diff --git a/drivers/modem/Kconfig.gsm b/drivers/modem/Kconfig.gsm
index 780461d39fa..f1373e66597 100644
--- a/drivers/modem/Kconfig.gsm
+++ b/drivers/modem/Kconfig.gsm
@@ -53,6 +53,15 @@ config MODEM_GSM_APN
 	  Specify Access Point Name, i.e. the name to identify Internet IP
 	  GPRS cellular data context.
 
+config GSM_PPP_AUTOSTART
+	bool "Auto-start PPP at boot"
+	default y
+	help
+	  This setting lets driver connect to network and initialize PPP at
+	  boot. Unselect this if you want to run application code before
+	  modem connects to network. See contents of "drivers/gsm_ppp.h"
+	  to get an idea of the API.
+
 config MODEM_GSM_MANUAL_MCCMNO
 	string "MCC/MNO for establishing network connection"
 	help
diff --git a/drivers/modem/gsm_ppp.c b/drivers/modem/gsm_ppp.c
index cb98a41176a..4ff774dee42 100644
--- a/drivers/modem/gsm_ppp.c
+++ b/drivers/modem/gsm_ppp.c
@@ -794,7 +794,9 @@ static int gsm_init(const struct device *device)
 		return -ENODEV;
 	}
 
-	gsm_ppp_start(device);
+	if (IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_GSM_PPP_AUTOSTART)) {
+		gsm_ppp_start(device);
+	}
 
 	return 0;
 }