diff --git a/ansible/aws/README.md b/ansible/aws/README.md
index df8c50fb..dbdd03c9 100644
--- a/ansible/aws/README.md
+++ b/ansible/aws/README.md
@@ -57,6 +57,8 @@ Create and configure the instance:
 
 If you run more than one at a time, set a custom host name with `-e hostname=cockpit-aws-tasks-2` or similar, so that GitHub test statuses remain useful to identify where a test runs.
 
+There is also an "elastic" mode where the tasks bots keep running until the AMQP queue runs low. Use that for situations where AWS instances act as extra high-demand capacity instead of being the primary runners. Enable that mode with `-e idle_poweroff=1`.
+
 Webhook setup
 -------------
 AWS runs our primary webhook. Deploy or update it with:
diff --git a/ansible/roles/tasks-systemd/tasks/main.yml b/ansible/roles/tasks-systemd/tasks/main.yml
index 855c2fbc..d05afda7 100644
--- a/ansible/roles/tasks-systemd/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/ansible/roles/tasks-systemd/tasks/main.yml
@@ -146,4 +146,5 @@
     export INSTANCES={{ instances | default(1) }}
     export TEST_NOTIFICATION_MX={{ notification_mx | default('') }}
     export TEST_NOTIFICATION_TO={{ notification_to | default('') }}
+    export IDLE_POWEROFF={{ idle_poweroff | default('') }}
     /run/install-service
diff --git a/tasks/container/cockpit-tasks b/tasks/container/cockpit-tasks
index af3c22db..4b64393b 100755
--- a/tasks/container/cockpit-tasks
+++ b/tasks/container/cockpit-tasks
@@ -20,7 +20,17 @@ function update_bots() {
 }
 
 # wait between 1 and 10 minutes, with an override to speed up tests
+# in IDLE_POWEROFF mode, also check queue size
 function slumber() {
+    if [ -n "${IDLE_POWEROFF:-}" ]; then
+        # only consider job-runner entries, not statistics or webhook
+        NUM_JOBS=$(./inspect-queue | grep --count '"job":')
+        if [ "$NUM_JOBS" -lt 10 ]; then
+            echo "Job queue running low, exiting"
+            exit 100
+        fi
+    fi
+
     if [ -n "${SLUMBER:-}" ]; then
         sleep "$SLUMBER"
     else
diff --git a/tasks/install-service b/tasks/install-service
index 5de050d5..56200ab9 100755
--- a/tasks/install-service
+++ b/tasks/install-service
@@ -39,6 +39,9 @@ After=podman.socket
 [Service]
 Slice=cockpittasks.slice
 Restart=always
+# cockpit-tasks exits with 100 in IDLE_POWEROFF mode when queue is running low
+SuccessExitStatus=100
+RestartPreventExitStatus=100
 RestartSec=60
 # give image pull enough time
 TimeoutStartSec=10min
@@ -63,6 +66,7 @@ ExecStart=/usr/bin/podman run --name=cockpit-tasks-%i --hostname=${CONTAINER_HOS
     --env=GIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL=cockpituous@cockpit-project.org \
     --env=TEST_NOTIFICATION_MX=${TEST_NOTIFICATION_MX} \
     --env=TEST_NOTIFICATION_TO=${TEST_NOTIFICATION_TO} \
+    --env=IDLE_POWEROFF=${IDLE_POWEROFF:-} \
     ghcr.io/cockpit-project/tasks cockpit-tasks --verbose
 ExecStop=/usr/bin/podman rm -f cockpit-tasks-%i
 
@@ -70,6 +74,16 @@ ExecStop=/usr/bin/podman rm -f cockpit-tasks-%i
 WantedBy=multi-user.target
 EOF
 
+# mode for elastic cloud runners
+if [ -n "${IDLE_POWEROFF:-}" ]; then
+    mkdir -p /etc/systemd/system/cockpittasks.slice.d
+    cat <<EOF > /etc/systemd/system/cockpittasks.slice.d/poweroff.conf
+    [Unit]
+    StopWhenUnneeded=yes
+    SuccessAction=poweroff-immediate
+EOF
+fi
+
 systemctl daemon-reload
 
 for i in `seq $INSTANCES`; do systemctl enable --now cockpit-tasks@$i; done