diff --git a/include/mqtt_client.h b/include/mqtt_client.h
index 07dd978..f6f4fe0 100644
--- a/include/mqtt_client.h
+++ b/include/mqtt_client.h
@@ -302,8 +302,10 @@ int esp_mqtt_client_unsubscribe(esp_mqtt_client_handle_t client, const char *top
  * - This API might block for several seconds, either due to network timeout (10s)
  *   or if publishing payloads longer than internal buffer (due to message
  *   fragmentation)
- * - Client doesn't have to be connected to send publish message
- *   (although it would drop all qos=0 messages, qos>1 messages would be enqueued)
+ * - Client doesn't have to be connected for this API to work, enqueueing the messages
+ *   with qos>1 (returning -1 for all the qos=0 messages if disconnected).
+ *   If MQTT_SKIP_PUBLISH_IF_DISCONNECTED is enabled, this API will not attempt to publish
+ *   when the client is not connected and will always return -1.
  * - It is thread safe, please refer to `esp_mqtt_client_subscribe` for details
  *
  * @param client    mqtt client handle
diff --git a/lib/include/mqtt_config.h b/lib/include/mqtt_config.h
index 4932297..da2a93a 100644
--- a/lib/include/mqtt_config.h
+++ b/lib/include/mqtt_config.h
@@ -17,6 +17,8 @@
 
 #define MQTT_MSG_ID_INCREMENTAL     CONFIG_MQTT_MSG_ID_INCREMENTAL
 
+#define MQTT_SKIP_PUBLISH_IF_DISCONNECTED CONFIG_MQTT_SKIP_PUBLISH_IF_DISCONNECTED
+
 #if CONFIG_MQTT_BUFFER_SIZE
 #define MQTT_BUFFER_SIZE_BYTE       CONFIG_MQTT_BUFFER_SIZE
 #else
diff --git a/mqtt_client.c b/mqtt_client.c
index 651515c..def0e28 100644
--- a/mqtt_client.c
+++ b/mqtt_client.c
@@ -1653,6 +1653,13 @@ static inline int mqtt_client_enqueue_priv(esp_mqtt_client_handle_t client, cons
 int esp_mqtt_client_publish(esp_mqtt_client_handle_t client, const char *topic, const char *data, int len, int qos, int retain)
 {
     MQTT_API_LOCK(client);
+#if MQTT_SKIP_PUBLISH_IF_DISCONNECTED
+    if (client->state != MQTT_STATE_CONNECTED) {
+        ESP_LOGE(TAG, "Publish failed: client is not connected");
+        MQTT_API_UNLOCK(client);
+        return -1;
+    }
+#endif
     int pending_msg_id = mqtt_client_enqueue_priv(client, topic, data, len, qos, retain);
     if (pending_msg_id < 0) {
         MQTT_API_UNLOCK(client);