diff --git a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/SourceConfigParser.java b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/SourceConfigParser.java
index 26a754a..2ff9189 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/SourceConfigParser.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/SourceConfigParser.java
@@ -80,6 +80,22 @@
           }
         }
       }
+
+      if (sourceConfig.fetchEvery() > SourceConfiguration.DEFAULT_PERIODIC_FETCH_DISABLED
+          && !sourceConfig.getApis().isEmpty()) {
+        logger.atSevere().log(
+            "Receiving updates through periodic fetch (every %ds) and from Gerrit API(s) (%s) as a result of "
+                + "received events (in %s node) may result in racy writes to the repo (in extreme cases to its "
+                + "corruption). Periodic fetch is meant ONLY for remote that that doesn't offer events or "
+                + "webhooks that could be used otherwise for new data detection.",
+            sourceConfig.fetchEvery(), sourceConfig.getApis(), c.getName());
+        throw new ConfigInvalidException(
+            String.format(
+                "The [%s] remote has both 'fetchEvery' (every %ds) and `apiUrl` (%s) set which is "
+                    + "considered an invalid configuration.",
+                c.getName(), sourceConfig.fetchEvery(), sourceConfig.getApis()));
+      }
+
       sourceConfigs.add(sourceConfig);
     }
     return sourceConfigs.build();
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/SourceConfiguration.java b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/SourceConfiguration.java
index d481dbb..faba805 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/SourceConfiguration.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/SourceConfiguration.java
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@
   static final int DEFAULT_CONNECTION_TIMEOUT_MS = 5000;
   static final int DEFAULT_CONNECTIONS_PER_ROUTE = 100;
   static final int DEFAULT_DRAIN_SHUTDOWN_TIMEOUT_SECS = 300;
+  static final long DEFAULT_PERIODIC_FETCH_DISABLED = 0L;
 
   private final int delay;
   private final int rescheduleDelay;
@@ -59,6 +60,7 @@
   private boolean useCGitClient;
   private int refsBatchSize;
   private boolean enableBatchedRefs;
+  private final long fetchEvery;
 
   public SourceConfiguration(RemoteConfig remoteConfig, Config cfg) {
     this.remoteConfig = remoteConfig;
@@ -130,6 +132,10 @@
               + "details on the `enableBatchedRefs` configuration.",
           name);
     }
+
+    fetchEvery =
+        cfg.getTimeUnit(
+            "remote", name, "fetchEvery", DEFAULT_PERIODIC_FETCH_DISABLED, TimeUnit.SECONDS);
   }
 
   @Override
@@ -261,4 +267,8 @@
   public boolean enableBatchedRefs() {
     return enableBatchedRefs;
   }
+
+  public long fetchEvery() {
+    return fetchEvery;
+  }
 }
diff --git a/src/main/resources/Documentation/config.md b/src/main/resources/Documentation/config.md
index 3b76be9..5e791d4 100644
--- a/src/main/resources/Documentation/config.md
+++ b/src/main/resources/Documentation/config.md
@@ -616,6 +616,21 @@
 >
 >	By default, true.
 
+remote.NAME.fetchEvery
+:	Fetch the ref-spec `remote.NAME.fetch` from the remote repository defined
+	at `remote.NAME.url` for remote changes every `n` seconds.
+	By default set to `0s` which means that polling is disabled. Note that
+	larger time units (`m`, `h`, etc...) can be used to specify it conveniently.
+
+	Setting `fetchEvery` to value greater than `0` means that It will,
+	periodically, invoke git fetch to detect and retrieve new data from the
+	remote.
+
+>	*NOTE:* it is meant for the remote that doesn't offer events or webhooks
+>	that could be used otherwise for new data detection and cannot be configured
+>	together with `remote.NAME.apiUrl`; such configuration is considered
+>	invalid and prevents the plugin from starting
+
 Directory `replication`
 --------------------
 The optional directory `$site_path/etc/replication` contains Git-style
diff --git a/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/SourceConfigParserTest.java b/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/SourceConfigParserTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..306153a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/pull/SourceConfigParserTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+// Copyright (C) 2024 The Android Open Source Project
+//
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+// http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+
+package com.googlesource.gerrit.plugins.replication.pull;
+
+import static com.google.common.truth.Truth.assertThat;
+import static com.google.gerrit.testing.GerritJUnit.assertThrows;
+
+import com.google.inject.util.Providers;
+import com.googlesource.gerrit.plugins.replication.ReplicationConfig;
+import org.eclipse.jgit.errors.ConfigInvalidException;
+import org.eclipse.jgit.lib.Config;
+import org.junit.Before;
+import org.junit.Test;
+import org.junit.runner.RunWith;
+import org.mockito.Mock;
+import org.mockito.junit.MockitoJUnitRunner;
+
+@RunWith(MockitoJUnitRunner.class)
+public class SourceConfigParserTest {
+  @Mock ReplicationConfig replicationConfigMock;
+
+  private SourceConfigParser objectUnderTest;
+
+  @Before
+  public void setup() {
+    objectUnderTest = new SourceConfigParser(false, Providers.of(replicationConfigMock));
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void shouldThrowWhenBothFetchEveryAndApiUrlsConfigured() {
+    // given
+    Config config = new Config();
+    config.setString("remote", "test_remote", "fetch", "+refs/*:refs/*");
+    config.setString("remote", "test_remote", "projects", "to_be_replicated");
+
+    config.setString("remote", "test_remote", "apiUrl", "http://foo.bar/api");
+    config.setString("remote", "test_remote", "fetchEvery", "1s");
+
+    // when/then
+    String errorMessage =
+        assertThrows(ConfigInvalidException.class, () -> objectUnderTest.parseRemotes(config))
+            .getMessage();
+    assertThat(errorMessage).contains("invalid configuration");
+  }
+}