diff --git a/pkg/sidecar/config.go b/pkg/sidecar/config.go
index e83c30bd..c6af3202 100644
--- a/pkg/sidecar/config.go
+++ b/pkg/sidecar/config.go
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ type Config struct {
 	CmdArgsDeprecated      string `hcl:"cmdArgs"`
 	CertDir                string `hcl:"cert_dir"`
 	CertDirDeprecated      string `hcl:"certDir"`
+	ExitWhenReady          bool   `hcl:"exit_when_ready"`
 	// Merge intermediate certificates into Bundle file instead of SVID file,
 	// it is useful is some scenarios like MySQL,
 	// where this is the expected format for presented certificates and bundles
diff --git a/pkg/sidecar/sidecar.go b/pkg/sidecar/sidecar.go
index a9a31a49..54d7b70f 100644
--- a/pkg/sidecar/sidecar.go
+++ b/pkg/sidecar/sidecar.go
@@ -144,6 +144,10 @@ func (s *Sidecar) updateCertificates(svidResponse *workloadapi.X509Context) {
 		}
 	}
 
+	if s.config.ExitWhenReady {
+		os.Exit(0)
+	}
+
 	select {
 	case s.certReadyChan <- struct{}{}:
 	default: