diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index e093afc4..012584d1 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -1,4 +1,9 @@
 1.8.5.dev0
+ * #701: Add a "skip_actions" option to skip running particular actions, handy for append-only or
+   checkless configurations. See the documentation for more information:
+   https://torsion.org/borgmatic/docs/how-to/set-up-backups/#skipping-actions
+ * #701: Deprecate the "disabled" value for the "checks" option in favor of the new "skip_actions"
+   option.
  * #779: Add a "--match-archives" flag to the "check" action for selecting the archives to check,
    overriding the existing "archive_name_format" and "match_archives" options in configuration.
  * #779: Only parse "--override" values as complex data types when they're for options of those
diff --git a/borgmatic/borg/check.py b/borgmatic/borg/check.py
index 14d7a827..220a0fc2 100644
--- a/borgmatic/borg/check.py
+++ b/borgmatic/borg/check.py
@@ -39,7 +39,11 @@ def parse_checks(config, only_checks=None):
         check_config['name'] for check_config in (config.get('checks', None) or DEFAULT_CHECKS)
     )
     checks = tuple(check.lower() for check in checks)
+
     if 'disabled' in checks:
+        logger.warning(
+            'The "disabled" value for the "checks" option is deprecated and will be removed from a future release; use "skip_actions" instead'
+        )
         if len(checks) > 1:
             logger.warning(
                 'Multiple checks are configured, but one of them is "disabled"; not running any checks'
@@ -119,6 +123,9 @@ def filter_checks_on_frequency(
 
     Raise ValueError if a frequency cannot be parsed.
     '''
+    if not checks:
+        return checks
+
     filtered_checks = list(checks)
 
     if force:
diff --git a/borgmatic/commands/borgmatic.py b/borgmatic/commands/borgmatic.py
index ba80d2c0..ee03ddef 100644
--- a/borgmatic/commands/borgmatic.py
+++ b/borgmatic/commands/borgmatic.py
@@ -70,6 +70,12 @@ def run_configuration(config_filename, config, arguments):
     using_primary_action = {'create', 'prune', 'compact', 'check'}.intersection(arguments)
     monitoring_log_level = verbosity_to_log_level(global_arguments.monitoring_verbosity)
     monitoring_hooks_are_activated = using_primary_action and monitoring_log_level != DISABLED
+    skip_actions = config.get('skip_actions')
+
+    if skip_actions:
+        logger.debug(
+            f"{config_filename}: Skipping {'/'.join(skip_actions)} action{'s' if len(skip_actions) > 1 else ''} due to configured skip_actions"
+        )
 
     try:
         local_borg_version = borg_version.local_borg_version(config, local_path)
@@ -274,6 +280,7 @@ def run_actions(
         'repositories': ','.join([repo['path'] for repo in config['repositories']]),
         'log_file': global_arguments.log_file if global_arguments.log_file else '',
     }
+    skip_actions = set(config.get('skip_actions', {}))
 
     command.execute_hook(
         config.get('before_actions'),
@@ -285,7 +292,7 @@ def run_actions(
     )
 
