diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 88ce0632..87ecdb64 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ Sample SQL scripts to create the required database structure can be found insite
 The `sftpgo.conf` configuration file contains the following sections:
 
 - **"sftpd"**, the configuration for the SFTP server
-    - `bind_port`, integer the port used for serving SFTP requests. Default: 2022
+    - `bind_port`, integer. The port used for serving SFTP requests. Default: 2022
     - `bind_address`, string. Leave blank to listen on all available network interfaces. Default: ""
     - `idle_timeout`, integer. Time in minutes after which an idle client will be disconnected. Default: 15
     - `max_auth_tries` integer. Maximum number of authentication attempts permitted per connection. If set to a negative number, the number of attempts are unlimited. If set to zero, the number of attempts are limited to 6.
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ The `sftpgo.conf` configuration file contains the following sections:
     - `manage_users`, integer. Set to 0 to disable users management, 1 to enable
     - `track_quota`, integer. Set to 0 to disable quota tracking, 1 to update the used quota each time a user upload or delete a file
 - **"httpd"**, the configuration for the HTTP server used to serve REST API
-    - `bind_port`, integer the port used for serving HTTP requests. Default: 8080
+    - `bind_port`, integer. The port used for serving HTTP requests. Set to 0 to disable HTTP server. Default: 8080
     - `bind_address`, string. Leave blank to listen on all available network interfaces. Default: "127.0.0.1"
 
 Here is a full example showing the default config:
diff --git a/main.go b/main.go
index ac48ca67..e3723721 100644
--- a/main.go
+++ b/main.go
@@ -49,10 +49,8 @@ func main() {
 	dataProvider := dataprovider.GetProvider()
 	sftpdConf := config.GetSFTPDConfig()
 	httpdConf := config.GetHTTPDConfig()
-	router := api.GetHTTPRouter()
 
 	sftpd.SetDataProvider(dataProvider)
-	api.SetDataProvider(dataProvider)
 
 	shutdown := make(chan bool)
 
@@ -64,20 +62,27 @@ func main() {
 		shutdown <- true
 	}()
 
-	go func() {
-		logger.Debug(logSender, "initializing HTTP server with config %+v", httpdConf)
-		s := &http.Server{
-			Addr:           fmt.Sprintf("%s:%d", httpdConf.BindAddress, httpdConf.BindPort),
-			Handler:        router,
-			ReadTimeout:    300 * time.Second,
-			WriteTimeout:   300 * time.Second,
-			MaxHeaderBytes: 1 << 20, // 1MB
-		}
-		if err := s.ListenAndServe(); err != nil {
-			logger.Error(logSender, "could not start HTTP server: %v", err)
-		}
-		shutdown <- true
-	}()
+	if httpdConf.BindPort > 0 {
+		router := api.GetHTTPRouter()
+		api.SetDataProvider(dataProvider)
+
+		go func() {
+			logger.Debug(logSender, "initializing HTTP server with config %+v", httpdConf)
+			s := &http.Server{
+				Addr:           fmt.Sprintf("%s:%d", httpdConf.BindAddress, httpdConf.BindPort),
+				Handler:        router,
+				ReadTimeout:    300 * time.Second,
+				WriteTimeout:   300 * time.Second,
+				MaxHeaderBytes: 1 << 20, // 1MB
+			}
+			if err := s.ListenAndServe(); err != nil {
+				logger.Error(logSender, "could not start HTTP server: %v", err)
+			}
+			shutdown <- true
+		}()
+	} else {
+		logger.Debug(logSender, "HTTP server not started, disabled in config file")
+	}
 
 	<-shutdown
 }