diff --git a/cli.js b/cli.js
index a65c2ba..9c58c49 100755
--- a/cli.js
+++ b/cli.js
@@ -98,10 +98,11 @@ if(help) {
   # Change output format (default: markdown)
   npx @11ty/import [type] [target] --format=html
 
-  # Change asset reference URLs: relative (default), absolute, colocate
+  # Change asset reference URLs: relative (default), absolute, colocate, disabled
   npx @11ty/import [type] [target] --assetrefs=relative
   npx @11ty/import [type] [target] --assetrefs=absolute
   npx @11ty/import [type] [target] --assetrefs=colocate
+  npx @11ty/import [type] [target] --assetrefs=disabled
 `);
 
 	process.exit();
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index e63eab3..6a24f04 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -16,7 +16,6 @@
 	},
 	"scripts": {
 		"test": "node --test",
-		"demo": "node .",
 		"prepare": "husky"
 	},
 	"publishConfig": {
diff --git a/src/Fetcher.js b/src/Fetcher.js
index 6474bc1..a28546c 100644
--- a/src/Fetcher.js
+++ b/src/Fetcher.js
@@ -23,6 +23,13 @@ const xmlParser = new XMLParser({
 });
 
 class Fetcher {
+	#cacheDuration = "0s";
+	#directoryManager;
+	#assetsFolder = "assets";
+	#persistManager;
+	#outputFolder = ".";
+	#downloadAssets = true;
+
 	static USER_AGENT = "Eleventy Import v1.0.0";
 
 	static getContextPathname(url) {
@@ -64,12 +71,6 @@ class Fetcher {
 		return xmlParser.parse(content);
 	}
 
-	#cacheDuration = "0s";
-	#directoryManager;
-	#assetsFolder = "assets";
-	#persistManager;
-	#outputFolder = ".";
-
 	constructor() {
 		this.fetchedUrls = new Set();
 		this.writtenAssetFiles = new Set();
@@ -99,6 +100,10 @@ class Fetcher {
 		this.#assetsFolder = folder;
 	}
 
+	setDownloadAssets(download) {
+		this.#downloadAssets = Boolean(download);
+	}
+
 	setUseRelativeAssetPaths(use) {
 		this.useRelativeAssets = Boolean(use);
 	}
@@ -153,6 +158,10 @@ class Fetcher {
 	}
 
 	async fetchAsset(assetUrl, contextEntry) {
+		if(!this.#downloadAssets) {
+			return assetUrl;
+		}
+
 		// Adds protocol from original page URL if a protocol relative URL
 		if(assetUrl.startsWith("//") && contextEntry.url) {
 			let contextUrl = new URL(contextEntry.url);
diff --git a/src/Importer.js b/src/Importer.js
index 3994cc1..e8ca16e 100644
--- a/src/Importer.js
+++ b/src/Importer.js
@@ -94,6 +94,10 @@ class Importer {
 		this.fetcher.setAssetsFolder(folder);
 	}
 
+	shouldDownloadAssets() {
+		return this.#assetReferenceType !== "disabled";
+	}
+
 	isAssetsColocated() {
 		return this.#assetReferenceType === "colocate";
 	}
@@ -104,12 +108,14 @@ class Importer {
 			this.setAssetsFolder("");
 		}
 
-		if(refType === "absolute") {
+		if(refType === "disabled") {
+			this.fetcher.setDownloadAssets(false);
+		} else if(refType === "absolute") {
 			this.fetcher.setUseRelativeAssetPaths(false);
 		} else if(refType === "relative" || refType === "colocate") {
 			this.fetcher.setUseRelativeAssetPaths(true);
 		} else {
-			throw new Error(`Invalid value for --assetrefs, must be one of: relative, colocate, or absolute. Received: ${refType} (${typeof refType})`);
+			throw new Error(`Invalid value for --assetrefs, must be one of: relative, colocate, absolute, or disabled. Received: ${refType} (${typeof refType})`);
 		}
 
 		this.#assetReferenceType = refType;
@@ -275,7 +281,11 @@ class Importer {
 
 			if(Importer.isHtml(entry)) {
 				let decodedHtml = entities.decodeHTML(entry.content);
-				entry.content = await this.htmlTransformer.transform(decodedHtml, entry);
+				if(!this.shouldDownloadAssets()) {
+					entry.content = decodedHtml;
+				} else {
+					entry.content = await this.htmlTransformer.transform(decodedHtml, entry);
+				}
 			}
 
 			if(isWritingToMarkdown) {