diff --git a/charts/ceph-csi-rbd/templates/provisioner-deployment.yaml b/charts/ceph-csi-rbd/templates/provisioner-deployment.yaml
index daf4bfb6d..560203cc3 100644
--- a/charts/ceph-csi-rbd/templates/provisioner-deployment.yaml
+++ b/charts/ceph-csi-rbd/templates/provisioner-deployment.yaml
@@ -116,6 +116,9 @@ spec:
             - "--drivername=$(DRIVER_NAME)"
             - "--rbdhardmaxclonedepth={{ .Values.provisioner.hardMaxCloneDepth }}"
             - "--rbdsoftmaxclonedepth={{ .Values.provisioner.softMaxCloneDepth }}"
+            {{- if .Values.provisioner.skipForceFlatten }}
+            - "--skipforceflatten={{ .Values.provisioner.skipForceFlatten }}"
+            {{- end }}
           env:
             - name: POD_IP
               valueFrom:
diff --git a/charts/ceph-csi-rbd/values.yaml b/charts/ceph-csi-rbd/values.yaml
index 7265820a0..cf86f09f8 100644
--- a/charts/ceph-csi-rbd/values.yaml
+++ b/charts/ceph-csi-rbd/values.yaml
@@ -113,6 +113,9 @@ provisioner:
   # Soft limit for maximum number of nested volume clones that are taken before
   # a flatten occurs
   softMaxCloneDepth: 4
+  # skip image flattening if kernel support mapping of rbd images
+  # which has the deep-flatten feature
+  # skipForceFlatten: false
 
   httpMetrics:
     # Metrics only available for cephcsi/cephcsi => 1.2.0
diff --git a/cmd/cephcsi.go b/cmd/cephcsi.go
index acae741c6..c0484d026 100644
--- a/cmd/cephcsi.go
+++ b/cmd/cephcsi.go
@@ -79,6 +79,10 @@ func init() {
 
 	flag.UintVar(&conf.RbdHardMaxCloneDepth, "rbdhardmaxclonedepth", 8, "Hard limit for maximum number of nested volume clones that are taken before a flatten occurs")
 	flag.UintVar(&conf.RbdSoftMaxCloneDepth, "rbdsoftmaxclonedepth", 4, "Soft limit for maximum number of nested volume clones that are taken before a flatten occurs")
+
+	flag.BoolVar(&conf.SkipForceFlatten, "skipforceflatten", false,
+		"skip image flattening if kernel support mapping of rbd images which has the deep-flatten feature")
+
 	flag.BoolVar(&conf.Version, "version", false, "Print cephcsi version information")
 
 	klog.InitFlags(nil)
diff --git a/docs/deploy-rbd.md b/docs/deploy-rbd.md
index 493ad97b6..b02839278 100644
--- a/docs/deploy-rbd.md
+++ b/docs/deploy-rbd.md
@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@ make image-cephcsi
 | `--domainlabels`         | _empty_               | Kubernetes node labels to use as CSI domain labels for topology aware provisioning, should be a comma separated value (ex:= "failure-domain/region,failure-domain/zone")                                                                                                             |
 | `--rbdhardmaxclonedepth` | `8`                   | Hard limit for maximum number of nested volume clones that are taken before a flatten occurs                                                                                                                                                                                         |
 | `--rbdsoftmaxclonedepth` | `4`                   | Soft limit for maximum number of nested volume clones that are taken before a flatten occurs                                                                                                                                                                                         |
+| `--skipforceflatten`     | `false`               | skip image flattening on kernel < 5.2 which support mapping of rbd images which has the deep-flatten feature                                                                                                                                                                         |
 
 **Available volume parameters:**
 
diff --git a/internal/rbd/driver.go b/internal/rbd/driver.go
index db3bcf459..5cca15797 100644
--- a/internal/rbd/driver.go
+++ b/internal/rbd/driver.go
@@ -58,6 +58,8 @@ var (
 
