diff --git a/jeepyb/cmd/manage_projects.py b/jeepyb/cmd/manage_projects.py
index 2c19c3a..c6b708e 100644
--- a/jeepyb/cmd/manage_projects.py
+++ b/jeepyb/cmd/manage_projects.py
@@ -51,6 +51,7 @@
 #     project: OTHER_PROJECT_NAME
 
 import argparse
+import csv
 import ConfigParser
 import glob
 import hashlib
@@ -68,6 +69,8 @@
 import jeepyb.log as l
 import jeepyb.utils as u
 
+from distutils.version import LooseVersion
+
 registry = u.ProjectsRegistry()
 
 log = logging.getLogger("manage_projects")
@@ -83,6 +86,8 @@
     'Change Owner': 'global:Change-Owner',
 }
 
+_gerrit_groups = None
+
 
 class FetchConfigException(Exception):
     pass
@@ -176,34 +181,70 @@
     return True
 
 
-def _get_group_uuid(group, retries=10):
+def _get_group_uuid(group, gerrit, version, run_local=True, retries=10):
     """
+    Retrieve group either directly from the DB or through gerritlib
+    which uses the ssh command ls-groups with `--verbose` argument.
+
+    Use of the DB directly is enabled for Gerrit < 2.6 or if run_local
+    is enabled.
+
     Gerrit keeps internal user groups in the DB while it keeps systems
-    groups in All-Projects groups file (in refs/meta/config).  This
-    will only get the UUIDs for internal user groups.
+    groups in All-Projects groups file (in refs/meta/config). If using
+    the DB directly this will only get the UUIDs for internal user groups,
+    while use of `gerritlib.listGroups(verbose=True)` will return UUIDs
+    for system groups as well.
 
     Note: 'Administrators', 'Non-Interactive Users' and all other custom
     groups in Gerrit are defined as internal user groups.
 
-    Wait for up to 10 seconds for the group to be created in the DB.
+    Direct DB access will wait for up to 10 seconds for the group to be
+    created, while use of gerritlib.listGroups() will include any updates
+    contained within the cache cache and so can return immediately.
     """
-    query = "SELECT group_uuid FROM account_groups WHERE name = %s"
-    con = jeepyb.gerritdb.connect()
-    for x in range(retries):
-        cursor = con.cursor()
-        cursor.execute(query, (group,))
-        data = cursor.fetchone()
-        cursor.close()
-        con.commit()
-        if data:
-            return data[0]
-        if retries > 1:
-            time.sleep(1)
+
+    if LooseVersion(version) <= LooseVersion('2.6') or run_local:
+        query = "SELECT group_uuid FROM account_groups WHERE name = %s"
+        con = jeepyb.gerritdb.connect()
+        for x in range(retries):
+            cursor = con.cursor()
+            cursor.execute(query, (group,))
+            data = cursor.fetchone()
+            cursor.close()
+            con.commit()
+            if data:
+                return data[0]
+            if retries > 1:
+                time.sleep(1)
+    else:
+        global _gerrit_groups
+        if _gerrit_groups is None:
+            _gerrit_groups = {
+                group[0]: group[1]
+                for group in csv.reader(gerrit.listGroups(verbose=True),
+                                        delimiter='\t')
+            }
+        else:
+            if group not in _gerrit_groups:
+                try:
+                    # Relying on the outer Exception handler to deal with
+                    # the StopIteration when listGroup returns nothing
+                    # (for a system group).
+                    gdata = next(csv.reader(
+                        gerrit.listGroup(group, verbose=True),
+                        delimiter='\t'))
+                    _gerrit_groups[group] = gdata[1]
+                except Exception:
+                    # group not found will also trigger exception
+                    pass
+        return _gerrit_groups.get(group, None)
     return None
 
 
-def get_group_uuid(gerrit, group):
-    uuid = _get_group_uuid(group, retries=1)
+def get_group_uuid(gerrit, group, run_local=True):
+    version = ''.join(gerrit.getVersion().split('.')[:2])
+
+    uuid = _get_group_uuid(group, gerrit, version, run_local, retries=1)
     if uuid:
         return uuid
     if group in GERRIT_SYSTEM_GROUPS:
@@ -214,13 +255,13 @@
             # Gerrit now adds creating user to groups. We don't want that.
             gerrit.removeMember(group, gerrit.username)
             break
-    uuid = _get_group_uuid(group)
+    uuid = _get_group_uuid(group, gerrit, version, run_local)
     if uuid:
         return uuid
     return None
 
 
-def create_groups_file(project, gerrit, repo_path):
+def create_groups_file(project, gerrit, repo_path, run_local=True):
     acl_config = os.path.join(repo_path, "project.config")
     group_file = os.path.join(repo_path, "groups")
     uuids = {}
@@ -230,7 +271,7 @@
             group = r.group(1)
             if group in uuids.keys():
                 continue
-            uuid = get_group_uuid(gerrit, group)
+            uuid = get_group_uuid(gerrit, group, run_local)
             if uuid:
                 uuids[group] = uuid
             else:
@@ -361,7 +402,8 @@
 
 
 def process_acls(acl_config, project, ACL_DIR, section,
-                 remote_url, repo_path, ssh_env, gerrit, GERRIT_GITID):
+                 remote_url, repo_path, ssh_env, gerrit, GERRIT_GITID,
+                 run_local=True):
     if not os.path.isfile(acl_config):
         return
     try:
@@ -369,7 +411,7 @@
         if not copy_acl_config(project, repo_path, acl_config):
             # nothing was copied, so we're done
             return
-        create_groups_file(project, gerrit, repo_path)
+        create_groups_file(project, gerrit, repo_path, run_local)
         push_acl_config(project, remote_url, repo_path,
                         GERRIT_GITID, ssh_env)
     except Exception:
@@ -423,6 +465,8 @@
     LOCAL_GIT_DIR = registry.get_defaults('local-git-dir', '/var/lib/git')
     JEEPYB_CACHE_DIR = registry.get_defaults('jeepyb-cache-dir',
                                              '/var/lib/jeepyb')
+    JEEPYB_RUN_LOCAL = registry.get_defaults('jeepyb-run-local',
+                                             True)
     ACL_DIR = registry.get_defaults('acl-dir')
     GERRIT_HOST = registry.get_defaults('gerrit-host')
     GITREVIEW_GERRIT_HOST = registry.get_defaults(
@@ -552,7 +596,7 @@
                         process_acls(
                             acl_config, project, ACL_DIR, section,
                             remote_url, repo_path, ssh_env, gerrit,
-                            GERRIT_GITID)
+                            GERRIT_GITID, JEEPYB_RUN_LOCAL)
                         project_cache[project]['acl-sha'] = acl_sha
                     else:
                         log.info("%s has matching sha, skipping ACLs",