diff --git a/docs/configuration.md b/docs/configuration.md
index 86d73cc..f4abcc9 100644
--- a/docs/configuration.md
+++ b/docs/configuration.md
@@ -331,7 +331,8 @@ Required amount of time (in minutes) the user must be a member of the server bef
 
 #### responseMessage
 **Default:** `Thank you for your message! Our mod team will reply to you here as soon as possible.`  
-The bot's response to the user when they message the bot and open a new modmail thread
+The bot's response to the user when they message the bot and open a new modmail thread.  
+If you have a multi-line or otherwise long `responseMessage`, you might want to turn off [showResponseMessageInThreadChannel](#showResponseMessageInThreadChannel) to reduce clutter in the thread channel on the inbox server.
 
 #### rolesInThreadHeader
 **Default:** `off`  
@@ -348,6 +349,11 @@ serverGreetings.541484311354933258.message[] = Welcome to server ID 541484311354
 serverGreetings.541484311354933258.message[] = Second line of the greeting.
 ```
 
+#### showResponseMessageInThreadChannel
+**Default:** `on`  
+Whether to show the [responseMessage](#responseMessage) sent to the user in the thread channel on the inbox server as well.  
+If you have a multi-line or otherwise long `responseMessage`, it might be a good idea to turn this off to reduce clutter.
+
 #### smallAttachmentLimit
 **Default:** `2097152`  
 Size limit of `relaySmallAttachmentsAsAttachments` in bytes (default is 2MB)
diff --git a/src/data/Thread.js b/src/data/Thread.js
index 54bbce9..6e1ee16 100644
--- a/src/data/Thread.js
+++ b/src/data/Thread.js
@@ -481,6 +481,7 @@ class Thread {
    * @param {boolean} [allowedMentions.everyone]
    * @param {boolean|string[]} [allowedMentions.roles]
    * @param {boolean|string[]} [allowedMentions.users]
+   * @param {boolean} [allowedMentions.postToThreadChannel]
    * @returns {Promise<void>}
    */
   async sendSystemMessageToUser(text, opts = {}) {
@@ -495,12 +496,14 @@ class Thread {
     const dmContent = await formatters.formatSystemToUserDM(threadMessage);
     const dmMsg = await this._sendDMToUser(dmContent);
 
-    const inboxContent = await formatters.formatSystemToUserThreadMessage(threadMessage);
-    const finalInboxContent = typeof inboxContent === "string" ? { content: inboxContent } : inboxContent;
-    finalInboxContent.allowedMentions = opts.allowedMentions;
-    const inboxMsg = await this._postToThreadChannel(inboxContent);
+    if (opts.postToThreadChannel !== false) {
+      const inboxContent = await formatters.formatSystemToUserThreadMessage(threadMessage);
+      const finalInboxContent = typeof inboxContent === "string" ? {content: inboxContent} : inboxContent;
+      finalInboxContent.allowedMentions = opts.allowedMentions;
+      const inboxMsg = await this._postToThreadChannel(inboxContent);
+      threadMessage.inbox_message_id = inboxMsg.id;
+    }
 
-    threadMessage.inbox_message_id = inboxMsg.id;
     threadMessage.dm_channel_id = dmMsg.channel.id;
     threadMessage.dm_message_id = dmMsg.id;
 
diff --git a/src/data/cfg.jsdoc.js b/src/data/cfg.jsdoc.js
index a2f1fc9..b6e46db 100644
--- a/src/data/cfg.jsdoc.js
+++ b/src/data/cfg.jsdoc.js
@@ -68,6 +68,7 @@
  * @property {boolean} [autoAlert=false]
  * @property {string} [autoAlertDelay="2m"] Delay before auto-alert kicks in. Uses the same format as timed close; for example 1m30s for 1 minute and 30 seconds.
  * @property {boolean} [pinThreadHeader=false]
+ * @property {boolean} [showResponseMessageInThreadChannel=true]
  * @property {string} [logStorage="local"]
  * @property {object} [logOptions]
  * @property {string} logOptions.attachmentDirectory
diff --git a/src/data/cfg.schema.json b/src/data/cfg.schema.json
index 92b5b93..bc5d443 100644
--- a/src/data/cfg.schema.json
+++ b/src/data/cfg.schema.json
@@ -373,6 +373,11 @@
       "default": false
     },
 
+    "showResponseMessageInThreadChannel": {
+      "$ref": "#/definitions/customBoolean",
+      "default": true
+    },
+
     "logStorage": {
       "type": "string",
       "default": "local"
diff --git a/src/data/threads.js b/src/data/threads.js
index 6488cf3..a5f50e9 100644
--- a/src/data/threads.js
+++ b/src/data/threads.js
@@ -221,7 +221,6 @@ async function createNewThreadForUser(user, opts = {}) {
     });
 
     const newThread = await findById(newThreadId);
-    let responseMessageError = null;
 
     if (! quiet) {
       // Ping moderators of the new thread
diff --git a/src/main.js b/src/main.js
index 076855b..a220cb1 100644
--- a/src/main.js
+++ b/src/main.js
@@ -169,7 +169,8 @@ function initBaseMessageHandlers() {
             const responseMessage = utils.readMultilineConfigValue(config.responseMessage);
 
             try {
-              await thread.sendSystemMessageToUser(responseMessage);
+              const postToThreadChannel = config.showResponseMessageInThreadChannel;
+              await thread.sendSystemMessageToUser(responseMessage, { postToThreadChannel });
             } catch (err) {
               await thread.postSystemMessage(`**NOTE:** Could not send auto-response to the user. The error given was: \`${err.message}\``);
             }