diff --git a/gnes/cli/parser.py b/gnes/cli/parser.py
index 14bb238f..868f9cae 100644
--- a/gnes/cli/parser.py
+++ b/gnes/cli/parser.py
@@ -308,6 +308,10 @@ def _set_grpc_parser(parser=None):
                         help='host port of the grpc service')
     parser.add_argument('--max_message_size', type=int, default=-1,
                         help='maximum send and receive size for grpc server in bytes, -1 means unlimited')
+    parser.add_argument('--proxy', action=ActionNoYes, default=False,
+                        help='respect the http_proxy and https_proxy environment variables. '
+                             'otherwise, it will unset these proxy variables before start. '
+                             'gRPC seems perfer --no_proxy')
     return parser
 
 
diff --git a/gnes/client/base.py b/gnes/client/base.py
index aaaa6862..3d71ef76 100644
--- a/gnes/client/base.py
+++ b/gnes/client/base.py
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
 #  See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 #  limitations under the License.
 
+import os
 from typing import Tuple, List, Union
 
 import grpc
@@ -120,6 +121,9 @@ class GrpcClient:
 
     def __init__(self, args):
         self.args = args
+        if not args.proxy:
+            os.unsetenv('http_proxy')
+            os.unsetenv('https_proxy')
         self.logger = set_logger(self.__class__.__name__, self.args.verbose)
         self.logger.info('setting up grpc insecure channel...')
         # A gRPC channel provides a connection to a remote gRPC server.
diff --git a/gnes/flow/__init__.py b/gnes/flow/__init__.py
index cfda7d96..b698ef03 100644
--- a/gnes/flow/__init__.py
+++ b/gnes/flow/__init__.py
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 import copy
-import os
 from collections import OrderedDict, defaultdict
 from contextlib import ExitStack
 from functools import wraps
@@ -226,8 +225,6 @@ def query(self, bytes_gen: Iterator[bytes] = None, **kwargs):
 
     @_build_level(BuildLevel.RUNTIME)
     def _call_client(self, bytes_gen: Iterator[bytes] = None, **kwargs):
-        os.unsetenv('http_proxy')
-        os.unsetenv('https_proxy')
         args, p_args = self._get_parsed_args(self, set_client_cli_parser, kwargs)
         p_args.grpc_port = self._service_nodes[self._frontend]['parsed_args'].grpc_port
         p_args.grpc_host = self._service_nodes[self._frontend]['parsed_args'].grpc_host
diff --git a/gnes/service/frontend.py b/gnes/service/frontend.py
index 051f5350..909f10f1 100644
--- a/gnes/service/frontend.py
+++ b/gnes/service/frontend.py
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
 #  limitations under the License.
 
 
+import os
 import threading
 from concurrent.futures import ThreadPoolExecutor
 
@@ -28,6 +29,9 @@
 class FrontendService:
 
     def __init__(self, args):
+        if not args.proxy:
+            os.unsetenv('http_proxy')
+            os.unsetenv('https_proxy')
         self.logger = set_logger(self.__class__.__name__, args.verbose)
         self.server = grpc.server(
             ThreadPoolExecutor(max_workers=args.max_concurrency),