diff --git a/stepmania/src/PrefsManager.cpp b/stepmania/src/PrefsManager.cpp
index 55cd37d840..5979a25a3f 100644
--- a/stepmania/src/PrefsManager.cpp
+++ b/stepmania/src/PrefsManager.cpp
@@ -295,6 +295,8 @@ void PrefsManager::Init()
 	m_bLogCheckpoints = false;
 	m_bShowLoadingWindow = true;
 
+	m_bMemoryCards = false;
+
 	FOREACH_PlayerNumber( p )
 	{
 		m_iMemoryCardUsbBus[p] = -1;
@@ -519,6 +521,7 @@ void PrefsManager::ReadPrefsFromFile( CString sIni )
 
 	ini.GetValue( "Options", "MemoryCardProfileSubdir",			m_sMemoryCardProfileSubdir );
 	ini.GetValue( "Options", "ProductID",						m_iProductID );
+	ini.GetValue( "Options", "MemoryCards",						m_bMemoryCards );
 	FOREACH_PlayerNumber( p )
 	{
 		ini.GetValue( "Options", ssprintf("DefaultLocalProfileIDP%d",p+1),	m_sDefaultLocalProfileID[p] );
@@ -749,6 +752,7 @@ void PrefsManager::SaveGlobalPrefsToDisk() const
 
 	ini.SetValue( "Options", "MemoryCardProfileSubdir",			m_sMemoryCardProfileSubdir );
 	ini.SetValue( "Options", "ProductID",						m_iProductID );
+	ini.SetValue( "Options", "MemoryCards",						m_bMemoryCards );
 	FOREACH_PlayerNumber( p )
 	{
 		ini.SetValue( "Options", ssprintf("DefaultLocalProfileIDP%d",p+1),	m_sDefaultLocalProfileID[p] );
diff --git a/stepmania/src/PrefsManager.h b/stepmania/src/PrefsManager.h
index 9b81c13e7c..dfaf5faa89 100644
--- a/stepmania/src/PrefsManager.h
+++ b/stepmania/src/PrefsManager.h
@@ -185,6 +185,7 @@ public:
 	CString			m_sMemoryCardProfileSubdir;	// the directory on a memory card to look in for a profile
 	int				m_iProductID;		// Saved in HighScore to track what software version a score came from.
 	CString			m_sDefaultLocalProfileID[NUM_PLAYERS];
+	bool			m_bMemoryCards;
 	CString			m_sMemoryCardOsMountPoint[NUM_PLAYERS];	// if set, always use the device that mounts to this point
 	int				m_iMemoryCardUsbBus[NUM_PLAYERS];	// look for this bus when assigning cards.  -1 = match any
 	int				m_iMemoryCardUsbPort[NUM_PLAYERS];	// look for this port when assigning cards.  -1 = match any
diff --git a/stepmania/src/arch/arch.cpp b/stepmania/src/arch/arch.cpp
index 69ad37fc30..6c236c4c9a 100644
--- a/stepmania/src/arch/arch.cpp
+++ b/stepmania/src/arch/arch.cpp
@@ -150,6 +150,9 @@ LightsDriver *MakeLightsDriver(CString driver)
 
 MemoryCardDriver *MakeMemoryCardDriver()
 {
+	if( !PREFSMAN->m_bMemoryCards )
+		return new MemoryCardDriver_Null;
+
 	MemoryCardDriver *ret = NULL;
 
 #ifdef LINUX