diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 098d539..7cb2f27 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -14,6 +14,11 @@ On larger projects this means spring will be more responsive, more accurate and
 Listen 2.7 and higher and 3.0 are supported.
 If you rely on Listen 1 you can use v1.0.0 of this gem.
 
+## Environment variables
+
+* `DISABLE_SPRING_WATCHER_LISTEN` - If set, this disables the loading of this gem. This can be useful for projects where
+    some configurations do not support inotify (e.g. Docker on M1 Macs).
+
 ## Installation
 
 Stop Spring if it's already running:
diff --git a/lib/spring/watcher/listen.rb b/lib/spring/watcher/listen.rb
index a925540..3e14e04 100644
--- a/lib/spring/watcher/listen.rb
+++ b/lib/spring/watcher/listen.rb
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+return if ENV['DISABLE_SPRING_WATCHER_LISTEN']
+
 require "spring/watcher"
 require "spring/watcher/abstract"