 	// rbdSoftMaxCloneDepth is the soft limit for maximum number of nested volume clones that are taken before a flatten occurs
 	rbdSoftMaxCloneDepth uint
+
+	skipForceFlatten bool
 )
 
 // NewDriver returns new rbd driver
@@ -111,6 +113,7 @@ func (r *Driver) Run(conf *util.Config, cachePersister util.CachePersister) {
 	// update clone soft and hard limit
 	rbdHardMaxCloneDepth = conf.RbdHardMaxCloneDepth
 	rbdSoftMaxCloneDepth = conf.RbdSoftMaxCloneDepth
+	skipForceFlatten = conf.SkipForceFlatten
 	// Create instances of the volume and snapshot journal
 	volJournal = journal.NewCSIVolumeJournal(CSIInstanceID)
 	snapJournal = journal.NewCSISnapshotJournal(CSIInstanceID)
diff --git a/internal/rbd/nodeserver.go b/internal/rbd/nodeserver.go
index 310034c66..ca3307ecf 100644
--- a/internal/rbd/nodeserver.go
+++ b/internal/rbd/nodeserver.go
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/ceph/ceph-csi/internal/journal"
 	"github.com/ceph/ceph-csi/internal/util"
 
+	librbd "github.com/ceph/go-ceph/rbd"
 	"github.com/container-storage-interface/spec/lib/go/csi"
 	"google.golang.org/grpc/codes"
 	"google.golang.org/grpc/status"
@@ -60,6 +61,22 @@ type stageTransaction struct {
 	devicePath string
 }
 
+var (
+	kernelRelease = ""
+	// deepFlattenSupport holds the list of kernel which support mapping rbd
+	// image with deep-flatten image feature
+	deepFlattenSupport = []util.KernelVersion{
+		{
+			Version:      5,
+			PatchLevel:   2,
+			SubLevel:     0,
+			ExtraVersion: 0,
+			Distribution: "",
+			Backport:     false,
+		}, // standard 5.2+ versions
+	}
+)
+
 // NodeStageVolume mounts the volume to a staging path on the node.
 // Implementation notes:
 // - stagingTargetPath is the directory passed in the request where the volume needs to be staged
@@ -205,6 +222,8 @@ func (ns *NodeServer) stageTransaction(ctx context.Context, req *csi.NodeStageVo
 
 	var err error
 	var readOnly bool
+	var feature bool
+
 	var cr *util.Credentials
 	cr, err = util.NewUserCredentials(req.GetSecrets())
 	if err != nil {
@@ -226,6 +245,27 @@ func (ns *NodeServer) stageTransaction(ctx context.Context, req *csi.NodeStageVo
 		volOptions.readOnly = true
 	}
 
+	if kernelRelease == "" {
+		// fetch the current running kernel info
+		kernelRelease, err = util.GetKernelVersion()
+		if err != nil {
+			return transaction, err
+		}
+	}
+	if !util.CheckKernelSupport(kernelRelease, deepFlattenSupport) {
+		if !skipForceFlatten {
+			feature, err = volOptions.checkImageChainHasFeature(ctx, librbd.FeatureDeepFlatten)
+			if err != nil {
+				return transaction, err
+			}
+			if feature {
+				err = volOptions.flattenRbdImage(ctx, cr, true)
+				if err != nil {
+					return transaction, err
+				}
+			}
+		}
+	}
 	// Mapping RBD image
 	var devicePath string
 	devicePath, err = attachRBDImage(ctx, volOptions, cr)
diff --git a/internal/util/util.go b/internal/util/util.go
index ed105609d..95e54b501 100644
--- a/internal/util/util.go
+++ b/internal/util/util.go
@@ -95,6 +95,10 @@ type Config struct {
 	IsNodeServer       bool // if set to true start node server
 	Version            bool // cephcsi version
 
+	// SkipForceFlatten is set to false if the kernel supports mounting of
+	// rbd image or the image chain has the deep-flatten feature.
+	SkipForceFlatten bool
+
 	// cephfs related flags
 	ForceKernelCephFS bool // force to use the ceph kernel client even if the kernel is < 4.17