diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 05f2227..e3ee213 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ a nice looking [Changelog](http://keepachangelog.com).
 
 ## Version [HEAD] <sub><sup>Unreleased</sub></sup>
 
+* Introduce `orphan_strategy: :none` [#658](https://github.com/stefankroes/ancestry/pull/658)
 * Introduce `rebuild_counter_cache!` to reset counter caches. [#663](https://github.com/stefankroes/ancestry/pull/663) [#668](https://github.com/stefankroes/ancestry/pull/668) (thx @RongRongTeng)
 * Documentation fixes [#664](https://github.com/stefankroes/ancestry/pull/664) [#667](https://github.com/stefankroes/ancestry/pull/667) (thx @motokikando, @onerinas)
 * Introduce `build_cache_depth_sql!`, a sql alternative to `build_cache_depth` [#654](https://github.com/stefankroes/ancestry/pull/654)
@@ -41,7 +42,7 @@ jobs. If you need to do this in the ui, please use `cache_depth`.
     - `ancestry_primary_key_format` (introduced 4.3.0, removed by #649)
     - `touch_ancestors`             (introduced 2.1, removed by TODO)
 * These are seen as internal and may go away:
-  - `apply_orphan_strategy` (TODO: use `orphan_strategy => none` and define `before_destory`)
+  - `apply_orphan_strategy` Please use `orphan_strategy: :none` and a custom `before_destory` instead.
 
 ## Version [4.3.3] <sub><sup>2023-04-01</sub></sup>
 
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 71deede..37567c6 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -172,6 +172,7 @@ The `has_ancestry` method supports the following options:
                            :restrict  An AncestryException is raised if any children exist
                            :adopt     The orphan subtree is added to the parent of the deleted node
                                       If the deleted node is Root, then rootify the orphan subtree
+                           :none      skip this logic. (add your own `before_destroy`)
     :cache_depth           Cache the depth of each node: (See Depth Cache section)
                            false   Do not cache depth (default)
                            true    Cache depth in 'ancestry_depth'
diff --git a/lib/ancestry/has_ancestry.rb b/lib/ancestry/has_ancestry.rb
index f3773c4..55daed9 100644
--- a/lib/ancestry/has_ancestry.rb
+++ b/lib/ancestry/has_ancestry.rb
@@ -60,19 +60,13 @@ module Ancestry
       after_update :update_descendants_with_new_ancestry, if: :ancestry_changed?
 
       # Apply orphan strategy before destroy
-      case orphan_strategy
-      when :rootify
-        alias_method :apply_orphan_strategy, :apply_orphan_strategy_rootify
-      when :destroy
-        alias_method :apply_orphan_strategy, :apply_orphan_strategy_destroy
-      when :adopt
-        alias_method :apply_orphan_strategy, :apply_orphan_strategy_adopt
-      when :restrict
-        alias_method :apply_orphan_strategy, :apply_orphan_strategy_restrict
-      else
+      orphan_strategy_helper = "apply_orphan_strategy_#{orphan_strategy}"
+      if method_defined?(orphan_strategy_helper)
+        alias_method :apply_orphan_strategy, orphan_strategy_helper
+        before_destroy :apply_orphan_strategy
+      elsif orphan_strategy.to_s != "none"
         raise Ancestry::AncestryException.new(I18n.t("ancestry.invalid_orphan_strategy"))
       end
-      before_destroy :apply_orphan_strategy
 
       # Create ancestry column accessor and set to option or default
       if options[:cache_depth]
diff --git a/test/concerns/orphan_strategies_test.rb b/test/concerns/orphan_strategies_test.rb
index 8474a73..bb4d12c 100644
--- a/test/concerns/orphan_strategies_test.rb
+++ b/test/concerns/orphan_strategies_test.rb
@@ -85,6 +85,62 @@ class OphanStrategiesTest < ActiveSupport::TestCase
     end
   end
 
+  def test_apply_orphan_strategy_none
+    AncestryTestDatabase.with_model orphan_strategy: :none do |model, roots|
+      root  = model.create!
+      child = model.create!(:parent => root)
+      model.class_eval do
+        def apply_orphan_strategy
+          raise "this should not be called"
+        end
+      end
+      assert_difference 'model.count', -1 do
+        root.destroy
+      end
+      # this record should still exist
+      assert child.reload.root_id == root.id
+    end
+  end
+
+  def test_apply_orphan_strategy_custom
+    AncestryTestDatabase.with_model orphan_strategy: :none do |model|
+      model.class_eval do
+        before_destroy :apply_orphan_strategy_abc
+
+        def apply_orphan_strategy_abc
+          apply_orphan_strategy_destroy
+        end
+      end
+
+      root  = model.create!
+      3.times { root.children.create! }
+      model.create! # a node that is not affected
+      assert_difference 'model.count', -4 do
+        root.destroy
+      end
+    end
+  end
+
+  # Not supported. Keeping around to explore for future uses.
+  def test_apply_orphan_strategy_custom_unsupported
+    AncestryTestDatabase.with_model skip_ancestry: true do |model|
+      model.class_eval do
+        # needs to be defined before calling has_ancestry
+        def apply_orphan_strategy_abc
+          apply_orphan_strategy_destroy
+        end
+
+        has_ancestry orphan_strategy: :abc, ancestry_column: AncestryTestDatabase.ancestry_column
+      end
+      root  = model.create!
+      3.times { root.children.create! }
+      model.create! # a node that is not affected
+      assert_difference 'model.count', -4 do
+        root.destroy
+      end
+    end
+  end
+
   def test_basic_delete
     AncestryTestDatabase.with_model do |model|
       n1 = model.create!                  #create a root node