     for action_name, action_arguments in arguments.items():
-        if action_name == 'rcreate':
+        if action_name == 'rcreate' and action_name not in skip_actions:
             borgmatic.actions.rcreate.run_rcreate(
                 repository,
                 config,
@@ -295,7 +302,7 @@ def run_actions(
                 local_path,
                 remote_path,
             )
-        elif action_name == 'transfer':
+        elif action_name == 'transfer' and action_name not in skip_actions:
             borgmatic.actions.transfer.run_transfer(
                 repository,
                 config,
@@ -305,7 +312,7 @@ def run_actions(
                 local_path,
                 remote_path,
             )
-        elif action_name == 'create':
+        elif action_name == 'create' and action_name not in skip_actions:
             yield from borgmatic.actions.create.run_create(
                 config_filename,
                 repository,
@@ -318,7 +325,7 @@ def run_actions(
                 local_path,
                 remote_path,
             )
-        elif action_name == 'prune':
+        elif action_name == 'prune' and action_name not in skip_actions:
             borgmatic.actions.prune.run_prune(
                 config_filename,
                 repository,
@@ -331,7 +338,7 @@ def run_actions(
                 local_path,
                 remote_path,
             )
-        elif action_name == 'compact':
+        elif action_name == 'compact' and action_name not in skip_actions:
             borgmatic.actions.compact.run_compact(
                 config_filename,
                 repository,
@@ -344,7 +351,7 @@ def run_actions(
                 local_path,
                 remote_path,
             )
-        elif action_name == 'check':
+        elif action_name == 'check' and action_name not in skip_actions:
             if checks.repository_enabled_for_checks(repository, config):
                 borgmatic.actions.check.run_check(
                     config_filename,
@@ -357,7 +364,7 @@ def run_actions(
                     local_path,
                     remote_path,
                 )
-        elif action_name == 'extract':
+        elif action_name == 'extract' and action_name not in skip_actions:
             borgmatic.actions.extract.run_extract(
                 config_filename,
                 repository,
@@ -369,7 +376,7 @@ def run_actions(
                 local_path,
                 remote_path,
             )
-        elif action_name == 'export-tar':
+        elif action_name == 'export-tar' and action_name not in skip_actions:
             borgmatic.actions.export_tar.run_export_tar(
                 repository,
                 config,
@@ -379,7 +386,7 @@ def run_actions(
                 local_path,
                 remote_path,
             )
-        elif action_name == 'mount':
+        elif action_name == 'mount' and action_name not in skip_actions:
             borgmatic.actions.mount.run_mount(
                 repository,
                 config,
@@ -389,7 +396,7 @@ def run_actions(
                 local_path,
                 remote_path,
             )
-        elif action_name == 'restore':
+        elif action_name == 'restore' and action_name not in skip_actions:
             borgmatic.actions.restore.run_restore(
                 repository,
                 config,
@@ -399,7 +406,7 @@ def run_actions(
                 local_path,
                 remote_path,
             )
-        elif action_name == 'rlist':
+        elif action_name == 'rlist' and action_name not in skip_actions:
             yield from borgmatic.actions.rlist.run_rlist(
                 repository,
                 config,
@@ -409,7 +416,7 @@ def run_actions(
                 local_path,
                 remote_path,
             )
-        elif action_name == 'list':
+        elif action_name == 'list' and action_name not in skip_actions:
             yield from borgmatic.actions.list.run_list(
                 repository,
                 config,
@@ -419,7 +426,7 @@ def run_actions(
                 local_path,
                 remote_path,
             )
-        elif action_name == 'rinfo':
+        elif action_name == 'rinfo' and action_name not in skip_actions:
             yield from borgmatic.actions.rinfo.run_rinfo(
                 repository,
                 config,
@@ -429,7 +436,7 @@ def run_actions(
                 local_path,
                 remote_path,
             )
-        elif action_name == 'info':
+        elif action_name == 'info' and action_name not in skip_actions:
             yield from borgmatic.actions.info.run_info(
                 repository,
                 config,
@@ -439,7 +446,7 @@ def run_actions(
                 local_path,
                 remote_path,
             )
-        elif action_name == 'break-lock':
+        elif action_name == 'break-lock' and action_name not in skip_actions:
             borgmatic.actions.break_lock.run_break_lock(
                 repository,
                 config,
@@ -449,7 +456,7 @@ def run_actions(
                 local_path,
                 remote_path,
             )
-        elif action_name == 'export':
+        elif action_name == 'export' and action_name not in skip_actions:
             borgmatic.actions.export_key.run_export_key(
                 repository,
                 config,
@@ -459,7 +466,7 @@ def run_actions(
                 local_path,
                 remote_path,
             )
-        elif action_name == 'borg':
+        elif action_name == 'borg' and action_name not in skip_actions:
             borgmatic.actions.borg.run_borg(
                 repository,
                 config,
diff --git a/borgmatic/config/checks.py b/borgmatic/config/checks.py
index 13361ea1..129fd61b 100644
--- a/borgmatic/config/checks.py
+++ b/borgmatic/config/checks.py
@@ -1,9 +1,9 @@
-def repository_enabled_for_checks(repository, consistency):
+def repository_enabled_for_checks(repository, config):
     '''
-    Given a repository name and a consistency configuration dict, return whether the repository
-    is enabled to have consistency checks run.
+    Given a repository name and a configuration dict, return whether the
+    repository is enabled to have consistency checks run.
     '''
-    if not consistency.get('check_repositories'):
+    if not config.get('check_repositories'):
         return True
 
