diff --git a/payu/cli.py b/payu/cli.py
index 06175603..f76ffa01 100644
--- a/payu/cli.py
+++ b/payu/cli.py
@@ -144,6 +144,10 @@ def set_env_vars(init_run=None, n_runs=None, lab_path=None, dir_path=None,
     if force_prune_restarts:
         payu_env_vars['PAYU_FORCE_PRUNE_RESTARTS'] = force_prune_restarts
 
+    if 'PAYU_METADATA_OFF' in os.environ:
+        # Pass through environment variable from current environment
+        metadata_off = os.environ['PAYU_METADATA_OFF']
+
     if metadata_off:
         payu_env_vars['PAYU_METADATA_OFF'] = metadata_off
 
diff --git a/payu/experiment.py b/payu/experiment.py
index b4f19921..d81e19c6 100644
--- a/payu/experiment.py
+++ b/payu/experiment.py
@@ -795,9 +795,6 @@ def archive(self, force_prune_restarts=False):
                 expt=self.counter
             )
 
-            if not self.metadata.enabled:
-                cmd += f' --metadata-off'
-
             sp.check_call(shlex.split(cmd))
 
         if self.config.get('hpctoolkit', False):
@@ -807,9 +804,6 @@ def archive(self, force_prune_restarts=False):
                 expt=self.counter
             )
 
-            if not self.metadata.enabled:
-                cmd += f' --metadata-off'
-
             sp.check_call(shlex.split(cmd))
 
         archive_script = self.userscripts.get('archive')
@@ -860,9 +854,6 @@ def postprocess(self):
                       '    payu sync')
                 cmd += f' --sync-ignore-last'
 
-            if not self.metadata.enabled:
-                cmd += f' --metadata-off'
-
             sp.check_call(shlex.split(cmd))
 
     def sync(self):
@@ -884,9 +875,6 @@ def resubmit(self):
             n=self.n_runs
         )
 
-        if not self.metadata.enabled:
-            cmd += f' --metadata-off'
-
         cmd = shlex.split(cmd)
         sp.call(cmd)