diff --git a/.env.dist b/.env.dist
index c6524831..dcd491a5 100644
--- a/.env.dist
+++ b/.env.dist
@@ -116,3 +116,11 @@
 # ZAMMAD_SCHEDULER_RESOURCES_LIMITS_MEMORY=500M
 # ZAMMAD_WEBSOCKET_RESOURCES_LIMITS_CPUS=1.0
 # ZAMMAD_WEBSOCKET_RESOURCES_LIMITS_MEMORY=500M
+
+##############################################
+# scenarios/disable-nginx-service.yml
+# ############################################
+
+# DOCKER_RAILS_BINDHOST=localhost
+# DOCKER_RAILS_BIND_PORT=3100
+
diff --git a/.github/tests/disable-nginx-service.sh b/.github/tests/disable-nginx-service.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..6e8827f5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/tests/disable-nginx-service.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+# shellcheck source=/dev/null
+. "$(dirname "$0")/include/functions.sh"
+
+check_stack_start false # do not use nginx
+
+print_heading "check for absence of nginx container"
+docker compose ps | grep zammad-nginx
+print_heading "Success - nginx container is absent"
diff --git a/.github/tests/include/functions.sh b/.github/tests/include/functions.sh
index 9ccd0ece..a34cbeb0 100755
--- a/.github/tests/include/functions.sh
+++ b/.github/tests/include/functions.sh
@@ -18,8 +18,16 @@ railsserver_run_command() {
 }
 
 check_stack_start() {
+  dont_use_nginx="$1"
+
   print_heading "wait for zammad to be ready…"
   docker compose wait zammad-init
-  docker compose exec zammad-nginx bash -c "curl --retry 30 --retry-delay 1 --retry-connrefused http://localhost:8080 | grep 'Zammad'"
+
+  if [ -z "$dont_use_nginx" ]; then
+    docker compose exec zammad-nginx bash -c "curl --retry 30 --retry-delay 1 --retry-connrefused http://localhost:8080 | grep 'Zammad'"
+  else
+    docker compose exec zammad-railsserver bash -c "curl --retry 30 --retry-delay 1 --retry-connrefused http://localhost:3000 | grep 'Zammad'"
+  fi
+
   print_heading "Success - Zammad is up :)"
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}
diff --git a/.github/tests/setup/disable-nginx-service.sh b/.github/tests/setup/disable-nginx-service.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..d73effc1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/tests/setup/disable-nginx-service.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+set -o errexit
+
+# Disable ES initialization in the test because we don't have an external ES service.
+echo "NGINX_ENABLED=false" > .env
+
+docker compose -f docker-compose.yml -f scenarios/disable-nginx-service.yml up --pull always --quiet-pull --detach
diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yaml b/.github/workflows/ci.yaml
index 172073ed..d21b34ee 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yaml
@@ -56,6 +56,7 @@ jobs:
           - apply-resource-limits
           - disable-backup-service
           - disable-elasticsearch-service
+          - disable-nginx-service
     steps:
       - name: Checkout
         uses: actions/checkout@v6
diff --git a/scenarios/disable-nginx-service.yml b/scenarios/disable-nginx-service.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e594cad0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scenarios/disable-nginx-service.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+---
+version: "3.8"
+
+#
+# Disable the nginx service, for example if there is already a reverse proxy handling
+# the connections and you want connect directly to rails from this reverse proxy
+#
+
+services:
+  zammad-nginx:
+    profiles:
+      - do-not-start
+
+  zammad-railsserver:
+    environment:
+      RAILS_SERVE_STATIC_FILES: true
+    ports:
+      - "${DOCKER_RAILS_BIND_HOST:-127.0.0.1}:${DOCKER_RAILS_BIND_PORT:-3100}:${ZAMMAD_RAILSSERVER_PORT:-3000}"
+
+  zammad-websocket:
+    ports:
+      - "${DOCKER_RAILS_BIND_HOST:-127.0.0.1}:${DOCKER_ZAMMAD_WEBSOCKET_BIND_PORT:-6042}:${ZAMMAD_WEBSOCKET_PORT:-6042}"
+