diff --git a/bundles/org.openhab.binding.telegram/README.md b/bundles/org.openhab.binding.telegram/README.md
index 298e9540c18ee..fe9ef0807155b 100644
--- a/bundles/org.openhab.binding.telegram/README.md
+++ b/bundles/org.openhab.binding.telegram/README.md
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ In order to send a message, an action must be used instead.
 | `proxyHost`       | None    | No       | Proxy host for telegram binding.                                                                                    |
 | `proxyPort`       | None    | No       | Proxy port for telegram binding.                                                                                    |
 | `proxyType`       | SOCKS5  | No       | Type of proxy server for telegram binding (SOCKS5 or HTTP).                                                         |
-| `longPollingTime` | 25      | No       | Timespan in seconds for long polling the telegram API.                                                              |
+| `longPollingTime` | 25      | No       | Timespan in seconds for long polling the telegram API. (0 to disable)                                               |
 
 By default chat ids are bi-directionally, i.e. they can send and receive messages.
 They can be prefixed with an access modifier:
diff --git a/bundles/org.openhab.binding.telegram/src/main/java/org/openhab/binding/telegram/internal/TelegramHandler.java b/bundles/org.openhab.binding.telegram/src/main/java/org/openhab/binding/telegram/internal/TelegramHandler.java
index 5b7cc20319108..55d6ecfd1adc2 100644
--- a/bundles/org.openhab.binding.telegram/src/main/java/org/openhab/binding/telegram/internal/TelegramHandler.java
+++ b/bundles/org.openhab.binding.telegram/src/main/java/org/openhab/binding/telegram/internal/TelegramHandler.java
@@ -186,8 +186,11 @@ public void initialize() {
         updateStatus(ThingStatus.UNKNOWN);
         delayThingOnlineStatus();
         TelegramBot localBot = bot = new TelegramBot.Builder(botToken).okHttpClient(botLibClient).build();
-        localBot.setUpdatesListener(this::handleUpdates, this::handleExceptions,
-                getGetUpdatesRequest(config.getLongPollingTime()));
+        int longPollingTime = config.getLongPollingTime();
+        if (longPollingTime > 0) {
+            localBot.setUpdatesListener(this::handleUpdates, this::handleExceptions,
+                    getGetUpdatesRequest(longPollingTime));
+        }
     }
 
     private void createReceiverChatIdsAndAuthorizedSenderChatIds(List<String> chatIds) {
@@ -470,7 +473,10 @@ public void dispose() {
         OkHttpClient localClient = botLibClient;
         TelegramBot localBot = bot;
         if (localClient != null && localBot != null) {
-            localBot.removeGetUpdatesListener();
+            TelegramConfiguration config = this.getConfig().as(TelegramConfiguration.class);
+            if (config.getLongPollingTime() > 0) {
+                localBot.removeGetUpdatesListener();
+            }
             localClient.dispatcher().executorService().shutdown();
             localClient.connectionPool().evictAll();
             logger.debug("Telegram client closed");
diff --git a/bundles/org.openhab.binding.telegram/src/main/resources/OH-INF/i18n/telegram.properties b/bundles/org.openhab.binding.telegram/src/main/resources/OH-INF/i18n/telegram.properties
index 3c8c3689baaf3..b9c3260a7ea16 100644
--- a/bundles/org.openhab.binding.telegram/src/main/resources/OH-INF/i18n/telegram.properties
+++ b/bundles/org.openhab.binding.telegram/src/main/resources/OH-INF/i18n/telegram.properties
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ thing-type.config.telegram.telegramBot.botToken.description = Enter the bot toke
 thing-type.config.telegram.telegramBot.chatIds.label = Chat Id(s)
 thing-type.config.telegram.telegramBot.chatIds.description = One or more chat id(s). Access modifiers ("<" for inbound only, ">" for outbound only) can be used as prefix (optional).
 thing-type.config.telegram.telegramBot.longPollingTime.label = Long Polling Time
-thing-type.config.telegram.telegramBot.longPollingTime.description = Enter the long polling time in seconds.
+thing-type.config.telegram.telegramBot.longPollingTime.description = Enter the long polling time in seconds. Set 0 to disable.
 thing-type.config.telegram.telegramBot.parseMode.label = Parse Mode
 thing-type.config.telegram.telegramBot.parseMode.description = Support for formatted messages, values: Markdown or HTML. Default: no formatting is used.
 thing-type.config.telegram.telegramBot.parseMode.option. = No Formatting
diff --git a/bundles/org.openhab.binding.telegram/src/main/resources/OH-INF/thing/thing-types.xml b/bundles/org.openhab.binding.telegram/src/main/resources/OH-INF/thing/thing-types.xml
index 55cbeb00ead07..b0570eaa1432e 100644
--- a/bundles/org.openhab.binding.telegram/src/main/resources/OH-INF/thing/thing-types.xml
+++ b/bundles/org.openhab.binding.telegram/src/main/resources/OH-INF/thing/thing-types.xml
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@
 			</parameter>
 			<parameter name="longPollingTime" type="integer" min="0" max="50" unit="s">
 				<label>Long Polling Time</label>
-				<description>Enter the long polling time in seconds.</description>
+				<description>Enter the long polling time in seconds. Set 0 to disable.</description>
 				<default>25</default>
 			</parameter>
 		</config-description>