diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index bdfffcf..2e9746e 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ ENV MKDOCKER_REPOSITORY_BRANCH main
 ENV MKDOCKER_REPOSITORY_DIRECTORY example
 ENV MKDOCKER_LOCAL_DIRECTORY /mkdocker/docs
 ENV MKDOCKER_VENV_DIRECTORY /mkdocker/venv
+ENV MKDOCKER_SERVE 0
 
 EXPOSE 80
 
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 2ab3d96..a93c9f2 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ docker run -d --mount type=bind,source=${pwd},target=/mkdocker/docs --publish 12
 * `MKDOCKER_REPOSITORY_DIRECTORY` - The subdirectory in the git repository to run the build in (default: `example`)
 * `MKDOCKER_LOCAL_DIRECTORY` - The directory inside the docker container to clone the repository in to, or to just use if already mounted (default: `/mkdocker/docs`)
 * `MKDOCKER_VENV_DIRECTORY` - The directory inside the docker container to use for the python virtual environment (default: `/mkdocker/venv`). This is only necessary if a `requirements.txt` is present, and can optionally be mounted to a docker volume for persistence.
-
+* `MKDOCKER_SERVE` - A boolean flag to enable `mkdocs serve` if set to `1` (default: `0`)
 
 ## Scripts
 
diff --git a/mkdocker/scripts/mkdocker.sh b/mkdocker/scripts/mkdocker.sh
index 090a7c2..be6dd16 100755
--- a/mkdocker/scripts/mkdocker.sh
+++ b/mkdocker/scripts/mkdocker.sh
@@ -36,15 +36,19 @@ if [ -x scripts/pre ]; then
 	echo Running pre script
 	./scripts/pre
 fi
-mkdocs build -d /usr/share/nginx/html
-if [ -x scripts/post ]; then
-	echo Running post script
-	./scripts/post
-fi
-
-if [ -d "${MKDOCKER_VENV_DIRECTORY}" ]; then
-	echo "Deactivating virtual environment"
-	deactivate
+if [ "${MKDOCKER_SERVE}" = 0 ]; then
+	mkdocs build -d /usr/share/nginx/html
+	if [ -x scripts/post ]; then
+		echo Running post script
+		./scripts/post
+	fi
+	
+	if [ -d "${MKDOCKER_VENV_DIRECTORY}" ]; then
+		echo "Deactivating virtual environment"
+		deactivate
+	fi
+	
+	nginx -g "daemon off;"
+else
+	mkdocs serve -a "0.0.0.0:80"
 fi
-
-nginx -g "daemon off;"