diff --git a/internal/app/cmd/cmd.go b/internal/app/cmd/cmd.go
index bd1f474..7c8e9a4 100644
--- a/internal/app/cmd/cmd.go
+++ b/internal/app/cmd/cmd.go
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ func Execute(ctx context.Context) {
 	registerCmd.Flags().StringVar(&regArgs.Token, "token", "", "Runner token")
 	registerCmd.Flags().StringVar(&regArgs.RunnerName, "name", "", "Runner name")
 	registerCmd.Flags().StringVar(&regArgs.Labels, "labels", "", "Runner tags, comma separated")
+	registerCmd.Flags().BoolVar(&regArgs.Ephemeral, "ephemeral", false, "Configure the runner to be ephemeral and only ever be able to pick a single job (stricter than --once)")
 	rootCmd.AddCommand(registerCmd)
 
 	// ./act_runner daemon
diff --git a/internal/app/cmd/daemon.go b/internal/app/cmd/daemon.go
index 57d289c..9134526 100644
--- a/internal/app/cmd/daemon.go
+++ b/internal/app/cmd/daemon.go
@@ -122,7 +122,7 @@ func runDaemon(ctx context.Context, daemArgs *daemonArgs, configFile *string) fu
 
 		poller := poll.New(cfg, cli, runner)
 
-		if daemArgs.Once {
+		if daemArgs.Once || reg.Ephemeral {
 			done := make(chan struct{})
 			go func() {
 				defer close(done)
diff --git a/internal/app/cmd/register.go b/internal/app/cmd/register.go
index ddd7c29..969529f 100644
--- a/internal/app/cmd/register.go
+++ b/internal/app/cmd/register.go
@@ -75,6 +75,7 @@ type registerArgs struct {
 	Token         string
 	RunnerName    string
 	Labels        string
+	Ephemeral     bool
 }
 
 type registerStage int8
@@ -101,6 +102,7 @@ type registerInputs struct {
 	Token        string
 	RunnerName   string
 	Labels       []string
+	Ephemeral    bool
 }
 
 func (r *registerInputs) validate() error {
@@ -258,6 +260,7 @@ func registerNoInteractive(ctx context.Context, configFile string, regArgs *regi
 		Token:        regArgs.Token,
 		RunnerName:   regArgs.RunnerName,
 		Labels:       defaultLabels,
+		Ephemeral:    regArgs.Ephemeral,
 	}
 	regArgs.Labels = strings.TrimSpace(regArgs.Labels)
 	// command line flag.
@@ -321,10 +324,11 @@ func doRegister(ctx context.Context, cfg *config.Config, inputs *registerInputs)
 	}
 
 	reg := &config.Registration{
-		Name:    inputs.RunnerName,
-		Token:   inputs.Token,
-		Address: inputs.InstanceAddr,
-		Labels:  inputs.Labels,
+		Name:      inputs.RunnerName,
+		Token:     inputs.Token,
+		Address:   inputs.InstanceAddr,
+		Labels:    inputs.Labels,
+		Ephemeral: inputs.Ephemeral,
 	}
 
 	ls := make([]string, len(reg.Labels))
@@ -339,6 +343,7 @@ func doRegister(ctx context.Context, cfg *config.Config, inputs *registerInputs)
 		Version:     ver.Version(),
 		AgentLabels: ls, // Could be removed after Gitea 1.20
 		Labels:      ls,
+		Ephemeral:   reg.Ephemeral,
 	}))
 	if err != nil {
 		log.WithError(err).Error("poller: cannot register new runner")
@@ -350,6 +355,11 @@ func doRegister(ctx context.Context, cfg *config.Config, inputs *registerInputs)
 	reg.Name = resp.Msg.Runner.Name
 	reg.Token = resp.Msg.Runner.Token
 
+	if inputs.Ephemeral != resp.Msg.Runner.Ephemeral {
+		// TODO we cannot remove the configuration via runner api, if we return an error here we just fill the database
+		log.Error("poller: cannot register new runner as ephemeral upgrade Gitea to gain security, run-once will be used automatically")
+	}
+
 	if err := config.SaveRegistration(cfg.Runner.File, reg); err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("failed to save runner config: %w", err)
 	}
diff --git a/internal/pkg/config/registration.go b/internal/pkg/config/registration.go
index be66b4f..414f44f 100644
--- a/internal/pkg/config/registration.go
+++ b/internal/pkg/config/registration.go
@@ -14,12 +14,13 @@ const registrationWarning = "This file is automatically generated by act-runner.
 type Registration struct {
 	Warning string `json:"WARNING"` // Warning message to display, it's always the registrationWarning constant
 
-	ID      int64    `json:"id"`
-	UUID    string   `json:"uuid"`
-	Name    string   `json:"name"`
-	Token   string   `json:"token"`
-	Address string   `json:"address"`
-	Labels  []string `json:"labels"`
+	ID        int64    `json:"id"`
+	UUID      string   `json:"uuid"`
+	Name      string   `json:"name"`
+	Token     string   `json:"token"`
+	Address   string   `json:"address"`
+	Labels    []string `json:"labels"`
+	Ephemeral bool     `json:"ephemeral"`
 }
 
 func LoadRegistration(file string) (*Registration, error) {