diff --git a/awx/api/serializers.py b/awx/api/serializers.py
index a183b89d5c..1a2d648337 100644
--- a/awx/api/serializers.py
+++ b/awx/api/serializers.py
@@ -4617,7 +4617,7 @@ class InstanceSerializer(BaseSerializer):
         read_only_fields = ('uuid', 'hostname', 'version')
         fields = ("id", "type", "url", "related", "uuid", "hostname", "created", "modified", 'capacity_adjustment',
                   "version", "capacity", "consumed_capacity", "percent_capacity_remaining", "jobs_running", "jobs_total",
-                  "cpu", "memory", "cpu_capacity", "mem_capacity", "enabled")
+                  "cpu", "memory", "cpu_capacity", "mem_capacity", "enabled", "managed_by_policy")
 
     def get_related(self, obj):
         res = super(InstanceSerializer, self).get_related(obj)
diff --git a/awx/main/migrations/0045_v330_instance_managed_by_policy.py b/awx/main/migrations/0045_v330_instance_managed_by_policy.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..a3f87fb3ae
--- /dev/null
+++ b/awx/main/migrations/0045_v330_instance_managed_by_policy.py
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+# Generated by Django 1.11.11 on 2018-07-25 17:42
+from __future__ import unicode_literals
+
+from django.db import migrations, models
+
+
+class Migration(migrations.Migration):
+
+    dependencies = [
+        ('main', '0044_v330_add_inventory_update_inventory'),
+    ]
+
+    operations = [
+        migrations.AddField(
+            model_name='instance',
+            name='managed_by_policy',
+            field=models.BooleanField(default=True),
+        )
+    ]
diff --git a/awx/main/models/ha.py b/awx/main/models/ha.py
index e95378bb93..f94911df31 100644
--- a/awx/main/models/ha.py
+++ b/awx/main/models/ha.py
@@ -64,6 +64,9 @@ class Instance(BaseModel):
     enabled = models.BooleanField(
         default=True
     )
+    managed_by_policy = models.BooleanField(
+        default=True
+    )
     cpu = models.IntegerField(
         default=0,
         editable=False,
diff --git a/awx/main/tasks.py b/awx/main/tasks.py
index b7c75d0701..3d925ce63e 100644
--- a/awx/main/tasks.py
+++ b/awx/main/tasks.py
@@ -136,18 +136,16 @@ def inform_cluster_of_shutdown(*args, **kwargs):
 @shared_task(bind=True, queue=settings.CELERY_DEFAULT_QUEUE)
 def apply_cluster_membership_policies(self):
     with advisory_lock('cluster_policy_lock', wait=True):
-        considered_instances = Instance.objects.all().order_by('id')
+        considered_instances = Instance.objects.all_non_isolated().order_by('id')
         total_instances = considered_instances.count()
-        filtered_instances = []
         actual_groups = []
         actual_instances = []
         Group = namedtuple('Group', ['obj', 'instances'])
         Node = namedtuple('Instance', ['obj', 'groups'])
 
-        # Process policy instance list first, these will represent manually managed instances
-        # that will not go through automatic policy determination
+        # Process policy instance list first, these will represent manually managed memberships
         for ig in InstanceGroup.objects.all():
-            logger.info(six.text_type("Applying cluster membership policies to Group {}").format(ig.name))
+            logger.info(six.text_type("Applying cluster policy instance list to Group {}").format(ig.name))
             ig.instances.clear()
             group_actual = Group(obj=ig, instances=[])
             for i in ig.policy_instance_list:
@@ -158,11 +156,11 @@ def apply_cluster_membership_policies(self):
                 logger.info(six.text_type("Policy List, adding Instance {} to Group {}").format(inst.hostname, ig.name))
                 group_actual.instances.append(inst.id)
                 ig.instances.add(inst)
-                filtered_instances.append(inst)
             actual_groups.append(group_actual)
+
         # Process Instance minimum policies next, since it represents a concrete lower bound to the
         # number of instances to make available to instance groups
-        actual_instances = [Node(obj=i, groups=[]) for i in filter(lambda x: x not in filtered_instances, considered_instances)]
+        actual_instances = [Node(obj=i, groups=[]) for i in considered_instances if i.managed_by_policy]
         logger.info("Total instances not directly associated: {}".format(total_instances))
         for g in sorted(actual_groups, cmp=lambda x,y: len(x.instances) - len(y.instances)):
             for i in sorted(actual_instances, cmp=lambda x,y: len(x.groups) - len(y.groups)):
@@ -172,7 +170,8 @@ def apply_cluster_membership_policies(self):
                 g.obj.instances.add(i.obj)
                 g.instances.append(i.obj.id)
                 i.groups.append(g.obj.id)
-        # Finally process instance policy percentages
+
+        # Finally, process instance policy percentages
         for g in sorted(actual_groups, cmp=lambda x,y: len(x.instances) - len(y.instances)):
             for i in sorted(actual_instances, cmp=lambda x,y: len(x.groups) - len(y.groups)):
                 if i.obj.id in g.instances:
diff --git a/awx/main/tests/functional/task_management/test_rampart_groups.py b/awx/main/tests/functional/task_management/test_rampart_groups.py
index 0eae5b2805..c58869ebf3 100644
--- a/awx/main/tests/functional/task_management/test_rampart_groups.py
+++ b/awx/main/tests/functional/task_management/test_rampart_groups.py
@@ -175,6 +175,8 @@ def test_failover_group_run(instance_factory, default_instance_group, mocker,
 @pytest.mark.django_db
 def test_instance_group_basic_policies(instance_factory, instance_group_factory):
     i0 = instance_factory("i0")
+    i0.managed_by_policy = False
+    i0.save()
     i1 = instance_factory("i1")
     i2 = instance_factory("i2")
     i3 = instance_factory("i3")
diff --git a/awx/main/tests/functional/test_instances.py b/awx/main/tests/functional/test_instances.py
index 40216ae123..4ae56ca0b6 100644
--- a/awx/main/tests/functional/test_instances.py
+++ b/awx/main/tests/functional/test_instances.py
@@ -155,7 +155,7 @@ def test_policy_instance_distribution_simultaneous(mock, instance_factory, insta
 