-    return repository in consistency['check_repositories']
+    return repository in config['check_repositories']
diff --git a/borgmatic/config/schema.yaml b/borgmatic/config/schema.yaml
index 41ce4c73..b1522f3a 100644
--- a/borgmatic/config/schema.yaml
+++ b/borgmatic/config/schema.yaml
@@ -423,7 +423,9 @@ properties:
             command-line invocation.
     keep_within:
         type: string
-        description: Keep all archives within this time interval.
+        description: |
+            Keep all archives within this time interval. See "skip_actions" for
+            disabling pruning altogether.
         example: 3H
     keep_secondly:
         type: integer
@@ -479,13 +481,13 @@ properties:
                         - disabled
                     description: |
                         Name of consistency check to run: "repository",
-                        "archives", "data", and/or "extract". Set to "disabled"
-                        to disable all consistency checks. "repository" checks
-                        the consistency of the repository, "archives" checks all
-                        of the archives, "data" verifies the integrity of the
-                        data within the archives, and "extract" does an
-                        extraction dry-run of the most recent archive. Note that
-                        "data" implies "archives".
+                        "archives", "data", and/or "extract". "repository"
+                        checks the consistency of the repository, "archives"
+                        checks all of the archives, "data" verifies the
+                        integrity of the data within the archives, and "extract"
+                        does an extraction dry-run of the most recent archive.
+                        Note that "data" implies "archives". See "skip_actions"
+                        for disabling checks altogether.
                     example: repository
                 frequency:
                     type: string
@@ -525,6 +527,18 @@ properties:
             Apply color to console output. Can be overridden with --no-color
             command-line flag. Defaults to true.
         example: false
+    skip_actions:
+        type: array
+        items:
+            type: string
+        description: |
+            List of one or more actions to skip running for this configuration
+            file, even if specified on the command-line (explicitly or
+            implicitly). This is handy for append-only configurations where you
+            never want to run "compact" or checkless configuration where you
+            want to skip "check". Defaults to not skipping any actions.
+        example:
+          - compact
     before_actions:
         type: array
         items:
diff --git a/docs/how-to/deal-with-very-large-backups.md b/docs/how-to/deal-with-very-large-backups.md
index c724581f..c609ba19 100644
--- a/docs/how-to/deal-with-very-large-backups.md
+++ b/docs/how-to/deal-with-very-large-backups.md
@@ -162,7 +162,16 @@ location:
 If that's still too slow, you can disable consistency checks entirely,
 either for a single repository or for all repositories.
 
-Disabling all consistency checks looks like this:
+<span class="minilink minilink-addedin">New in version 1.8.5</span> Disabling
+all consistency checks looks like this:
+
+```yaml
+skip_actions:
+    - check
+```
+
+<span class="minilink minilink-addedin">Prior to version 1.8.5</span> Use this
+configuration instead:
 
 ```yaml
 checks:
@@ -170,10 +179,10 @@ checks:
 ```
 
 <span class="minilink minilink-addedin">Prior to version 1.8.0</span> Put
-this option in the `consistency:` section of your configuration.
+`checks:` in the `consistency:` section of your configuration.
 
