diff --git a/include/aare/ClusterFinderMT.hpp b/include/aare/ClusterFinderMT.hpp
index d4ff001..677c2ee 100644
--- a/include/aare/ClusterFinderMT.hpp
+++ b/include/aare/ClusterFinderMT.hpp
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@ class ClusterFinderMT {
     using CT = typename ClusterType::value_type;
     size_t m_current_thread{0};
     size_t m_n_threads{0};
+    bool m_update_pedestal;
     using Finder = ClusterFinder<ClusterType, FRAME_TYPE, PEDESTAL_TYPE>;
     using InputQueue = ProducerConsumerQueue<FrameWrapper>;
     using OutputQueue = ProducerConsumerQueue<ClusterVector<ClusterType>>;
@@ -72,7 +73,8 @@ class ClusterFinderMT {
 
                 switch (frame->type) {
                 case FrameType::DATA:
-                    cf->find_clusters(frame->data.view(), frame->frame_number);
+                    cf->find_clusters(frame->data.view(), frame->frame_number,
+                                      m_update_pedestal);
                     while (!m_output_queues[thread_id]->write(
                         cf->steal_clusters(realloc_same_capacity))) {
                         std::this_thread::sleep_for(m_default_wait);
@@ -124,10 +126,13 @@ class ClusterFinderMT {
      * @param capacity initial capacity of the cluster vector. Should match
      * expected number of clusters in a frame per frame.
      * @param n_threads number of threads to use
+     * @param update_pedestal if true the pedestal will be updated during
+     * find_clusters
      */
     ClusterFinderMT(Shape<2> image_size, PEDESTAL_TYPE nSigma = 5.0,
-                    size_t capacity = 2000, size_t n_threads = 3)
-        : m_n_threads(n_threads) {
+                    size_t capacity = 2000, size_t n_threads = 3,
+                    bool update_pedestal = true)
+        : m_n_threads(n_threads), m_update_pedestal(update_pedestal) {
 
         LOG(logDEBUG1) << "ClusterFinderMT: "
                        << "image_size: " << image_size[0] << "x"
diff --git a/python/aare/ClusterFinder.py b/python/aare/ClusterFinder.py
index eae7ad7..2a5cbe0 100644
--- a/python/aare/ClusterFinder.py
+++ b/python/aare/ClusterFinder.py
@@ -39,14 +39,14 @@ def ClusterFinder(image_size, cluster_size=(3,3), n_sigma=5, dtype = np.int32, c
 
 
 
-def ClusterFinderMT(image_size, cluster_size = (3,3), dtype=np.int32, n_sigma=5, capacity = 1024, n_threads = 3): 
+def ClusterFinderMT(image_size, cluster_size = (3,3), dtype=np.int32, n_sigma=5, capacity = 1024, n_threads = 3, update_pedestal = True): 
     """ 
     Factory function to create a ClusterFinderMT object. Provides a cleaner syntax for 
     the templated ClusterFinderMT in C++.
     """
 
     cls = _get_class("ClusterFinderMT", cluster_size, dtype)
-    return cls(image_size, n_sigma=n_sigma, capacity=capacity, n_threads=n_threads)
+    return cls(image_size, n_sigma=n_sigma, capacity=capacity, n_threads=n_threads, update_pedestal=update_pedestal)
 
 
 def ClusterCollector(clusterfindermt, dtype=np.int32): 
diff --git a/python/src/bind_ClusterFinder.hpp b/python/src/bind_ClusterFinder.hpp
index da479dc..46739c8 100644
--- a/python/src/bind_ClusterFinder.hpp
+++ b/python/src/bind_ClusterFinder.hpp
@@ -74,12 +74,14 @@ void define_ClusterFinder(py::module &m, const std::string &typestr) {
         .def(
             "find_clusters",
             [](ClusterFinder<ClusterType, uint16_t, pd_type> &self,
-               py::array_t<uint16_t> frame, uint64_t frame_number) {
+               py::array_t<uint16_t> frame, uint64_t frame_number,
+               bool update_pedestal) {
                 auto view = make_view_2d(frame);
-                self.find_clusters(view, frame_number);
+                self.find_clusters(view, frame_number, update_pedestal);
                 return;
             },
-            py::arg(), py::arg("frame_number") = 0);
+            py::arg(), py::arg("frame_number") = 0,
+            py::arg("update_pedestal") = true);
 }
 
 #pragma GCC diagnostic pop
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/python/src/bind_ClusterFinderMT.hpp b/python/src/bind_ClusterFinderMT.hpp
index 4bb8101..59bc9b8 100644
--- a/python/src/bind_ClusterFinderMT.hpp
+++ b/python/src/bind_ClusterFinderMT.hpp
@@ -31,9 +31,10 @@ void define_ClusterFinderMT(py::module &m, const std::string &typestr) {
 
     py::class_<ClusterFinderMT<ClusterType, uint16_t, pd_type>>(
         m, class_name.c_str())
-        .def(py::init<Shape<2>, pd_type, size_t, size_t>(),
+        .def(py::init<Shape<2>, pd_type, size_t, size_t, bool>(),
              py::arg("image_size"), py::arg("n_sigma") = 5.0,
-             py::arg("capacity") = 2048, py::arg("n_threads") = 3)
+             py::arg("capacity") = 2048, py::arg("n_threads") = 3,
+             py::arg("update_pedestal") = true)
         .def("push_pedestal_frame",
              [](ClusterFinderMT<ClusterType, uint16_t, pd_type> &self,
                 py::array_t<uint16_t> frame) {
diff --git a/src/ClusterFinderMT.test.cpp b/src/ClusterFinderMT.test.cpp
index e890481..6fa9622 100644
--- a/src/ClusterFinderMT.test.cpp
+++ b/src/ClusterFinderMT.test.cpp
@@ -21,9 +21,10 @@ class ClusterFinderMTWrapper
 
   public:
     ClusterFinderMTWrapper(Shape<2> image_size, PEDESTAL_TYPE nSigma = 5.0,
-                           size_t capacity = 2000, size_t n_threads = 3)
+                           size_t capacity = 2000, size_t n_threads = 3,
+                           bool update_pedestal = true)
         : ClusterFinderMT<ClusterType, FRAME_TYPE, PEDESTAL_TYPE>(
-              image_size, nSigma, capacity, n_threads) {}
+              image_size, nSigma, capacity, n_threads, update_pedestal) {}
 
     size_t get_m_input_queues_size() const {
         return this->m_input_queues.size();
@@ -72,7 +73,8 @@ TEST_CASE("multithreaded cluster finder", "[.with-data]") {
 
     ClusterFinderMTWrapper<ClusterType> cf(
         {static_cast<int64_t>(file.rows()), static_cast<int64_t>(file.cols())},
-        5, 2000, n_threads); // no idea what frame type is!!! default uint16_t
+        5, 2000, n_threads,
+        true); // no idea what frame type is!!! default uint16_t
 
     CHECK(cf.get_m_input_queues_size() == n_threads);
     CHECK(cf.get_m_output_queues_size() == n_threads);