diff --git a/frontend/src/components/DarkMaskSettings.tsx b/frontend/src/components/DarkMaskSettings.tsx
index e7c3713d..14cab3a2 100644
--- a/frontend/src/components/DarkMaskSettings.tsx
+++ b/frontend/src/components/DarkMaskSettings.tsx
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import React, { Component } from 'react';
 import Paper from '@mui/material/Paper';
-import { Stack } from '@mui/material';
+import {Checkbox, FormControlLabel, Stack} from '@mui/material';
 import _ from 'lodash';
 import NumberTextField from './NumberTextField';
 import ButtonWithSnackbar from './ButtonWithSnackbar';
@@ -88,6 +88,29 @@ class DarkMaskSettings extends Component<MyProps, MyState> {
                     <strong>Dark data collection settings for mask</strong>
                     <div>(DECTRIS detectors only)</div>
 
+                    <FormControlLabel
+                        control={
+                            <Checkbox
+                                checked={this.state.s.number_of_frames === 0}
+                                onChange={(e) => {
+                                    const checked = e.target.checked;
+                                    this.setState((prev) => {
+                                        const nextFrames = checked
+                                            ? 0
+                                            : prev.s.number_of_frames === 0
+                                                ? 1000
+                                                : prev.s.number_of_frames;
+                                        return {
+                                            number_of_frames_err: false, // zero-mode has no error
+                                            s: { ...prev.s, number_of_frames: nextFrames },
+                                        };
+                                    });
+                                }}
+                            />
+                        }
+                        label="Enable dark data collection"
+                    />
+
                     <Stack spacing={3} direction="row" sx={{ width: '80%' }}>
 
                         <NumberTextField
@@ -122,8 +145,6 @@ class DarkMaskSettings extends Component<MyProps, MyState> {
                                 }));
                             }}
                         />
-                    </Stack>
-                    <Stack spacing={3} direction="row" sx={{ width: '80%' }}>
                         <NumberTextField
                             start_val={this.state.s.number_of_frames}
                             label={'Number of frames'}
@@ -139,6 +160,8 @@ class DarkMaskSettings extends Component<MyProps, MyState> {
                             }}
 
                         />
+                    </Stack>
+                    <Stack spacing={3} direction="row" sx={{ width: '80%' }}>
                         <NumberTextField
                             start_val={this.state.s.max_allowed_pixel_count}
                             label={'Max allowed pixel count for valid pixel'}