diff --git a/RELEASE.md b/RELEASE.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..3095fee45
--- /dev/null
+++ b/RELEASE.md
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+Release type: minor
+
+Documents with the "disabled" status are ignored and not rendered to output
diff --git a/docs/content.rst b/docs/content.rst
index 7d7e2cfae..8969a1100 100644
--- a/docs/content.rst
+++ b/docs/content.rst
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ contains a list of reserved metadata keywords:
 ``summary``     Brief description of content for index pages
 ``lang``        Content language ID (``en``, ``fr``, etc.)
 ``translation`` If content is a translation of another (``true`` or ``false``)
-``status``      Content status: ``draft``, ``hidden``, or ``published``
+``status``      Content status: ``draft``, ``hidden``, ``disabled``, or ``published``
 ``template``    Name of template to use to generate content (without extension)
 ``save_as``     Save content to this relative file path
 ``url``         URL to use for this article/page
@@ -633,6 +633,13 @@ attribute. Hidden posts will be output to ``ARTICLE_SAVE_AS`` as expected, but
 are not included by default in tag, category, and author indexes, nor in the
 main article feed. This has the effect of creating an "unlisted" post.
 
+Disabled Posts
+==============
+
+Posts marked with the ``disabled`` status are ignored entirely. They are not
+processed, and not output to the ``ARTICLE_SAVE_AS`` path. These posts will
+also not be included in indexes or feeds.
+
 .. _W3C ISO 8601: https://www.w3.org/TR/NOTE-datetime
 .. _AsciiDoc: https://asciidoc.org
 .. _Pelican Plugins: https://github.com/pelican-plugins
diff --git a/pelican/contents.py b/pelican/contents.py
index 5a4032617..82e995ea6 100644
--- a/pelican/contents.py
+++ b/pelican/contents.py
@@ -547,9 +547,29 @@ def refresh_metadata_intersite_links(self) -> None:
                 self._summary = self.metadata["summary"]
 
 
+class SkipStub(Content):
+    # Stub class representing content that should not be processed in any way
+
+    def __init__(
+        self, content, metadata=None, settings=None, source_path=None, context=None
+    ):
+        self.source_path = source_path
+
+    def is_valid(self):
+        return False
+
+    @property
+    def content(self):
+        raise NotImplementedError("Stub content should not be read")
+
+    @property
+    def save_as(self):
+        raise NotImplementedError("Stub content cannot be saved")
+
+
 class Page(Content):
     mandatory_properties = ("title",)
-    allowed_statuses = ("published", "hidden", "draft")
+    allowed_statuses = ("published", "hidden", "draft", "disabled")
     default_status = "published"
     default_template = "page"
 
@@ -560,7 +580,7 @@ def _expand_settings(self, key: str) -> str:
 
 class Article(Content):
     mandatory_properties = ("title", "date", "category")
-    allowed_statuses = ("published", "hidden", "draft")
+    allowed_statuses = ("published", "hidden", "draft", "disabled")
     default_status = "published"
     default_template = "article"
 
diff --git a/pelican/generators.py b/pelican/generators.py
index 548c494fe..418ab284b 100644
--- a/pelican/generators.py
+++ b/pelican/generators.py
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@
 )
 
 from pelican.cache import FileStampDataCacher
-from pelican.contents import Article, Page, Static
+from pelican.contents import Article, Page, SkipStub, Static
 from pelican.plugins import signals
 from pelican.plugins._utils import plugin_enabled
 from pelican.readers import Readers
@@ -690,6 +690,10 @@ def generate_context(self):
                     self._add_failed_source_path(f)
                     continue
 
+                if isinstance(article, SkipStub):
+                    logger.debug("Safely skipping %s", f)
+                    continue
+
                 if not article.is_valid():
                     self._add_failed_source_path(f)
                     continue
@@ -702,6 +706,10 @@ def generate_context(self):
                 all_drafts.append(article)
             elif article.status == "hidden":
                 hidden_articles.append(article)
+            elif article.status == "skipped":
+                raise AssertionError(
+                    "Documents with 'disabled' status should be skipped"
+                )
 
             self.add_source_path(article)
             self.add_static_links(article)
@@ -899,6 +907,10 @@ def generate_context(self):
                     self._add_failed_source_path(f)
                     continue
 
+                if isinstance(page, SkipStub):
+                    logger.debug("Safely skipping %s", f)
+                    continue
+
                 if not page.is_valid():
                     self._add_failed_source_path(f)
                     continue
@@ -911,6 +923,11 @@ def generate_context(self):
                 hidden_pages.append(page)
             elif page.status == "draft":
                 draft_pages.append(page)
+            elif page.status == "skipped":
+                raise AssertionError(
+                    "Documents with 'disabled' status should be skipped"
+                )
+
             self.add_source_path(page)
             self.add_static_links(page)
 
diff --git a/pelican/readers.py b/pelican/readers.py
index 3d0e8d580..85e8819f5 100644
--- a/pelican/readers.py
+++ b/pelican/readers.py
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@
 
 from pelican import rstdirectives  # NOQA
 from pelican.cache import FileStampDataCacher
-from pelican.contents import Author, Category, Page, Tag
+from pelican.contents import Author, Category, Page, SkipStub, Tag
 from pelican.plugins import signals
 from pelican.utils import file_suffix, get_date, pelican_open, posixize_path
 
@@ -669,6 +669,9 @@ def typogrify_wrapper(text):
             )
             context_signal.send(context_sender, metadata=metadata)
 
+        if metadata.get("status") == "disabled":
+            content_class = SkipStub
+
         return content_class(
             content=content,
             metadata=metadata,
diff --git a/pelican/tests/content/article_skip.md b/pelican/tests/content/article_skip.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..341d90dc6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pelican/tests/content/article_skip.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+Title: Skipped article
+Date: 2024-06-30
+Status: disabled
+
+This content will not be rendered.
diff --git a/pelican/tests/test_cache.py b/pelican/tests/test_cache.py
index a1bbc5590..8876a8a51 100644
--- a/pelican/tests/test_cache.py
+++ b/pelican/tests/test_cache.py
@@ -183,15 +183,16 @@ def test_article_object_caching(self):
         generator.readers.read_file = MagicMock()
         generator.generate_context()
         """
-        6 files don't get cached because they were not valid
+        7 files don't get cached because they were not valid
         - article_with_attributes_containing_double_quotes.html
         - article_with_comments.html
         - article_with_null_attributes.html
         - 2012-11-30_md_w_filename_meta#foo-bar.md
         - empty.md
         - empty_with_bom.md
+        - article_skip.md
         """
-        self.assertEqual(generator.readers.read_file.call_count, 6)
+        self.assertEqual(generator.readers.read_file.call_count, 7)
 
     def test_article_reader_content_caching(self):
         """Test raw article content caching at the reader level"""