diff --git a/dnsfilter/dnsfilter.go b/dnsfilter/dnsfilter.go
index 7fd01be3..2c78a92b 100644
--- a/dnsfilter/dnsfilter.go
+++ b/dnsfilter/dnsfilter.go
@@ -737,6 +737,24 @@ func (d *Dnsfilter) lookupCommon(host string, lookupstats *LookupStats, cache gc
 // Adding rule and matching against the rules
 //
 
+// AddRules is a convinience function to add an array of filters in one call
+func (d *Dnsfilter) AddRules(filters []Filter) error {
+	for _, f := range filters {
+		for _, rule := range f.Rules {
+			err := d.AddRule(rule, f.ID)
+			if err == ErrAlreadyExists || err == ErrInvalidSyntax {
+				continue
+			}
+			if err != nil {
+				log.Printf("Cannot add rule %s: %s", rule, err)
+				// Just ignore invalid rules
+				continue
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
 // AddRule adds a rule, checking if it is a valid rule first and if it wasn't added already
 func (d *Dnsfilter) AddRule(input string, filterListID int64) error {
 	input = strings.TrimSpace(input)
diff --git a/dnsforward/dnsforward.go b/dnsforward/dnsforward.go
index 3a2de123..7d15d44a 100644
--- a/dnsforward/dnsforward.go
+++ b/dnsforward/dnsforward.go
@@ -323,18 +323,10 @@ func (s *Server) reconfigureFilters(new ServerConfig) {
 	}
 
 	dnsFilter := dnsfilter.New(&new.Config) // sets safebrowsing, safesearch and parental
-	for _, f := range newFilters {
-		for _, rule := range f.Rules {
-			err := dnsFilter.AddRule(rule, f.ID)
-			if err == dnsfilter.ErrAlreadyExists || err == dnsfilter.ErrInvalidSyntax {
-				continue
-			}
-			if err != nil {
-				log.Printf("Cannot add rule %s: %s", rule, err)
-				// Just ignore invalid rules
-				continue
-			}
-		}
+
+	// add rules only if they are enabled
+	if new.FilteringEnabled {
+		dnsFilter.AddRules(newFilters)
 	}
 
 	s.Lock()