 @pytest.mark.django_db
 @mock.patch('awx.main.tasks.handle_ha_toplogy_changes', return_value=None)
-def test_policy_instance_list_manually_managed(mock, instance_factory, instance_group_factory):
+def test_policy_instance_list_manually_assigned(mock, instance_factory, instance_group_factory):
     i1 = instance_factory("i1")
     i2 = instance_factory("i2")
     ig_1 = instance_group_factory("ig1", percentage=100, minimum=2)
@@ -163,6 +163,25 @@ def test_policy_instance_list_manually_managed(mock, instance_factory, instance_
     ig_2.policy_instance_list = [i2.hostname]
     ig_2.save()
     apply_cluster_membership_policies()
+    assert len(ig_1.instances.all()) == 2
+    assert i1 in ig_1.instances.all()
+    assert i2 in ig_1.instances.all()
+    assert len(ig_2.instances.all()) == 1
+    assert i2 in ig_2.instances.all()
+
+
+@pytest.mark.django_db
+@mock.patch('awx.main.tasks.handle_ha_toplogy_changes', return_value=None)
+def test_policy_instance_list_explicitly_pinned(mock, instance_factory, instance_group_factory):
+    i1 = instance_factory("i1")
+    i2 = instance_factory("i2")
+    i2.managed_by_policy = False
+    i2.save()
+    ig_1 = instance_group_factory("ig1", percentage=100, minimum=2)
+    ig_2 = instance_group_factory("ig2")
+    ig_2.policy_instance_list = [i2.hostname]
+    ig_2.save()
+    apply_cluster_membership_policies()
     assert len(ig_1.instances.all()) == 1
     assert i1 in ig_1.instances.all()
     assert i2 not in ig_1.instances.all()
diff --git a/docs/clustering.md b/docs/clustering.md
index fa53ee52c6..a6693eb01b 100644
--- a/docs/clustering.md
+++ b/docs/clustering.md
@@ -253,9 +253,7 @@ Instance Group Policies are controlled by 3 optional fields on an `Instance Grou
   is less than the given percentage then new ones will be added until the percentage condition is satisfied.
 * `policy_instance_minimum`: This policy attempts to keep at least this many `Instances` in the `Instance Group`. If the number of
   available instances is lower than this minimum then all `Instances` will be placed in this `Instance Group`.
-* `policy_instance_list`: This is a fixed list of `Instance` names. These `Instances` will *always* be added to this `Instance Group`.
-  Further, by adding Instances to this list you are declaring that you will manually manage those Instances and they will not be eligible under any other
-  policy. This means they will not be automatically added to any other `Instance Group` even if the policy would cause them to be matched.
+* `policy_instance_list`: This is a fixed list of `Instance` names to always include in this `Instance Group`.
 
 > NOTES
 
@@ -269,6 +267,26 @@ Instance Group Policies are controlled by 3 optional fields on an `Instance Grou
 * Policies don't actively prevent `Instances` from being associated with multiple `Instance Groups` but this can effectively be achieved by making the percentages
   sum to 100. If you have 4 `Instance Groups` assign each a percentage value of 25 and the `Instances` will be distributed among them with no overlap.
 
+### Manually Pinning Instances to Specific Groups
+If you have a special `Instance` which needs to be _exclusively_ assigned to a specific `Instance Group` but don't want it to automatically join _other_ groups via "percentage" or "minimum" policies:
+
+1. Add the `Instance` to one or more `Instance Group`s' `policy_instance_list`
+2. Update the `Instance`'s `managed_by_policy` property to be `False`.
+
+This will prevent the `Instance` from being automatically added to other groups based on percentage and minimum policy; it will **only** belong to the groups you've manually assigned it to:
+
+```
+HTTP PATCH /api/v2/instance_groups/N/
+{
+    "policy_instance_list": ["special-instance"]
+}
+
+HTTP PATCH /api/v2/instances/X/
+{
+    "managed_by_policy": False
+}
+```
+
 ### Status and Monitoring
 
 Tower itself reports as much status as it can via the api at `/api/v2/ping` in order to provide validation of the health