diff --git a/app/controllers/posts_controller.rb b/app/controllers/posts_controller.rb
index bdc2823755a..da7ecf92fdb 100644
--- a/app/controllers/posts_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/posts_controller.rb
@@ -182,6 +182,7 @@ class PostsController < ApplicationController
   def create
     @manager_params = create_params
     @manager_params[:first_post_checks] = !is_api?
+    @manager_params[:advance_draft] = !is_api?
 
     manager = NewPostManager.new(current_user, @manager_params)
 
diff --git a/app/models/topic.rb b/app/models/topic.rb
index dbac653ba86..d3dc3047001 100644
--- a/app/models/topic.rb
+++ b/app/models/topic.rb
@@ -330,6 +330,7 @@ class Topic < ActiveRecord::Base
 
   attr_accessor :ignore_category_auto_close
   attr_accessor :skip_callbacks
+  attr_accessor :advance_draft
 
   before_create do
     initialize_default_values
@@ -338,7 +339,7 @@ class Topic < ActiveRecord::Base
   after_create do
     unless skip_callbacks
       changed_to_category(category)
-      advance_draft_sequence
+      advance_draft_sequence if advance_draft
     end
   end
 
diff --git a/lib/post_creator.rb b/lib/post_creator.rb
index 8b7f186e276..2e56397c993 100644
--- a/lib/post_creator.rb
+++ b/lib/post_creator.rb
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ class PostCreator
   #   hidden_reason_id        - Reason for hiding the post (optional)
   #   skip_validations        - Do not validate any of the content in the post
   #   draft_key               - the key of the draft we are creating (will be deleted on success)
+  #   advance_draft           - Destroy draft after creating post or topic
   #   silent                  - Do not update topic stats and fields like last_post_user_id
   #
   #   When replying to a topic:
@@ -218,7 +219,7 @@ class PostCreator
         delete_owned_bookmarks
         ensure_in_allowed_users if guardian.is_staff?
         unarchive_message if !@opts[:import_mode]
-        DraftSequence.next!(@user, draft_key) if !@opts[:import_mode]
+        DraftSequence.next!(@user, draft_key) if !@opts[:import_mode] && @opts[:advance_draft]
         @post.save_reply_relationships
       end
     end
diff --git a/lib/topic_creator.rb b/lib/topic_creator.rb
index 4b79035b487..9119ec95511 100644
--- a/lib/topic_creator.rb
+++ b/lib/topic_creator.rb
@@ -111,7 +111,7 @@ class TopicCreator
       visible: @opts[:visible]
     }
 
-    [:subtype, :archetype, :meta_data, :import_mode].each do |key|
+    [:subtype, :archetype, :meta_data, :import_mode, :advance_draft].each do |key|
       topic_params[key] = @opts[key] if @opts[key].present?
     end
 
diff --git a/spec/components/post_creator_spec.rb b/spec/components/post_creator_spec.rb
index 484ff8140aa..465d83300f2 100644
--- a/spec/components/post_creator_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/components/post_creator_spec.rb
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ describe PostCreator do
 
   context "new topic" do
     fab!(:category) { Fabricate(:category, user: user) }
-    let(:basic_topic_params) { { title: "hello world topic", raw: "my name is fred", archetype_id: 1 } }
+    let(:basic_topic_params) { { title: "hello world topic", raw: "my name is fred", archetype_id: 1, advance_draft: true } }
     let(:image_sizes) { { 'http://an.image.host/image.jpg' => { "width" => 111, "height" => 222 } } }
 
     let(:creator) { PostCreator.new(user, basic_topic_params) }
@@ -150,7 +150,7 @@ describe PostCreator do
 
         messages = MessageBus.track_publish do
           created_post = PostCreator.new(admin, basic_topic_params.merge(category: cat.id)).create
-          _reply = PostCreator.new(admin, raw: "this is my test reply 123 testing", topic_id: created_post.topic_id).create
+          _reply = PostCreator.new(admin, raw: "this is my test reply 123 testing", topic_id: created_post.topic_id, advance_draft: true).create
         end
 
         messages.filter! { |m| m.channel != "/distributed_hash" }
@@ -303,6 +303,20 @@ describe PostCreator do
         end
       end
 
