diff --git a/fairmq/plugins/config/Config.cxx b/fairmq/plugins/config/Config.cxx
index 987b5752..df681d76 100644
--- a/fairmq/plugins/config/Config.cxx
+++ b/fairmq/plugins/config/Config.cxx
@@ -71,6 +71,7 @@ Plugin::ProgOptions ConfigPluginProgramOptions()
         ("shm-zero-segment",    po::value<bool          >()->default_value(false),             "Shared memory: zero the shared memory segment memory after initialization.")
         ("shm-throw-bad-alloc", po::value<bool          >()->default_value(true),              "Throw a fair::mq::MessageBadAlloc if cannot allocate a message (retry if false).")
         ("shm-monitor",         po::value<bool          >()->default_value(true),              "Shared memory: run monitor daemon.")
+        ("shm-no-cleanup",      po::value<bool          >()->default_value(false),             "Shared memory: do not cleanup the memory when last device leaves.")
         ("ofi-size-hint",       po::value<size_t        >()->default_value(0),                 "EXPERIMENTAL: OFI size hint for the allocator.")
         ("rate",                po::value<float         >()->default_value(0.),                "Rate for conditional run loop (Hz).")
         ("session",             po::value<string        >()->default_value("default"),         "Session name.")
diff --git a/fairmq/shmem/Manager.h b/fairmq/shmem/Manager.h
index 2463a488..a9b10732 100644
--- a/fairmq/shmem/Manager.h
+++ b/fairmq/shmem/Manager.h
@@ -78,6 +78,7 @@ class Manager
         , fHeartbeatThread()
         , fSendHeartbeats(true)
         , fThrowOnBadAlloc(config ? config->GetProperty<bool>("shm-throw-bad-alloc", true) : true)
+        , fNoCleanup(config ? config->GetProperty<bool>("shm-no-cleanup", false) : false)
     {
         using namespace boost::interprocess;
 
@@ -608,7 +609,7 @@ class Manager
             (fDeviceCounter->fCount)--;
 
             if (fDeviceCounter->fCount == 0) {
-                LOG(debug) << "Last segment user, removing segment.";
+                LOG(debug) << "Last segment user, " << (fNoCleanup ? "skipping removal (--shm-no-cleanup is true)." : "removing segment.");
                 lastRemoved = true;
             } else {
                 LOG(debug) << "Other segment users present (" << fDeviceCounter->fCount << "), skipping removal.";
@@ -617,7 +618,7 @@ class Manager
             LOG(error) << "Manager could not acquire lock: " << e.what();
         }
 
-        if (lastRemoved) {
+        if (lastRemoved && !fNoCleanup) {
             Monitor::Cleanup(ShmId{fShmId});
         }
     }
@@ -657,6 +658,7 @@ class Manager
     std::condition_variable fHeartbeatsCV;
 
     bool fThrowOnBadAlloc;
+    bool fNoCleanup;
 };
 
 } // namespace fair::mq::shmem