diff --git a/federationsender/federationsender.go b/federationsender/federationsender.go
index 78791140e..7b75cb372 100644
--- a/federationsender/federationsender.go
+++ b/federationsender/federationsender.go
@@ -59,8 +59,8 @@ func NewInternalAPI(
 	consumer, _ := kafka.SetupConsumerProducer(&cfg.Matrix.Kafka)
 
 	queues := queue.NewOutgoingQueues(
-		federationSenderDB, cfg.Matrix.ServerName, federation,
-		rsAPI, stats,
+		federationSenderDB, cfg.Matrix.DisableFederation,
+		cfg.Matrix.ServerName, federation, rsAPI, stats,
 		&queue.SigningInfo{
 			KeyID:      cfg.Matrix.KeyID,
 			PrivateKey: cfg.Matrix.PrivateKey,
diff --git a/federationsender/queue/queue.go b/federationsender/queue/queue.go
index 04cb57e70..95d37b2b8 100644
--- a/federationsender/queue/queue.go
+++ b/federationsender/queue/queue.go
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ import (
 // matrix servers
 type OutgoingQueues struct {
 	db          storage.Database
+	disabled    bool
 	rsAPI       api.RoomserverInternalAPI
 	origin      gomatrixserverlib.ServerName
 	client      *gomatrixserverlib.FederationClient
@@ -46,6 +47,7 @@ type OutgoingQueues struct {
 // NewOutgoingQueues makes a new OutgoingQueues
 func NewOutgoingQueues(
 	db storage.Database,
+	disabled bool,
 	origin gomatrixserverlib.ServerName,
 	client *gomatrixserverlib.FederationClient,
 	rsAPI api.RoomserverInternalAPI,
@@ -53,6 +55,7 @@ func NewOutgoingQueues(
 	signing *SigningInfo,
 ) *OutgoingQueues {
 	queues := &OutgoingQueues{
+		disabled:   disabled,
 		db:         db,
 		rsAPI:      rsAPI,
 		origin:     origin,
@@ -62,28 +65,30 @@ func NewOutgoingQueues(
 		queues:     map[gomatrixserverlib.ServerName]*destinationQueue{},
 	}
 	// Look up which servers we have pending items for and then rehydrate those queues.
-	time.AfterFunc(time.Second*5, func() {
-		serverNames := map[gomatrixserverlib.ServerName]struct{}{}
-		if names, err := db.GetPendingPDUServerNames(context.Background()); err == nil {
-			for _, serverName := range names {
-				serverNames[serverName] = struct{}{}
+	if !disabled {
+		time.AfterFunc(time.Second*5, func() {
+			serverNames := map[gomatrixserverlib.ServerName]struct{}{}
+			if names, err := db.GetPendingPDUServerNames(context.Background()); err == nil {
+				for _, serverName := range names {
+					serverNames[serverName] = struct{}{}
+				}
+			} else {
+				log.WithError(err).Error("Failed to get PDU server names for destination queue hydration")
 			}
-		} else {
-			log.WithError(err).Error("Failed to get PDU server names for destination queue hydration")
-		}
-		if names, err := db.GetPendingEDUServerNames(context.Background()); err == nil {
-			for _, serverName := range names {
-				serverNames[serverName] = struct{}{}
+			if names, err := db.GetPendingEDUServerNames(context.Background()); err == nil {
+				for _, serverName := range names {
+					serverNames[serverName] = struct{}{}
+				}
+			} else {
+				log.WithError(err).Error("Failed to get EDU server names for destination queue hydration")
 			}
-		} else {
-			log.WithError(err).Error("Failed to get EDU server names for destination queue hydration")
-		}
-		for serverName := range serverNames {
-			if !queues.getQueue(serverName).statistics.Blacklisted() {
-				queues.getQueue(serverName).wakeQueueIfNeeded()
+			for serverName := range serverNames {
+				if !queues.getQueue(serverName).statistics.Blacklisted() {
+					queues.getQueue(serverName).wakeQueueIfNeeded()
+				}
 			}
-		}
-	})
+		})
+	}
 	return queues
 }
 
@@ -122,6 +127,9 @@ func (oqs *OutgoingQueues) SendEvent(
 	ev *gomatrixserverlib.HeaderedEvent, origin gomatrixserverlib.ServerName,
 	destinations []gomatrixserverlib.ServerName,
 ) error {
+	if oqs.disabled {
+		return fmt.Errorf("federation is disabled")
+	}
 	if origin != oqs.origin {
 		// TODO: Support virtual hosting; gh issue #577.
 		return fmt.Errorf(
@@ -181,6 +189,9 @@ func (oqs *OutgoingQueues) SendEDU(
 	e *gomatrixserverlib.EDU, origin gomatrixserverlib.ServerName,
 	destinations []gomatrixserverlib.ServerName,
 ) error {
+	if oqs.disabled {
+		return fmt.Errorf("federation is disabled")
+	}
 	if origin != oqs.origin {
 		// TODO: Support virtual hosting; gh issue #577.
 		return fmt.Errorf(
@@ -243,6 +254,9 @@ func (oqs *OutgoingQueues) SendEDU(
 
 // RetryServer attempts to resend events to the given server if we had given up.
 func (oqs *OutgoingQueues) RetryServer(srv gomatrixserverlib.ServerName) {
+	if oqs.disabled {
+		return
+	}
 	q := oqs.getQueue(srv)
 	if q == nil {
 		return