diff --git a/nodepool/builder.py b/nodepool/builder.py
index bb00e6771..dce709e9e 100755
--- a/nodepool/builder.py
+++ b/nodepool/builder.py
@@ -1216,7 +1216,7 @@ class NodePoolBuilder(object):
             builder_id = self._getBuilderID(builder_id_file)
 
             # All worker threads share a single ZooKeeper instance/connection.
-            self.zk = zk.ZooKeeper()
+            self.zk = zk.ZooKeeper(enable_cache=False)
             self.zk.connect(list(self._config.zookeeper_servers.values()))
 
             self.log.debug('Starting listener for build jobs')
diff --git a/nodepool/cmd/nodepoolcmd.py b/nodepool/cmd/nodepoolcmd.py
index 522556f0d..f55da9852 100755
--- a/nodepool/cmd/nodepoolcmd.py
+++ b/nodepool/cmd/nodepoolcmd.py
@@ -373,7 +373,7 @@ class NodePoolCmd(NodepoolApp):
                                  'image-delete', 'alien-image-list',
                                  'list', 'delete',
                                  'request-list', 'info', 'erase'):
-            self.zk = zk.ZooKeeper()
+            self.zk = zk.ZooKeeper(enable_cache=False)
             self.zk.connect(list(config.zookeeper_servers.values()))
 
         self.pool.setConfig(config)
diff --git a/nodepool/tests/__init__.py b/nodepool/tests/__init__.py
index 8ad99671d..1ab83ac29 100644
--- a/nodepool/tests/__init__.py
+++ b/nodepool/tests/__init__.py
@@ -539,7 +539,7 @@ class DBTestCase(BaseTestCase):
             self.zookeeper_host,
             self.zookeeper_port))
         self.zookeeper_chroot = kz_fxtr.zookeeper_chroot
-        self.zk = zk.ZooKeeper()
+        self.zk = zk.ZooKeeper(enable_cache=False)
         host = zk.ZooKeeperConnectionConfig(
             self.zookeeper_host, self.zookeeper_port, self.zookeeper_chroot
         )
diff --git a/nodepool/zk.py b/nodepool/zk.py
index d67342cb0..0bcd19078 100755
--- a/nodepool/zk.py
+++ b/nodepool/zk.py
@@ -693,7 +693,7 @@ class ZooKeeper(object):
     # Log zookeeper retry every 10 seconds
     retry_log_rate = 10
 
-    def __init__(self):
+    def __init__(self, enable_cache=True):
         '''
         Initialize the ZooKeeper object.
         '''
@@ -704,6 +704,7 @@ class ZooKeeper(object):
         self._request_cache = None
         self._cached_nodes = {}
         self._cached_node_requests = {}
+        self.enable_cache = enable_cache
 
     # =======================================================================
     # Private Methods
@@ -894,15 +895,16 @@ class ZooKeeper(object):
                 except KazooTimeoutError:
                     self.logConnectionRetryEvent()
 
-            self._node_cache = TreeCache(self.client, self.NODE_ROOT)
-            self._node_cache.listen_fault(self.cacheFaultListener)
-            self._node_cache.listen(self.nodeCacheListener)
-            self._node_cache.start()
+            if self.enable_cache:
+                self._node_cache = TreeCache(self.client, self.NODE_ROOT)
+                self._node_cache.listen_fault(self.cacheFaultListener)
+                self._node_cache.listen(self.nodeCacheListener)
+                self._node_cache.start()
 
-            self._request_cache = TreeCache(self.client, self.REQUEST_ROOT)
-            self._request_cache.listen_fault(self.cacheFaultListener)
-            self._request_cache.listen(self.requestCacheListener)
-            self._request_cache.start()
+                self._request_cache = TreeCache(self.client, self.REQUEST_ROOT)
+                self._request_cache.listen_fault(self.cacheFaultListener)
+                self._request_cache.listen(self.requestCacheListener)
+                self._request_cache.start()
 
     def disconnect(self):
         '''
diff --git a/tools/print-zk.py b/tools/print-zk.py
index 13a52145f..a609eb80c 100644
--- a/tools/print-zk.py
+++ b/tools/print-zk.py
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ args = parser.parse_args()
 
 config = nodepool.config.loadConfig(args.config)
 
-zk = nodepool.zk.ZooKeeper()
+zk = nodepool.zk.ZooKeeper(enable_cache=False)
 zk.connect(config.zookeeper_servers.values())
 
 def join(a, b):