diff --git a/src/SMARTSIM/dump_atom_smartsim.cpp b/src/SMARTSIM/dump_atom_smartsim.cpp
index 581cc338e74..18a410372d2 100644
--- a/src/SMARTSIM/dump_atom_smartsim.cpp
+++ b/src/SMARTSIM/dump_atom_smartsim.cpp
@@ -28,7 +28,8 @@
 using namespace LAMMPS_NS;
 
 DumpAtomSmartSim::DumpAtomSmartSim(LAMMPS *lmp, int narg, char **arg)
-    : DumpAtom(lmp, narg, arg)
+    : DumpAtom(lmp, narg, arg),
+      client(_use_cluster())
 {
 }
 
@@ -62,11 +63,6 @@ void DumpAtomSmartSim::write()
     boxyz = domain->yz;
   }
 
-
-  /* Construct SmartRedis Client object
-  */
-  SmartRedis::Client client(true);
-
   /* Construct DataSet object with unique
   name based on user prefix, MPI rank, and
   timestep
@@ -231,3 +227,24 @@ void DumpAtomSmartSim::_pack_buf_into_array(T* data, int length,
     data[c++] = buf[i];
   }
 }
+
+bool DumpAtomSmartSim::_use_cluster()
+{
+    char* use_cluster = std::getenv("SMARTREDIS_USE_CLUSTER");
+
+    // If the environment variable is not present, return false
+    if (use_cluster == NULL)
+        return false;
+
+    // Convert the environment variable value to lowercase
+    char* c = use_cluster;
+    while((*c)!=0) {
+        (*c) = std::tolower(*c);
+        c++;
+    }
+
+    if(std::strcmp(use_cluster, "true")==0)
+        return true;
+
+    return false;
+}
diff --git a/src/SMARTSIM/dump_atom_smartsim.h b/src/SMARTSIM/dump_atom_smartsim.h
index cc5af1479a9..472ed36212a 100644
--- a/src/SMARTSIM/dump_atom_smartsim.h
+++ b/src/SMARTSIM/dump_atom_smartsim.h
@@ -37,10 +37,23 @@ class DumpAtomSmartSim : public DumpAtom
     virtual void write();
     virtual void init_style();
 private:
-  std::string _make_dataset_key();
-  template <typename T>
-  void _pack_buf_into_array(T* data, int length,
-			    int start_pos, int stride);
+
+    // SmartRedis client object
+    SmartRedis::Client client;
+
+    // Function to create a SmartRedis Dataset key
+    // to prevent key collisions
+    std::string _make_dataset_key();
+
+    // Function to take LAMMPS data structure and
+    // convert to array suitable for storage
+    template <typename T>
+    void _pack_buf_into_array(T* data, int length,
+	               		      int start_pos, int stride);
+
+    // Function to read an environment variable to
+    // determine if a cluster is being used
+    bool _use_cluster();
 };
 }