diff --git a/CHANGES.rst b/CHANGES.rst
index aad6c9142..9c39e46b9 100644
--- a/CHANGES.rst
+++ b/CHANGES.rst
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ Changes to be released in next version
 
 🙌 Improvements
  * MasterTabBarController: Show/Hide Home Screen tabs (#4234).
+ * UnifiedSearchRecentsDataSource: Show/Hide public directory (#4242).
 
 🐛 Bugfix
  * 
diff --git a/Config/BuildSettings.swift b/Config/BuildSettings.swift
index 62625a5e9..b9ba37485 100644
--- a/Config/BuildSettings.swift
+++ b/Config/BuildSettings.swift
@@ -286,4 +286,7 @@ final class BuildSettings: NSObject {
     static let authScreenShowPhoneNumber = true
     static let authScreenShowForgotPassword = true
     static let authScreenShowCustomServerOptions = true
+    
+    // Mark: - Unified Search
+    static let unifiedSearchScreenShowPublicDirectory = true
 }
diff --git a/Riot/Managers/Settings/RiotSettings.swift b/Riot/Managers/Settings/RiotSettings.swift
index ef3d0594d..190e4b5ca 100644
--- a/Riot/Managers/Settings/RiotSettings.swift
+++ b/Riot/Managers/Settings/RiotSettings.swift
@@ -56,6 +56,7 @@ final class RiotSettings: NSObject {
         static let homeScreenShowPeopleTab = "homeScreenShowPeopleTab"
         static let homeScreenShowRoomsTab = "homeScreenShowRoomsTab"
         static let homeScreenShowCommunitiesTab = "homeScreenShowCommunitiesTab"
+        static let unifiedSearchScreenShowPublicDirectory = "unifiedSearchScreenShowPublicDirectory"
     }
     
     static let shared = RiotSettings()
@@ -447,4 +448,18 @@ final class RiotSettings: NSObject {
             defaults.set(newValue, forKey: UserDefaultsKeys.settingsSecurityScreenShowAdvancedUnverifiedDevices)
         }
     }
+    
+    // Mark: - Unified Search
+    
+    var unifiedSearchScreenShowPublicDirectory: Bool {
+        get {
+            guard defaults.object(forKey: UserDefaultsKeys.unifiedSearchScreenShowPublicDirectory) != nil else {
+                return BuildSettings.unifiedSearchScreenShowPublicDirectory
+            }
+            return defaults.bool(forKey: UserDefaultsKeys.unifiedSearchScreenShowPublicDirectory)
+        } set {
+            defaults.set(newValue, forKey: UserDefaultsKeys.unifiedSearchScreenShowPublicDirectory)
+        }
+    }
+    
 }
diff --git a/Riot/Modules/GlobalSearch/DataSources/UnifiedSearchRecentsDataSource.m b/Riot/Modules/GlobalSearch/DataSources/UnifiedSearchRecentsDataSource.m
index df95e8ff8..1a4605ba6 100644
--- a/Riot/Modules/GlobalSearch/DataSources/UnifiedSearchRecentsDataSource.m
+++ b/Riot/Modules/GlobalSearch/DataSources/UnifiedSearchRecentsDataSource.m
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@
 #import "DirectoryRecentTableViewCell.h"
 
 #import "MXRoom+Riot.h"
+#import "Riot-Swift.h"
 
 @interface UnifiedSearchRecentsDataSource()
 {
@@ -85,7 +86,10 @@
         }
         
         // The public rooms directory cell is then visible whatever the search activity.
-        self.directorySection = sectionsOffset++;
+        if (RiotSettings.shared.unifiedSearchScreenShowPublicDirectory)
+        {
+            self.directorySection = sectionsOffset++;
+        }
         
         if (_hideRecents)
         {