diff --git a/config/discourse_defaults.conf b/config/discourse_defaults.conf
index b714d8161e..b71cffa307 100644
--- a/config/discourse_defaults.conf
+++ b/config/discourse_defaults.conf
@@ -296,3 +296,12 @@ anon_cache_store_threshold = 2
 # list is a comma seperated list of git repos eg:
 # https://github.com/discourse/discourse-custom-header-links.git,https://github.com/discourse/discourse-simple-theme.git
 whitelisted_theme_repos =
+
+# Demon::EmailSync is used in conjunction with the enable_imap site setting
+# to sync N IMAP mailboxes with specific groups. It is a process started in
+# unicorn.conf, and it spawns N threads (one for each multisite connection) and
+# for each database spans another N threads (one for each configured group).
+#
+# We want this off by default so the process is not started when it does not
+# need to be (e.g. development, test, certain hosting tiers)
+enable_email_sync_demon = false
diff --git a/config/unicorn.conf.rb b/config/unicorn.conf.rb
index 7eb335f442..ffa0f2c26f 100644
--- a/config/unicorn.conf.rb
+++ b/config/unicorn.conf.rb
@@ -104,11 +104,13 @@ before_fork do |server, worker|
       end
     end
 
-    puts "Starting up email sync"
-    Demon::EmailSync.start
-    Signal.trap("SIGTSTP") do
-      STDERR.puts "#{Time.now}: Issuing stop to email_sync"
-      Demon::EmailSync.stop
+    if ENV['DISCOURSE_ENABLE_EMAIL_SYNC_DEMON'] == 'true'
+      puts "Starting up EmailSync demon"
+      Demon::EmailSync.start
+      Signal.trap("SIGTSTP") do
+        STDERR.puts "#{Time.now}: Issuing stop to EmailSync"
+        Demon::EmailSync.stop
+      end
     end
 
     class ::Unicorn::HttpServer
@@ -223,8 +225,10 @@ before_fork do |server, worker|
           check_sidekiq_heartbeat
         end
 
-        Demon::EmailSync.ensure_running
-        check_email_sync_heartbeat
+        if ENV['DISCOURSE_ENABLE_EMAIL_SYNC_DEMON'] == 'true'
+          Demon::EmailSync.ensure_running
+          check_email_sync_heartbeat
+        end
 
         master_sleep_orig(sec)
       end