diff --git a/lib-php/ReverseGeocode.php b/lib-php/ReverseGeocode.php
index fddad60d..1777288a 100644
--- a/lib-php/ReverseGeocode.php
+++ b/lib-php/ReverseGeocode.php
@@ -85,6 +85,11 @@ class ReverseGeocode
 
     protected function lookupLargeArea($sPointSQL, $iMaxRank)
     {
+        if(CONST_Search_WithinCountries
+            and $this->lookupInCountry($sPointSQL, $iMaxRank) == null){
+                return  null;
+        }
+
         if ($iMaxRank > 4) {
             $aPlace = $this->lookupPolygon($sPointSQL, $iMaxRank);
             if ($aPlace) {
diff --git a/nominatim/tools/refresh.py b/nominatim/tools/refresh.py
index c6df9982..43e5b1eb 100644
--- a/nominatim/tools/refresh.py
+++ b/nominatim/tools/refresh.py
@@ -120,6 +120,7 @@ PHP_CONST_DEFS = (
     ('Search_NameOnlySearchFrequencyThreshold', 'SEARCH_NAME_ONLY_THRESHOLD', str),
     ('Use_US_Tiger_Data', 'USE_US_TIGER_DATA', bool),
     ('MapIcon_URL', 'MAPICON_URL', str),
+    ('Search_WithinCountries', 'SEARCH_WITHIN_COUNTRIES', bool),
 )
 
 
diff --git a/settings/env.defaults b/settings/env.defaults
index f9f590da..c4739e78 100644
--- a/settings/env.defaults
+++ b/settings/env.defaults
@@ -214,6 +214,12 @@ NOMINATIM_SERVE_LEGACY_URLS=yes
 # of connections _per worker_.
 NOMINATIM_API_POOL_SIZE=10
 
+# Search elements just within countries
+# If, despite not finding a point within the static grid of countries, it
+# finds a geometry of a region, do not return the geometry. Return "Unable
+# to geocode" instead.
+NOMINATIM_SEARCH_WITHIN_COUNTRIES=False
+
 ### Log settings
 #
 # The following options allow to enable logging of API requests.