diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 152a6bd..dd099c5 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ ENV GS_VERSION=${GS_VERSION} \
     INITIAL_MEMORY="2G" \
     MAXIMUM_MEMORY="4G" \
     JAIEXT_ENABLED=true \
+    DOWNLOAD_EXTENSIONS=false \
     STABLE_EXTENSIONS='' \
     DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive \
     EXTENSION_DOWNLOAD_DIR=/opt/geoserver_extension_downloads \
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 1492caf..34c3a65 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@ Pass as environment variables. If not passed, the default values will be used.
 * `INITIAL_MEMORY` (default: 2G)
 * `MAXIMUM_MEMORY` (default: 4G)
 * `JAIEXT_ENABLED` (default: true)
+* `DOWNLOAD_EXTENSIONS` (default: false)
 * `STABLE_EXTENSIONS` as comma separated list, will be downloaded and installed on startup (default: "")
 
 ## TODOs
diff --git a/docker-compose-demo.yml b/docker-compose-demo.yml
index 58c017a..9b23ceb 100644
--- a/docker-compose-demo.yml
+++ b/docker-compose-demo.yml
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ services:
     ports:
       - 8080:8080
     environment:
+      - DOWNLOAD_EXTENSIONS=true
       - STABLE_EXTENSIONS=wps
       - INITIAL_MEMORY=1G
       - MAXIMUM_MEMORY=2G
diff --git a/scripts/entrypoint.sh b/scripts/entrypoint.sh
index b545daa..e49359f 100644
--- a/scripts/entrypoint.sh
+++ b/scripts/entrypoint.sh
@@ -3,9 +3,7 @@
 set -e
 
 ## install GeoServer extensions before starting the tomcat
-echo "Starting installation of extensions"
 /scripts/install-extensions.sh
-echo "\nFinished installation of extensions"
 
 export GEOSERVER_OPTS="-Djava.awt.headless=true -server \
        -Dfile.encoding=UTF8 \
diff --git a/scripts/install-extensions.sh b/scripts/install-extensions.sh
index 00f2bf6..72d7bc2 100644
--- a/scripts/install-extensions.sh
+++ b/scripts/install-extensions.sh
@@ -14,8 +14,12 @@ function download_extension() {
   fi
 }
 
-# Install stable plugins
-for EXTENSION in $(echo "${STABLE_EXTENSIONS}" | tr ',' ' '); do
-  URL="${STABLE_PLUGIN_URL}/geoserver-${GS_VERSION}-${EXTENSION}-plugin.zip"
-  download_extension ${URL} ${EXTENSION}
-done
+# Install stable plugins only if DOWNLOAD_EXTENSIONS is true
+if [ "$DOWNLOAD_EXTENSIONS" = "true" ]; then
+  echo "Starting installation of extensions"
+  for EXTENSION in $(echo "${STABLE_EXTENSIONS}" | tr ',' ' '); do
+    URL="${STABLE_PLUGIN_URL}/geoserver-${GS_VERSION}-${EXTENSION}-plugin.zip"
+    download_extension ${URL} ${EXTENSION}
+  done
+  echo "Finished installation of extensions"
+fi