diff --git a/plugins/in_dummy/in_dummy.c b/plugins/in_dummy/in_dummy.c
index 8cb58e18824..6d008b4cb2c 100644
--- a/plugins/in_dummy/in_dummy.c
+++ b/plugins/in_dummy/in_dummy.c
@@ -351,6 +351,10 @@ static int in_dummy_init(struct flb_input_instance *in,
 
     flb_input_set_context(in, ctx);
 
+    if (ctx->flush_on_startup) {
+        in_dummy_collect(in, config, ctx);
+    }
+
     ret = flb_input_set_collector_time(in,
                                        in_dummy_collect,
                                        tm.tv_sec,
@@ -444,6 +448,11 @@ static struct flb_config_map config_map[] = {
     0, FLB_TRUE, offsetof(struct flb_dummy, fixed_timestamp),
     "used a fixed timestamp, allows the message to pre-generated once."
    },
+   {
+    FLB_CONFIG_MAP_BOOL, "flush_on_startup", "false",
+    0, FLB_TRUE, offsetof(struct flb_dummy, flush_on_startup),
+    "generate the first event on startup"
+   },
    {0}
 };
 
diff --git a/plugins/in_dummy/in_dummy.h b/plugins/in_dummy/in_dummy.h
index 0b98511e1a1..a75aa89cb69 100644
--- a/plugins/in_dummy/in_dummy.h
+++ b/plugins/in_dummy/in_dummy.h
@@ -48,6 +48,7 @@ struct flb_dummy {
     int  start_time_nsec;
 
     bool fixed_timestamp;
+    bool flush_on_startup;
 
     char *ref_metadata_msgpack;
     size_t ref_metadata_msgpack_size;
diff --git a/tests/runtime/in_simple_systems.c b/tests/runtime/in_simple_systems.c
index fb9c119635f..5eb8a836603 100644
--- a/tests/runtime/in_simple_systems.c
+++ b/tests/runtime/in_simple_systems.c
@@ -569,6 +569,11 @@ void flb_test_dummy_records_message_interval_nsec(struct callback_records *recor
     TEST_CHECK(records->num_records >= 1);
 }
 
+void flb_test_dummy_records_message_flush_on_startup(struct callback_records *records)
+{
+    TEST_CHECK(records->num_records >= 2);
+}
+
 void flb_test_in_dummy_flush()
 {
     do_test("dummy", NULL);
@@ -610,6 +615,11 @@ void flb_test_in_dummy_flush()
                     "interval_sec", "0",
                     "interval_nsec", "700000000",
                     NULL);
+    do_test_records_wait_time("dummy", 5, flb_test_dummy_records_message_flush_on_startup,
+                    "interval_sec", "5",
+                    "interval_nsec", "0",
+                    "flush_on_startup", "true",
+                    NULL);
 }
 
 void flb_test_in_dummy_thread_flush()