diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index d8f45db..e285571 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -150,6 +150,11 @@ Configures Nginx's [`log_format`](http://nginx.org/en/docs/http/ngx_http_log_mod
 
 (For RedHat/CentOS only) Set this to `false` to disable the installation of the `nginx` yum repository. This could be necessary if you want the default OS stable packages, or if you use Satellite.
 
+    nginx_service_state: started
+    nginx_service_enabled: yes
+
+By default, this role will ensure Nginx is running and enabled at boot after Nginx is configured. You can use these variables to override this behavior if installing in a container or further control over the service state is required.
+
 ## Overriding configuration templates
 
 If you can't customize via variables because an option isn't exposed, you can override the template used to generate the virtualhost configuration files or the `nginx.conf` file.
diff --git a/defaults/main.yml b/defaults/main.yml
index cbce58a..0509dbe 100644
--- a/defaults/main.yml
+++ b/defaults/main.yml
@@ -12,6 +12,9 @@ nginx_ppa_version: stable
 # The name of the nginx package to install.
 nginx_package_name: "nginx"
 
+nginx_service_state: started
+nginx_service_enabled: true
+
 nginx_conf_template: "nginx.conf.j2"
 nginx_vhost_template: "vhost.j2"
 
diff --git a/tasks/main.yml b/tasks/main.yml
index fd523d9..bfb5fe4 100644
--- a/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/tasks/main.yml
@@ -41,5 +41,8 @@
   notify:
     - reload nginx
 
-- name: Ensure nginx is started and enabled to start at boot.
-  service: name=nginx state=started enabled=yes
+- name: Ensure nginx service is running as configured.
+  service:
+    name: nginx
+    state: "{{ nginx_service_state }}"
+    enabled: "{{ nginx_service_enabled }}"