diff --git a/changelog/v0.41.1/exclude-descriptions-in-schema.yaml b/changelog/v0.41.1/exclude-descriptions-in-schema.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..f7f8dac7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog/v0.41.1/exclude-descriptions-in-schema.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+changelog:
+  - type: NEW_FEATURE
+    issueLink: https://github.com/solo-io/gloo-mesh-enterprise/issues/18562
+    description: >
+      Add option to exclude descriptions in schema. 
+    skipCI: "false"
diff --git a/codegen/collector/compiler.go b/codegen/collector/compiler.go
index 47f385a9..3cae3ce1 100644
--- a/codegen/collector/compiler.go
+++ b/codegen/collector/compiler.go
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@ func (p *protoCompiler) CompileDescriptorsFromRoot(root string, skipDirs []strin
 		sem = make(chan struct{}, maxProtocs)
 		limitConcurrency = true
 	}
-	for _, dir := range append([]string{root}) {
+	for _, dir := range []string{root} {
 		absoluteDir, err := filepath.Abs(dir)
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, err
diff --git a/codegen/collector/executor.go b/codegen/collector/executor.go
index 9b2b23fb..8acb41da 100644
--- a/codegen/collector/executor.go
+++ b/codegen/collector/executor.go
@@ -69,8 +69,8 @@ func (d *DefaultProtocExecutor) Execute(protoFile string, toFile string, imports
 type OpenApiProtocExecutor struct {
 	OutputDir string
 
-	// Whether to include descriptions in validation schemas
-	IncludeDescriptionsInSchema bool
+	// Whether to include descriptions in schemas
+	ExcludeDescriptionsInSchema bool
 
 	// Whether to assign Enum fields the `x-kubernetes-int-or-string` property
 	// which allows the value to either be an integer or a string
@@ -108,11 +108,12 @@ func (o *OpenApiProtocExecutor) Execute(protoFile string, toFile string, imports
 	_, fileName := filepath.Split(protoFile)
 	directoryName := fileName[0 : len(fileName)-len(filepath.Ext(fileName))]
 
-	baseArgument := "--openapi_out=yaml=true,single_file=false,include_description=true,multiline_description=true,proto_oneof=true,int_native=true"
+	baseArgument := "--openapi_out=yaml=true,single_file=false,multiline_description=true,proto_oneof=true,int_native=true"
 	baseArgument = fmt.Sprintf("%s,enum_as_int_or_string=%v", baseArgument, o.EnumAsIntOrString)
 	baseArgument = fmt.Sprintf("%s,additional_empty_schema=%v", baseArgument, strings.Join(o.MessagesWithEmptySchema, "+"))
 	baseArgument = fmt.Sprintf("%s,disable_kube_markers=%v", baseArgument, o.DisableKubeMarkers)
 	baseArgument = fmt.Sprintf("%s,ignored_kube_marker_substrings=%v", baseArgument, strings.Join(o.IgnoredKubeMarkerSubstrings, "+"))
+	baseArgument = fmt.Sprintf("%s,include_description=%v", baseArgument, !o.ExcludeDescriptionsInSchema)
 
 	// Create the directory
 	directoryPath := filepath.Join(o.OutputDir, directoryName)
diff --git a/codegen/proto/schemagen/protoc.go b/codegen/proto/schemagen/protoc.go
index 458a4055..59fcf3ae 100644
--- a/codegen/proto/schemagen/protoc.go
+++ b/codegen/proto/schemagen/protoc.go
@@ -19,12 +19,14 @@ import (
 
 // Implementation of JsonSchemaGenerator that uses a plugin for the protocol buffer compiler
 type protocGenerator struct {
-	validationSchemaOptions *ValidationSchemaOptions
+	validationSchemaOptions     *ValidationSchemaOptions
+	excludeDescriptionsInSchema bool
 }
 
-func NewProtocGenerator(validationSchemaOptions *ValidationSchemaOptions) *protocGenerator {
+func NewProtocGenerator(validationSchemaOptions *ValidationSchemaOptions, excludeDescriptionsInSchema bool) *protocGenerator {
 	return &protocGenerator{
-		validationSchemaOptions: validationSchemaOptions,
+		validationSchemaOptions:     validationSchemaOptions,
+		excludeDescriptionsInSchema: excludeDescriptionsInSchema,
 	}
 }
 
@@ -44,6 +46,7 @@ func (p *protocGenerator) GetJSONSchemas(protoFiles []string, imports []string,
 		EnumAsIntOrString:           p.validationSchemaOptions.EnumAsIntOrString,
 		MessagesWithEmptySchema:     p.validationSchemaOptions.MessagesWithEmptySchema,
 		DisableKubeMarkers:          p.validationSchemaOptions.DisableKubeMarkers,
+		ExcludeDescriptionsInSchema: p.excludeDescriptionsInSchema,
 		IgnoredKubeMarkerSubstrings: p.validationSchemaOptions.IgnoredKubeMarkerSubstrings,
 	}
 
diff --git a/codegen/render/manifests_renderer.go b/codegen/render/manifests_renderer.go
index 290973ed..64f40b6c 100644
--- a/codegen/render/manifests_renderer.go
+++ b/codegen/render/manifests_renderer.go
@@ -133,13 +133,13 @@ func (r ManifestsRenderer) RenderManifests(grps []*Group, protoOpts protoutil.Op
 
 func generateOpenApi(grp model.Group, protoDir string, protoOpts protoutil.Options, groupOptions model.GroupOptions) (model.OpenApiSchemas, error) {
 	if groupOptions.SchemaGenerator == schemagen.ProtocGenOpenAPI {
-		return generateOpenApiFromProtocGen(grp, protoDir, protoOpts, groupOptions)
+		return generateOpenApiFromProtocGen(grp, groupOptions)
 	}
 	return generateOpenApiFromCue(grp, protoDir, protoOpts, groupOptions)
 }
 
 // Use protoc-gen-openapi for transpiling protobuf schemas to openapi v3 with k8s structural schema constraints.
-func generateOpenApiFromProtocGen(grp model.Group, protoDir string, _ protoutil.Options, groupOptions model.GroupOptions) (model.OpenApiSchemas, error) {
+func generateOpenApiFromProtocGen(grp model.Group, groupOptions model.GroupOptions) (model.OpenApiSchemas, error) {
 	// Collect all protobuf definitions including transitive dependencies.
 	var imports []string
 	for _, fileDescriptor := range grp.Descriptors {
@@ -152,7 +152,7 @@ func generateOpenApiFromProtocGen(grp model.Group, protoDir string, _ protoutil.
 	for i, fileDescriptor := range grp.Descriptors {
 		protoFiles[i] = fileDescriptor.ProtoFilePath
 	}
-	protoGen := schemagen.NewProtocGenerator(&groupOptions.SchemaValidationOpts)
+	protoGen := schemagen.NewProtocGenerator(&groupOptions.SchemaValidationOpts, grp.SkipSchemaDescriptions)
 	gvkSchemas, err := protoGen.GetJSONSchemas(protoFiles, imports, grp.GroupVersion)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err