-<span class="minilink minilink-addedin">Prior to version 1.6.2</span> `checks`
-was a plain list of strings without the `name:` part. For instance:
+<span class="minilink minilink-addedin">Prior to version 1.6.2</span>
+`checks:` was a plain list of strings without the `name:` part. For instance:
 
 ```yaml
 checks:
diff --git a/docs/how-to/set-up-backups.md b/docs/how-to/set-up-backups.md
index 1e05bde7..22554dd4 100644
--- a/docs/how-to/set-up-backups.md
+++ b/docs/how-to/set-up-backups.md
@@ -282,6 +282,21 @@ due to things like file damage. For instance:
 sudo borgmatic --verbosity 1 --list --stats
 ```
 
+### Skipping actions
+
+<span class="minilink minilink-addedin">New in version 1.8.5</span> You can
+configure borgmatic to skip running certain actions (default or otherwise).
+For instance, to always skip the `compact` action when using [Borg's
+append-only
+mode](https://borgbackup.readthedocs.io/en/stable/usage/notes.html#append-only-mode-forbid-compaction),
+set the `skip_actions` option:
+
+```
+skip_actions:
+    - compact
+```
+
+
 ## Autopilot
 
 Running backups manually is good for validating your configuration, but I'm
diff --git a/tests/unit/borg/test_check.py b/tests/unit/borg/test_check.py
index 8d8ac45d..e222d680 100644
--- a/tests/unit/borg/test_check.py
+++ b/tests/unit/borg/test_check.py
@@ -193,6 +193,19 @@ def test_filter_checks_on_frequency_restains_check_with_unelapsed_frequency_and_
     ) == ('archives',)
 
 
+def test_filter_checks_on_frequency_passes_through_empty_checks():
+    assert (
+        module.filter_checks_on_frequency(
+            config={'checks': [{'name': 'archives', 'frequency': '1 hour'}]},
+            borg_repository_id='repo',
+            checks=(),
+            force=False,
+            archives_check_id='1234',
+        )
+        == ()
+    )
+
+
 def test_make_archive_filter_flags_with_default_checks_and_prefix_returns_default_flags():
     flexmock(module.feature).should_receive('available').and_return(True)
     flexmock(module.flags).should_receive('make_match_archives_flags').and_return(())
diff --git a/tests/unit/commands/test_borgmatic.py b/tests/unit/commands/test_borgmatic.py
index 26321c31..d7334f5c 100644
--- a/tests/unit/commands/test_borgmatic.py
+++ b/tests/unit/commands/test_borgmatic.py
@@ -23,6 +23,16 @@ def test_run_configuration_runs_actions_for_each_repository():
     assert results == expected_results
 
 
+def test_run_configuration_with_skip_actions_does_not_raise():
+    flexmock(module).should_receive('verbosity_to_log_level').and_return(logging.INFO)
+    flexmock(module.borg_version).should_receive('local_borg_version').and_return(flexmock())
+    flexmock(module).should_receive('run_actions').and_return(flexmock()).and_return(flexmock())
+    config = {'repositories': [{'path': 'foo'}, {'path': 'bar'}], 'skip_actions': ['compact']}
+    arguments = {'global': flexmock(monitoring_verbosity=1)}
+
+    list(module.run_configuration('test.yaml', config, arguments))
+
+
 def test_run_configuration_with_invalid_borg_version_errors():
     flexmock(module).should_receive('verbosity_to_log_level').and_return(logging.INFO)
     flexmock(module.borg_version).should_receive('local_borg_version').and_raise(ValueError)
@@ -504,6 +514,24 @@ def test_run_actions_runs_create():
     assert result == (expected,)
 
 
+def test_run_actions_with_skip_actions_skips_create():
+    flexmock(module).should_receive('add_custom_log_levels')
+    flexmock(module.command).should_receive('execute_hook')
+    flexmock(borgmatic.actions.create).should_receive('run_create').never()
+
+    tuple(
+        module.run_actions(
+            arguments={'global': flexmock(dry_run=False, log_file='foo'), 'create': flexmock()},
+            config_filename=flexmock(),
+            config={'repositories': [], 'skip_actions': ['create']},
+            local_path=flexmock(),
+            remote_path=flexmock(),
+            local_borg_version=flexmock(),
+            repository={'path': 'repo'},
+        )
+    )
+
+
 def test_run_actions_runs_prune():
     flexmock(module).should_receive('add_custom_log_levels')
     flexmock(module.command).should_receive('execute_hook')
@@ -522,6 +550,24 @@ def test_run_actions_runs_prune():
     )
 
