diff --git a/gitea-events-rabbitmq-publisher/main.go b/gitea-events-rabbitmq-publisher/main.go
index b12d6fe..f433125 100644
--- a/gitea-events-rabbitmq-publisher/main.go
+++ b/gitea-events-rabbitmq-publisher/main.go
@@ -325,19 +325,24 @@ func parseRequestJSONOrg(reqType string, data []byte) (org *common.Organization,
 func main() {
 	var listenAddr string
 	var reqBearerToken string
+	var doPublish bool
 
 	flag.BoolVar(&DebugMode, "debug", false, "enables debugging messages")
 	flag.StringVar(&listenAddr, "listen", ListenAddrDef, "HTTP listen socket address for webhook events")
 	flag.StringVar(&topicScope, "topic-domain", DefTopicDomain, "Default domain for RabbitMQ topics")
 	flag.StringVar(&reqBearerToken, "token", "", "HTTP Bearer token to match")
+	flag.BoolVar(&doPublish, "publish", true, "Publish to RabbitMQ. Disable for testing.")
 	flag.Parse()
 
 	log.Println("Starting....")
 	log.Printf("  * Debugging: %t\n", DebugMode)
 	log.Printf("  * Listening: %s\n", listenAddr)
 	log.Printf("  * Bearer token: %t\n", len(reqBearerToken) > 0)
+	log.Printf("  * Publish to RabbitMQ: %t\n", doPublish)
 
-	connectToRabbitMQ()
+	if doPublish {
+		connectToRabbitMQ()
+	}
 
 	http.HandleFunc("POST /rabbitmq-forwarder", func(res http.ResponseWriter, req *http.Request) {
 		if len(req.Header.Get("Content-Type")) == 0 ||
@@ -406,17 +411,19 @@ func main() {
 			return
 		}
 
-		err = PublishMessage(org.Username, reqType, extraAction, data)
-		if err != nil {
-			errorStr := fmt.Sprintf("hook (%s) processing error: %v\n", reqType, err)
-			res.Header().Add("Content-Type", "plain/text")
-			res.Write([]byte(errorStr))
-			res.WriteHeader(http.StatusBadRequest)
+		if doPublish {
+			err = PublishMessage(org.Username, reqType, extraAction, data)
+			if err != nil {
+				errorStr := fmt.Sprintf("hook (%s) processing error: %v\n", reqType, err)
+				res.Header().Add("Content-Type", "plain/text")
+				res.Write([]byte(errorStr))
+				res.WriteHeader(http.StatusBadRequest)
 
-			if DebugMode {
-				log.Println(errorStr)
+				if DebugMode {
+					log.Println(errorStr)
+				}
+				return
 			}
-			return
 		}
 		res.WriteHeader(http.StatusOK)
 	})