diff --git a/lms/djangoapps/discussion_api/api.py b/lms/djangoapps/discussion_api/api.py
index 4831bce834..e0b8a9596a 100644
--- a/lms/djangoapps/discussion_api/api.py
+++ b/lms/djangoapps/discussion_api/api.py
@@ -337,7 +337,7 @@ def get_thread_list(
     return ret
 
 
-def get_comment_list(request, thread_id, endorsed, page, page_size):
+def get_comment_list(request, thread_id, endorsed, page, page_size, mark_as_read=False):
     """
     Return the list of comments in the given thread.
 
@@ -356,6 +356,8 @@ def get_comment_list(request, thread_id, endorsed, page, page_size):
 
         page_size: The number of comments to retrieve per page
 
+        mark_as_read: Marks the thread of the comment list as read.
+
     Returns:
 
         A paginated result containing a list of comments; see
@@ -368,7 +370,7 @@ def get_comment_list(request, thread_id, endorsed, page, page_size):
         retrieve_kwargs={
             "recursive": True,
             "user_id": request.user.id,
-            "mark_as_read": True,
+            "mark_as_read": mark_as_read,
             "response_skip": response_skip,
             "response_limit": page_size,
         }
diff --git a/lms/djangoapps/discussion_api/forms.py b/lms/djangoapps/discussion_api/forms.py
index c2a1be5a6e..62c902bd65 100644
--- a/lms/djangoapps/discussion_api/forms.py
+++ b/lms/djangoapps/discussion_api/forms.py
@@ -121,6 +121,7 @@ class CommentListGetForm(_PaginationForm):
     # TODO: should we use something better here? This only accepts "True",
     # "False", "1", and "0"
     endorsed = NullBooleanField(required=False)
+    mark_as_read = BooleanField(required=False)
 
 
 class CommentActionsForm(Form):
diff --git a/lms/djangoapps/discussion_api/tests/test_api.py b/lms/djangoapps/discussion_api/tests/test_api.py
index ec4f7c1875..2b85f3661a 100644
--- a/lms/djangoapps/discussion_api/tests/test_api.py
+++ b/lms/djangoapps/discussion_api/tests/test_api.py
@@ -1083,7 +1083,7 @@ class GetCommentListTest(CommentsServiceMockMixin, SharedModuleStoreTestCase):
             {
                 "recursive": ["True"],
                 "user_id": [str(self.user.id)],
-                "mark_as_read": ["True"],
+                "mark_as_read": ["False"],
                 "resp_skip": ["70"],
                 "resp_limit": ["14"],
             }
diff --git a/lms/djangoapps/discussion_api/tests/test_forms.py b/lms/djangoapps/discussion_api/tests/test_forms.py
index 92af348cdd..e6ea3931cb 100644
--- a/lms/djangoapps/discussion_api/tests/test_forms.py
+++ b/lms/djangoapps/discussion_api/tests/test_forms.py
@@ -186,6 +186,7 @@ class CommentListGetFormTest(FormTestMixin, PaginationTestMixin, TestCase):
                 "endorsed": False,
                 "page": 2,
                 "page_size": 13,
+                "mark_as_read": False
             }
         )
 
diff --git a/lms/djangoapps/discussion_api/tests/test_views.py b/lms/djangoapps/discussion_api/tests/test_views.py
index 9113001ed0..166940ad26 100644
--- a/lms/djangoapps/discussion_api/tests/test_views.py
+++ b/lms/djangoapps/discussion_api/tests/test_views.py
@@ -698,7 +698,7 @@ class CommentViewSetListTest(DiscussionAPIViewTestMixin, ModuleStoreTestCase):
                 "resp_skip": ["0"],
                 "resp_limit": ["10"],
                 "user_id": [str(self.user.id)],
-                "mark_as_read": ["True"],
+                "mark_as_read": ["False"],
             }
         )
 
@@ -732,7 +732,7 @@ class CommentViewSetListTest(DiscussionAPIViewTestMixin, ModuleStoreTestCase):
                 "resp_skip": ["68"],
                 "resp_limit": ["4"],
                 "user_id": [str(self.user.id)],
-                "mark_as_read": ["True"],
+                "mark_as_read": ["False"],
             }
         )
 
diff --git a/lms/djangoapps/discussion_api/views.py b/lms/djangoapps/discussion_api/views.py
index 3663a8cb24..38bc5ee784 100644
--- a/lms/djangoapps/discussion_api/views.py
+++ b/lms/djangoapps/discussion_api/views.py
@@ -314,6 +314,9 @@ class CommentViewSet(_ViewMixin, DeveloperErrorViewMixin, ViewSet):
 
         * page_size: The number of items per page (default is 10, max is 100)
 
+        * mark_as_read: Will mark the thread of the comments as read. (default
+            is False)
+
     **POST Parameters**:
 
         * thread_id (required): The thread to post the comment in
@@ -404,7 +407,8 @@ class CommentViewSet(_ViewMixin, DeveloperErrorViewMixin, ViewSet):
                 form.cleaned_data["thread_id"],
                 form.cleaned_data["endorsed"],
                 form.cleaned_data["page"],
-                form.cleaned_data["page_size"]
+                form.cleaned_data["page_size"],
+                form.cleaned_data["mark_as_read"]
             )
         )