions: diskPartitions,
+			Size:            diskSize + 2*1024*1024,
+			Partitions:      diskPartitions,
+			SkipPreallocate: !clusterDiskPreallocate,
 		})
 	}
 
@@ -1091,6 +1096,7 @@ func init() {
 	createCmd.Flags().IntVar(&controlPlaneMemory, "memory", 2048, "the limit on memory usage in MB (each control plane/VM)")
 	createCmd.Flags().IntVar(&workersMemory, "memory-workers", 2048, "the limit on memory usage in MB (each worker/VM)")
 	createCmd.Flags().IntVar(&clusterDiskSize, clusterDiskSizeFlag, 6*1024, "default limit on disk size in MB (each VM)")
+	createCmd.Flags().BoolVar(&clusterDiskPreallocate, clusterDiskPreallocateFlag, true, "whether disk space should be preallocated")
 	createCmd.Flags().StringSliceVar(&clusterDisks, clusterDisksFlag, []string{}, "list of disks to create for each VM in format: <mount_point1>:<size1>:<mount_point2>:<size2>")
 	createCmd.Flags().IntVar(&extraDisks, "extra-disks", 0, "number of extra disks to create for each worker VM")
 	createCmd.Flags().IntVar(&extraDiskSize, "extra-disks-size", 5*1024, "default limit on disk size in MB (each VM)")
diff --git a/pkg/provision/providers/vm/disk.go b/pkg/provision/providers/vm/disk.go
index 71c3becc4..d19ebf312 100644
--- a/pkg/provision/providers/vm/disk.go
+++ b/pkg/provision/providers/vm/disk.go
@@ -42,8 +42,10 @@ func (p *Provisioner) CreateDisks(state *State, nodeReq provision.NodeRequest) (
 			return nil, err
 		}
 
-		if err = syscall.Fallocate(int(diskF.Fd()), 0, 0, int64(disk.Size)); err != nil {
-			fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "WARNING: failed to preallocate disk space for %q (size %d): %s", diskPath, disk.Size, err)
+		if !disk.SkipPreallocate {
+			if err = syscall.Fallocate(int(diskF.Fd()), 0, 0, int64(disk.Size)); err != nil {
+				fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "WARNING: failed to preallocate disk space for %q (size %d): %s", diskPath, disk.Size, err)
+			}
 		}
 
 		diskPaths[i] = diskPath
diff --git a/pkg/provision/request.go b/pkg/provision/request.go
index 4956774b4..33c218bc9 100644
--- a/pkg/provision/request.go
+++ b/pkg/provision/request.go
@@ -150,6 +150,8 @@ func (reqs NodeRequests) PXENodes() (nodes []NodeRequest) {
 type Disk struct {
 	// Size in bytes.
 	Size uint64
+	// Whether to skip preallocating the disk space.
+	SkipPreallocate bool
 	// Partitions represents the list of partitions.
 	Partitions []*v1alpha1.DiskPartition
 }
diff --git a/website/content/v1.7/reference/cli.md b/website/content/v1.7/reference/cli.md
index 1b443f058..e218084ba 100644
--- a/website/content/v1.7/reference/cli.md
+++ b/website/content/v1.7/reference/cli.md
@@ -112,6 +112,7 @@ talosctl cluster create [flags]
       --disk int                                 default limit on disk size in MB (each VM) (default 6144)
       --disk-encryption-key-types stringArray    encryption key types to use for disk encryption (uuid, kms) (default [uuid])
       --disk-image-path string                   disk image to use
+      --disk-preallocate                         whether disk space should be preallocated (default true)
       --dns-domain string                        the dns domain to use for cluster (default "cluster.local")
       --docker-disable-ipv6                      skip enabling IPv6 in containers (Docker only)
       --docker-host-ip string                    Host IP to forward exposed ports to (Docker provisioner only) (default "0.0.0.0")