diff --git a/lib/queuemanager.php b/lib/queuemanager.php
index a98c0efffb..b98e57a1ff 100644
--- a/lib/queuemanager.php
+++ b/lib/queuemanager.php
@@ -157,7 +157,7 @@ abstract class QueueManager extends IoManager
             }
 
             // XMPP output handlers...
-            if (common_config('xmpp', 'enabled')) {
+            if (common_config('xmpp', 'enabled') && !defined('XMPP_EMERGENCY_FLAG')) {
                 $this->connect('jabber', 'JabberQueueHandler');
                 $this->connect('public', 'PublicQueueHandler');
                 
diff --git a/scripts/queuedaemon.php b/scripts/queuedaemon.php
index 8ef364fe7b..f8bade39db 100755
--- a/scripts/queuedaemon.php
+++ b/scripts/queuedaemon.php
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@
 define('INSTALLDIR', realpath(dirname(__FILE__) . '/..'));
 
 $shortoptions = 'fi:at:';
-$longoptions = array('id=', 'foreground', 'all', 'threads=');
+$longoptions = array('id=', 'foreground', 'all', 'threads=', 'skip-xmpp');
 
 /**
  * Attempts to get a count of the processors available on the current system
@@ -260,6 +260,10 @@ if (!$threads) {
 $daemonize = !(have_option('f') || have_option('--foreground'));
 $all = have_option('a') || have_option('--all');
 
+if (have_option('--skip-xmpp')) {
+    define('XMPP_EMERGENCY_FLAG', true);
+}
+
 $daemon = new QueueDaemon($id, $daemonize, $threads, $all);
 $daemon->runOnce();