diff --git a/helm/bundles/cortex-nova/templates/alerts.yaml b/helm/bundles/cortex-nova/templates/alerts.yaml
index e043481b1..840e969f2 100644
--- a/helm/bundles/cortex-nova/templates/alerts.yaml
+++ b/helm/bundles/cortex-nova/templates/alerts.yaml
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ spec:
         context: liveness
         dashboard: cortex-status-dashboard/cortex-status-dashboard
         service: cortex
-        severity: {{ if .Values.kvm.enabled }}critical{{ else }}warning{{ end }}
+        severity: {{ if and .Values.kvm.enabled .Values.kvm.criticalAlerts }}critical{{ else }}warning{{ end }}
         support_group: workload-management
         playbook: docs/support/playbook/cortex/alerts/down
       annotations:
diff --git a/helm/bundles/cortex-nova/values.yaml b/helm/bundles/cortex-nova/values.yaml
index a07279ff0..1171f3b01 100644
--- a/helm/bundles/cortex-nova/values.yaml
+++ b/helm/bundles/cortex-nova/values.yaml
@@ -70,6 +70,9 @@ openstack:
 kvm:
   # Use this flag to enable/disable KVM host related features.
   enabled: false
+  # Set to false to keep KVM-related alerts at warning severity instead of critical.
+  # Useful when rolling out a new KVM region before it is production-ready.
+  criticalAlerts: true
 
 cortex: &cortex
   crd: {enable: false}