+      it 'clears the draft if advanced_draft is true' do
+        creator = PostCreator.new(user, basic_topic_params.merge(advance_draft: true))
+        Draft.set(user, Draft::NEW_TOPIC, 0, 'test')
+        expect(Draft.where(user: user).size).to eq(1)
+        expect { creator.create }.to change { Draft.count }.by(-1)
+      end
+
+      it 'does not clear the draft if advanced_draft is false' do
+        creator = PostCreator.new(user, basic_topic_params.merge(advance_draft: false))
+        Draft.set(user, Draft::NEW_TOPIC, 0, 'test')
+        expect(Draft.where(user: user).size).to eq(1)
+        expect { creator.create }.to change { Draft.count }.by(0)
+      end
+
       it "updates topic stats" do
         first_post = creator.create
         topic = first_post.topic.reload
diff --git a/spec/models/draft_spec.rb b/spec/models/draft_spec.rb
index 538e9c96c58..22052679df6 100644
--- a/spec/models/draft_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/models/draft_spec.rb
@@ -227,7 +227,7 @@ describe Draft do
   context 'key expiry' do
     it 'nukes new topic draft after a topic is created' do
       Draft.set(user, Draft::NEW_TOPIC, 0, 'my draft')
-      _t = Fabricate(:topic, user: user)
+      _t = Fabricate(:topic, user: user, advance_draft: true)
       s = DraftSequence.current(user, Draft::NEW_TOPIC)
       expect(Draft.get(user, Draft::NEW_TOPIC, s)).to eq nil
       expect(Draft.count).to eq 0
@@ -235,7 +235,7 @@ describe Draft do
 
     it 'nukes new pm draft after a pm is created' do
       Draft.set(user, Draft::NEW_PRIVATE_MESSAGE, 0, 'my draft')
-      t = Fabricate(:topic, user: user, archetype: Archetype.private_message, category_id: nil)
+      t = Fabricate(:topic, user: user, archetype: Archetype.private_message, category_id: nil, advance_draft: true)
       s = DraftSequence.current(t.user, Draft::NEW_PRIVATE_MESSAGE)
       expect(Draft.get(user, Draft::NEW_PRIVATE_MESSAGE, s)).to eq nil
     end
@@ -252,7 +252,7 @@ describe Draft do
 
       Draft.set(user, topic.draft_key, 0, 'hello')
 
-      p = PostCreator.new(user, raw: Fabricate.build(:post).raw, topic_id: topic.id).create
+      p = PostCreator.new(user, raw: Fabricate.build(:post).raw, topic_id: topic.id, advance_draft: true).create
 
       expect(Draft.get(p.user, p.topic.draft_key, DraftSequence.current(p.user, p.topic.draft_key))).to eq nil
     end
diff --git a/spec/requests/posts_controller_spec.rb b/spec/requests/posts_controller_spec.rb
index 5ebc38d976e..1686be0af15 100644
--- a/spec/requests/posts_controller_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/requests/posts_controller_spec.rb
@@ -861,6 +861,18 @@ describe PostsController do
         expect(response.status).to eq(403)
       end
 
+      it 'does not advance draft' do
+        Draft.set(user, Draft::NEW_TOPIC, 0, "test")
+        user_key = ApiKey.create!(user: user).key
+
+        post "/posts.json",
+          params: { title: 'this is a test topic', raw: 'this is test whisper' },
+          headers: { HTTP_API_USERNAME: user.username, HTTP_API_KEY: user_key }
+
+        expect(response.status).to eq(200)
+        expect(Draft.get(user, Draft::NEW_TOPIC, 0)).to eq("test")
+      end
+
       it 'will raise an error if specified category cannot be found' do
         user = Fabricate(:admin)
         master_key = Fabricate(:api_key).key