 
+def test_run_actions_with_skip_actions_skips_prune():
+    flexmock(module).should_receive('add_custom_log_levels')
+    flexmock(module.command).should_receive('execute_hook')
+    flexmock(borgmatic.actions.prune).should_receive('run_prune').never()
+
+    tuple(
+        module.run_actions(
+            arguments={'global': flexmock(dry_run=False, log_file='foo'), 'prune': flexmock()},
+            config_filename=flexmock(),
+            config={'repositories': [], 'skip_actions': ['prune']},
+            local_path=flexmock(),
+            remote_path=flexmock(),
+            local_borg_version=flexmock(),
+            repository={'path': 'repo'},
+        )
+    )
+
+
 def test_run_actions_runs_compact():
     flexmock(module).should_receive('add_custom_log_levels')
     flexmock(module.command).should_receive('execute_hook')
@@ -540,6 +586,24 @@ def test_run_actions_runs_compact():
     )
 
 
+def test_run_actions_with_skip_actions_skips_compact():
+    flexmock(module).should_receive('add_custom_log_levels')
+    flexmock(module.command).should_receive('execute_hook')
+    flexmock(borgmatic.actions.compact).should_receive('run_compact').never()
+
+    tuple(
+        module.run_actions(
+            arguments={'global': flexmock(dry_run=False, log_file='foo'), 'compact': flexmock()},
+            config_filename=flexmock(),
+            config={'repositories': [], 'skip_actions': ['compact']},
+            local_path=flexmock(),
+            remote_path=flexmock(),
+            local_borg_version=flexmock(),
+            repository={'path': 'repo'},
+        )
+    )
+
+
 def test_run_actions_runs_check_when_repository_enabled_for_checks():
     flexmock(module).should_receive('add_custom_log_levels')
     flexmock(module.command).should_receive('execute_hook')
@@ -578,6 +642,25 @@ def test_run_actions_skips_check_when_repository_not_enabled_for_checks():
     )
 
 
+def test_run_actions_with_skip_actions_skips_check():
+    flexmock(module).should_receive('add_custom_log_levels')
+    flexmock(module.command).should_receive('execute_hook')
+    flexmock(module.checks).should_receive('repository_enabled_for_checks').and_return(True)
+    flexmock(borgmatic.actions.check).should_receive('run_check').never()
+
+    tuple(
+        module.run_actions(
+            arguments={'global': flexmock(dry_run=False, log_file='foo'), 'check': flexmock()},
+            config_filename=flexmock(),
+            config={'repositories': [], 'skip_actions': ['check']},
+            local_path=flexmock(),
+            remote_path=flexmock(),
+            local_borg_version=flexmock(),
+            repository={'path': 'repo'},
+        )
+    )
+
+
 def test_run_actions_runs_extract():
     flexmock(module).should_receive('add_custom_log_levels')
     flexmock(module.command).should_receive('execute_hook')
diff --git a/tests/unit/config/test_checks.py b/tests/unit/config/test_checks.py
index df6df1ec..6de42b4b 100644
--- a/tests/unit/config/test_checks.py
+++ b/tests/unit/config/test_checks.py
@@ -2,14 +2,14 @@ from borgmatic.config import checks as module
 
 
 def test_repository_enabled_for_checks_defaults_to_enabled_for_all_repositories():
-    enabled = module.repository_enabled_for_checks('repo.borg', consistency={})
+    enabled = module.repository_enabled_for_checks('repo.borg', config={})
 
     assert enabled
 
 
 def test_repository_enabled_for_checks_is_enabled_for_specified_repositories():
     enabled = module.repository_enabled_for_checks(
-        'repo.borg', consistency={'check_repositories': ['repo.borg', 'other.borg']}
+        'repo.borg', config={'check_repositories': ['repo.borg', 'other.borg']}
     )
 
     assert enabled
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ def test_repository_enabled_for_checks_is_enabled_for_specified_repositories():
 
 def test_repository_enabled_for_checks_is_disabled_for_other_repositories():
     enabled = module.repository_enabled_for_checks(
-        'repo.borg', consistency={'check_repositories': ['other.borg']}
+        'repo.borg', config={'check_repositories': ['other.borg']}
     )
 
     assert not enabled