diff --git a/docs/install.rst b/docs/install.rst
index ccc820ff..0a21bc2e 100644
--- a/docs/install.rst
+++ b/docs/install.rst
@@ -65,6 +65,8 @@ errors with trying to create User settings.
         'reversion',  # required by pinax-teams
     )
 
+   Note: you do not need to use pinax-teams. To dissable teams see the :doc:`teams` section.
+
    Your ``settings.py`` file should also define a ``SITE_ID`` that allows multiple projects to share
    a single database, and is required by ``django.contrib.sites`` in Django 1.9+.
    If you aren't running multiple sites, you can simply add a default ``SITE_ID`` to ``settings.py``::
diff --git a/docs/teams.rst b/docs/teams.rst
index cd27aaef..5fe88437 100644
--- a/docs/teams.rst
+++ b/docs/teams.rst
@@ -12,3 +12,5 @@ You can visit the 'Pinax Teams' page in your django admin in order to create a t
 You can assign a knowledge-base item to a team on the Helpdesk admin page.
 
 Once you have set up teams. Unassigned tickets which are associated with a knowledge-base item will only be shown on the dashboard to those users who are members of the team which is associated with that knowledge-base item.
+
+Note: It is possible that pinax-teams will interfere with other packages that you already use in your project. If you do not wish to use team functionality, you can dissable teams by setting the following settings: ``HELPDESK_TEAMS_MODEL`` to any random model, ``HELPDESK_TEAMS_MIGRATION_DEPENDENCIES`` to ``[]``, and ``HELPDESK_KBITEM_TEAM_GETTER`` to ``lambda _: None``. You can also use a different library in place of pinax teams by setting those settings appropriately. ``HELPDESK_KBITEM_TEAM_GETTER`` should take a ``kbitem`` and return a team object with a ``name`` property and a method ``is_member(self, user)`` which returns true if user is a member of the team.
diff --git a/helpdesk/migrations/0028_kbitem_team.py b/helpdesk/migrations/0028_kbitem_team.py
index 7801e585..c0bdaf5d 100644
--- a/helpdesk/migrations/0028_kbitem_team.py
+++ b/helpdesk/migrations/0028_kbitem_team.py
@@ -3,18 +3,19 @@
 from django.db import migrations, models
 import django.db.models.deletion
 
+from helpdesk import settings as helpdesk_settings
+
 
 class Migration(migrations.Migration):
 
     dependencies = [
-        ('pinax_teams', '0004_auto_20170511_0856'),
         ('helpdesk', '0027_auto_20200107_1221'),
-    ]
+    ] + helpdesk_settings.HELPDESK_TEAMS_MIGRATION_DEPENDENCIES
 
     operations = [
         migrations.AddField(
             model_name='kbitem',
             name='team',
-            field=models.ForeignKey(blank=True, null=True, on_delete=django.db.models.deletion.CASCADE, to='pinax_teams.Team', verbose_name='Team'),
+            field=models.ForeignKey(blank=True, null=True, on_delete=django.db.models.deletion.CASCADE, to=helpdesk_settings.HELPDESK_TEAMS_MODEL, verbose_name='Team'),
         ),
     ]
diff --git a/helpdesk/models.py b/helpdesk/models.py
index 90945ddc..fc49856e 100644
--- a/helpdesk/models.py
+++ b/helpdesk/models.py
@@ -25,8 +25,6 @@ from django.utils.safestring import mark_safe
 from markdown import markdown
 from markdown.extensions import Extension
 
-import pinax.teams.models
-
 
 import uuid
 
@@ -1359,7 +1357,7 @@ class KBItem(models.Model):
     )
 
     team = models.ForeignKey(
-        pinax.teams.models.Team,
+        helpdesk_settings.HELPDESK_TEAMS_MODEL,
         on_delete=models.CASCADE,
         verbose_name=_('Team'),
         blank=True,
@@ -1382,6 +1380,9 @@ class KBItem(models.Model):
             self.last_updated = timezone.now()
         return super(KBItem, self).save(*args, **kwargs)
 
+    def get_team(self):
+        return helpdesk_settings.HELPDESK_KBITEM_TEAM_GETTER(self)
+
     def _score(self):
         """ Return a score out of 10 or Unrated if no votes """
         if self.votes > 0:
diff --git a/helpdesk/settings.py b/helpdesk/settings.py
index f5827588..a293d511 100644
--- a/helpdesk/settings.py
+++ b/helpdesk/settings.py
@@ -155,3 +155,7 @@ HELPDESK_ENABLE_PER_QUEUE_STAFF_PERMISSION = getattr(
 
 # use https in the email links
 HELPDESK_USE_HTTPS_IN_EMAIL_LINK = getattr(settings, 'HELPDESK_USE_HTTPS_IN_EMAIL_LINK', False)
+
+HELPDESK_TEAMS_MODEL = getattr(settings, 'HELPDESK_TEAMS_MODEL', 'pinax_teams.Team')
+HELPDESK_TEAMS_MIGRATION_DEPENDENCIES = getattr(settings, 'HELPDESK_TEAMS_MIGRATION_DEPENDENCIES', [('pinax_teams', '0004_auto_20170511_0856')])
+HELPDESK_KBITEM_TEAM_GETTER = getattr(settings, 'HELPDESK_KBITEM_TEAM_GETTER', lambda kbitem: kbitem.team)
diff --git a/helpdesk/templates/helpdesk/include/unassigned.html b/helpdesk/templates/helpdesk/include/unassigned.html
index 750f83f2..1bf76a7c 100644
--- a/helpdesk/templates/helpdesk/include/unassigned.html
+++ b/helpdesk/templates/helpdesk/include/unassigned.html
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@
 <div class="card mb-3">
     <div class="card-header">
         <i class="fas fa-table"></i>
-        {% trans "KBItem:" %} {{kbitem.title}} {% trans "Team:" %} {{kbitem.team.name}} {% trans "(pick up a ticket if you start to work on it)" %}
+        {% trans "KBItem:" %} {{kbitem.title}} {% trans "Team:" %} {{kbitem.get_team.name}} {% trans "(pick up a ticket if you start to work on it)" %}
     </div>
     <div class="card-body">
         <div class="table-responsive">
diff --git a/helpdesk/user.py b/helpdesk/user.py
index a99e87e0..d05ae479 100644
--- a/helpdesk/user.py
+++ b/helpdesk/user.py
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ class HelpdeskUser:
     def get_assigned_kb_items(self):
         kbitems = []
         for item in KBItem.objects.all():
-            if item.team and item.team.is_member(self.user):
+            if item.get_team() and item.get_team().is_member(self.user):
                 kbitems.append(item)
         return kbitems
 
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index e2e25bd8..eeebb7c5 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -12,4 +12,3 @@ pytz
 six
 djangorestframework
 django-model-utils
-pinax-teams>=2.0