@@ -34,5 +34,6 @@ TELEGRAPH_TOKEN="
 #TRAFFIC_SAVING=1  # default: 0
 #LAZY_MEDIA_VALIDATION=1  # default: 0
 #MANAGER_PRIVILEGED=1  # default: 0
+#NO_UVLOOP=1  # default: 0
 #DEBUG=1  # debug logging, default: 0
 # ↑------ Advanced settings ------↑ #
@@ -44,5 +44,6 @@ services:
       #- TRAFFIC_SAVING=1  # default: 0
       #- LAZY_MEDIA_VALIDATION=1  # default: 0
       #- MANAGER_PRIVILEGED=1  # default: 0
+      #- NO_UVLOOP=1  # default: 0
       #- DEBUG=1  # debug logging, default: 0
 # ↑------ Advanced settings ------↑ #
@@ -47,9 +47,10 @@
 | `IMG_RELAY_SERVER`   | Media relay server URL                                                    | `https://images.weserv.nl/?url=`              | `https://rsstt-img-relay.rongrong.workers.dev/`        |
 | `IMAGES_WESERV_NL`   | images.weserv.nl URL                                                      | `https://t0.nl/`                              | `https://images.weserv.nl/`                            |
 | `DATABASE_URL`       | Database URL [^7]                                                         | `postgres://user:pass@example.com:5432/table` | `sqlite://$PATH_TO_CONFIG/db.sqlite3?journal_mode=OFF` |
-| `TABLE_TO_IMAGE`     | Convert tables to image (causing high CPU usage) or just drop them?       | `1`                                           | `0`                                                    |
-| `DEBUG`              | Enable debug logging or not?                                              | `1`                                           | `0`                                                    |
+| `TABLE_TO_IMAGE`     | Convert tables to image (causing higher CPU load) or just drop them?      | `1`                                           | `0`                                                    |
 | `MANAGER_PRIVILEGED` | Allow the bot manager to manipulate any users' subscriptions or not? [^8] | `1`                                           | `0`                                                    |
+| `NO_UVLOOP`          | Never enable `uvloop` (even if it is found) or not?                       | `1`                                           | `0`                                                    |
+| `DEBUG`              | Enable debug logging or not?                                              | `1`                                           | `0`                                                    |
 
 ## Manager options
 
 
@@ -1,14 +1,8 @@
 from __future__ import annotations
 
-import asyncio
-
-try:
-    import uvloop
-
-    uvloop.install()
-except ImportError:  # uvloop does not support Windows
-    uvloop = None
+from . import env  # the event loop is initialized in env, so import it first
 
+import asyncio
 from functools import partial
 from time import sleep
 from typing import Optional
@@ -20,7 +14,7 @@
 from random import sample
 from os import path
 
-from . import env, log, db, command
+from . import log, db, command
 from .i18n import i18n, ALL_LANGUAGES, get_commands_list
 from .parsing import tgraph
 
@@ -249,7 +243,7 @@ def main():
                 f"R_PROXY (for RSS): {env.REQUESTS_PROXIES['all'] if env.REQUESTS_PROXIES else 'not set'}\n"
                 f"DATABASE: {env.DATABASE_URL.split('://', 1)[0]}\n"
                 f"TELEGRAPH: {f'Enable ({tgraph.apis.count} accounts)' if tgraph.apis else 'Disable'}\n"
-                f"UVLOOP: {'Enable' if uvloop is not None else 'Disable'}\n"
+                f"UVLOOP: {'Enable' if env.uvloop_enabled else 'Disable'}\n"
                 f"MULTIUSER: {'Enable' if env.MULTIUSER else 'Disable'}")
     if env.MANAGER_PRIVILEGED:
         logger.warning('Bot manager privileged mode is enabled! '
 
@@ -241,6 +241,7 @@ def __list_parser(var: Optional[str]) -> list[str]:
 TABLE_TO_IMAGE: Final = __bool_parser(os.environ.get('TABLE_TO_IMAGE'))
 TRAFFIC_SAVING: Final = __bool_parser(os.environ.get('TRAFFIC_SAVING'))
 LAZY_MEDIA_VALIDATION: Final = __bool_parser(os.environ.get('LAZY_MEDIA_VALIDATION'))
+NO_UVLOOP: Final = __bool_parser(os.environ.get('NO_UVLOOP'))
 DEBUG: Final = __bool_parser(os.environ.get('DEBUG'))
 __configure_logging(  # config twice to make .env file work
     level=colorlog.DEBUG if DEBUG else colorlog.INFO,
@@ -286,5 +287,15 @@ def __list_parser(var: Optional[str]) -> list[str]:
 bot_peer: Optional[User] = None  # placeholder
 bot_input_peer: Optional[InputPeerUser] = None  # placeholder
 
+# ----- loop initialization -----
+uvloop_enabled = False
+if not NO_UVLOOP:
+    try:
+        import uvloop
+
+        uvloop.install()
+        uvloop_enabled = True
+    except ImportError:  # not installed (e.g. Windows)
+        uvloop = None
 loop = asyncio.new_event_loop()
 asyncio.set_event_loop(loop)