diff --git a/lib/modules/ens/embarkjs.js b/lib/modules/ens/embarkjs.js
index b9138322..4505876b 100644
--- a/lib/modules/ens/embarkjs.js
+++ b/lib/modules/ens/embarkjs.js
@@ -149,9 +149,10 @@ __embarkENS.registryAddresses = {
 __embarkENS.setProvider = function (config) {
   const self = this;
   const ERROR_MESSAGE = 'ENS is not available in this chain';
-  EmbarkJS.onReady(() => {
-    self.registration = config.registration;
+  self.registration = config.registration;
+  self.env = config.env;
 
+  EmbarkJS.onReady(() => {
     web3.eth.net.getId()
       .then((id) => {
       const registryAddress = self.registryAddresses[id] || config.registryAddress;
@@ -228,10 +229,12 @@ __embarkENS.lookup = function (address, callback) {
 __embarkENS.registerSubDomain = function (name, address, callback) {
   callback = callback || function () {};
 
+  if (this.env !== 'development') {
+    return callback('Sub-domain registration is only available in development mode');
+  }
   if (!this.registration || !this.registration.rootDomain) {
     return callback('No rootDomain is declared in config/namesystem.js (register.rootDomain). Unable to register a subdomain until then.');
   }
-
   if (!address || !web3.utils.isAddress(address)) {
     return callback('You need to specify a valid address for the subdomain');
   }
diff --git a/lib/modules/ens/index.js b/lib/modules/ens/index.js
index ab661d5a..fd30baf2 100644
--- a/lib/modules/ens/index.js
+++ b/lib/modules/ens/index.js
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ class ENS {
       ], (err, results) => {
         // result[0] => ENSRegistry; result[1] => FIFSRegistrar; result[2] => FIFSRegistrar
         let config = {
+          env: self.env,
           registration: self.registration,
           registryAbi: results[0].abiDefinition,
           registryAddress: results[0].deployedAddress,