diff --git a/telethon/telegram_bare_client.py b/telethon/telegram_bare_client.py
index 1a6cfebd..251c927e 100644
--- a/telethon/telegram_bare_client.py
+++ b/telethon/telegram_bare_client.py
@@ -68,6 +68,7 @@ class TelegramBareClient:
                  connection_mode=ConnectionMode.TCP_FULL,
                  proxy=None,
                  update_workers=None,
+                 spawn_read_thread=True,
                  timeout=timedelta(seconds=5),
                  **kwargs):
         """Refer to TelegramClient.__init__ for docs on this method"""
@@ -131,7 +132,9 @@ class TelegramBareClient:
         # Uploaded files cache so subsequent calls are instant
         self._upload_cache = {}
 
-        # Constantly read for results and updates from within the main client
+        # Constantly read for results and updates from within the main client,
+        # if the user has left enabled such option.
+        self._spawn_read_thread = spawn_read_thread
         self._recv_thread = None
 
         # Identifier of the main thread (the one that called .connect()).
@@ -704,7 +707,7 @@ class TelegramBareClient:
 
     def _set_connected_and_authorized(self):
         self._authorized = True
-        if self._recv_thread is None:
+        if self._spawn_read_thread and self._recv_thread is None:
             self._recv_thread = threading.Thread(
                 name='ReadThread', daemon=True,
                 target=self._recv_thread_impl
diff --git a/telethon/telegram_client.py b/telethon/telegram_client.py
index b78fc68d..a053ed95 100644
--- a/telethon/telegram_client.py
+++ b/telethon/telegram_client.py
@@ -59,6 +59,7 @@ class TelegramClient(TelegramBareClient):
                  proxy=None,
                  update_workers=None,
                  timeout=timedelta(seconds=5),
+                 spawn_read_thread=True,
                  **kwargs):
         """Initializes the Telegram client with the specified API ID and Hash.
 
@@ -77,9 +78,15 @@ class TelegramClient(TelegramBareClient):
              > 0: 'update_workers' background threads will be spawned, any
                   any of them will invoke all the self.updates.handlers.
 
-           Despite the value of 'process_updates', if you later call
-           '.add_update_handler(...)', updates will also be processed
-           and the update objects will be passed to the handlers you added.
+           If 'spawn_read_thread', a background thread will be started once
+           an authorized user has been logged in to Telegram to read items
+           (such as updates and responses) from the network as soon as they
+           occur, which will speed things up.
+
+           If you don't want to spawn any additional threads, pending updates
+           will be read and processed accordingly after invoking a request
+           and not immediately. This is useful if you don't care about updates
+           at all and have set 'update_workers=None'.
 
            If more named arguments are provided as **kwargs, they will be
            used to update the Session instance. Most common settings are:
@@ -95,6 +102,7 @@ class TelegramClient(TelegramBareClient):
             connection_mode=connection_mode,
             proxy=proxy,
             update_workers=update_workers,
+            spawn_read_thread=spawn_read_thread,
             timeout=timeout
         )