diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 19cda5e30..bb87496ba 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -117,7 +117,7 @@
     <dependency>
       <groupId>io.ebean</groupId>
       <artifactId>ebean-annotation</artifactId>
-      <version>4.3</version>
+      <version>4.4</version>
     </dependency>
 
     <dependency>
diff --git a/src/main/java/io/ebean/cache/ServerCacheOptions.java b/src/main/java/io/ebean/cache/ServerCacheOptions.java
index 6d32089c1..feb0623ee 100644
--- a/src/main/java/io/ebean/cache/ServerCacheOptions.java
+++ b/src/main/java/io/ebean/cache/ServerCacheOptions.java
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ public class ServerCacheOptions {
   private int maxIdleSecs;
   private int maxSecsToLive;
   private int trimFrequency;
+  private boolean nearCache;
 
   /**
    * Construct with no set options.
@@ -40,6 +41,14 @@ public class ServerCacheOptions {
     this.trimFrequency = cacheTuning.trimFrequency();
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Create with nearCache option.
+   */
+  public ServerCacheOptions(boolean nearCache, CacheBeanTuning tuning) {
+    this(tuning);
+    this.nearCache = nearCache;
+  }
+
   /**
    * Apply any settings from the default settings that have not already been
    * specifically set.
@@ -70,9 +79,24 @@ public class ServerCacheOptions {
     copy.maxIdleSecs = maxIdleSecs;
     copy.maxSecsToLive = maxSecsToLive;
     copy.trimFrequency = trimFrequency;
+    copy.nearCache = nearCache;
     return copy;
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Return true if nearCache was explicitly turned on.
+   */
+  public boolean isNearCache() {
+    return nearCache;
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Turn on nearCache option.
+   */
+  public void setNearCache(boolean nearCache) {
+    this.nearCache = nearCache;
+  }
+
   /**
    * Return the maximum cache size.
    */
diff --git a/src/main/java/io/ebeaninternal/server/cache/DefaultCacheHolder.java b/src/main/java/io/ebeaninternal/server/cache/DefaultCacheHolder.java
index 20e966f6e..71b3af1a8 100644
--- a/src/main/java/io/ebeaninternal/server/cache/DefaultCacheHolder.java
+++ b/src/main/java/io/ebeaninternal/server/cache/DefaultCacheHolder.java
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 package io.ebeaninternal.server.cache;
 
+import io.ebean.annotation.Cache;
 import io.ebean.annotation.CacheBeanTuning;
 import io.ebean.annotation.CacheQueryTuning;
 import io.ebean.cache.QueryCacheEntryValidate;
@@ -123,9 +124,13 @@ class DefaultCacheHolder {
   }
 
   private ServerCacheOptions getBeanOptions(Class<?> cls) {
+
+    Cache cache = cls.getAnnotation(Cache.class);
+    boolean nearCache = (cache != null && cache.nearCache());
+
     CacheBeanTuning tuning = cls.getAnnotation(CacheBeanTuning.class);
     if (tuning != null) {
-      return new ServerCacheOptions(tuning).applyDefaults(beanDefault);
+      return new ServerCacheOptions(nearCache, tuning).applyDefaults(beanDefault);
     }
     return beanDefault.copy();
   }