diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 9b13e4022f6..42903ad5013 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@
 - Add `publishRate` trigger to RabbitMQ scaler ([#1653](https://github.com/kedacore/keda/pull/1653))
 - AWS SQS Scaler: Add Visible + NotVisible messages for scaling considerations ([#1664](https://github.com/kedacore/keda/pull/1664))
 - Fixing behavior on ScaledJob with incorrect External Scaler ([#1672](https://github.com/kedacore/keda/pull/1672))
+- Apache Kafka Scaler: Add `allowIdleConsumers` to the list of trigger parameters ([#1684](https://github.com/kedacore/keda/pull/1684))
 
 ### Breaking Changes
 
diff --git a/pkg/scalers/kafka_scaler.go b/pkg/scalers/kafka_scaler.go
index a1227b27015..5772341bb2f 100644
--- a/pkg/scalers/kafka_scaler.go
+++ b/pkg/scalers/kafka_scaler.go
@@ -25,11 +25,12 @@ type kafkaScaler struct {
 }
 
 type kafkaMetadata struct {
-	bootstrapServers  []string
-	group             string
-	topic             string
-	lagThreshold      int64
-	offsetResetPolicy offsetResetPolicy
+	bootstrapServers   []string
+	group              string
+	topic              string
+	lagThreshold       int64
+	offsetResetPolicy  offsetResetPolicy
+	allowIdleConsumers bool
 
 	// SASL
 	saslType kafkaSaslType
@@ -181,6 +182,15 @@ func parseKafkaMetadata(config *ScalerConfig) (kafkaMetadata, error) {
 		}
 	}
 
+	meta.allowIdleConsumers = false
+	if val, ok := config.TriggerMetadata["allowIdleConsumers"]; ok {
+		t, err := strconv.ParseBool(val)
+		if err != nil {
+			return meta, fmt.Errorf("error parsing allowIdleConsumers: %s", err)
+		}
+		meta.allowIdleConsumers = t
+	}
+
 	return meta, nil
 }
 
@@ -360,9 +370,11 @@ func (s *kafkaScaler) GetMetrics(ctx context.Context, metricName string, metricS
 
 	kafkaLog.V(1).Info(fmt.Sprintf("Kafka scaler: Providing metrics based on totalLag %v, partitions %v, threshold %v", totalLag, len(partitions), s.metadata.lagThreshold))
 
-	// don't scale out beyond the number of partitions
-	if (totalLag / s.metadata.lagThreshold) > int64(len(partitions)) {
-		totalLag = int64(len(partitions)) * s.metadata.lagThreshold
+	if !s.metadata.allowIdleConsumers {
+		// don't scale out beyond the number of partitions
+		if (totalLag / s.metadata.lagThreshold) > int64(len(partitions)) {
+			totalLag = int64(len(partitions)) * s.metadata.lagThreshold
+		}
 	}
 
 	metric := external_metrics.ExternalMetricValue{
diff --git a/pkg/scalers/kafka_scaler_test.go b/pkg/scalers/kafka_scaler_test.go
index 1a140a248fe..71eeb0047cd 100644
--- a/pkg/scalers/kafka_scaler_test.go
+++ b/pkg/scalers/kafka_scaler_test.go
@@ -6,13 +6,14 @@ import (
 )
 
 type parseKafkaMetadataTestData struct {
-	metadata          map[string]string
-	isError           bool
-	numBrokers        int
-	brokers           []string
-	group             string
-	topic             string
-	offsetResetPolicy offsetResetPolicy
+	metadata           map[string]string
+	isError            bool
+	numBrokers         int
+	brokers            []string
+	group              string
+	topic              string
+	offsetResetPolicy  offsetResetPolicy
+	allowIdleConsumers bool
 }
 
 type parseKafkaAuthParamsTestData struct {
@@ -28,9 +29,10 @@ type kafkaMetricIdentifier struct {
 
 // A complete valid metadata example for reference
 var validKafkaMetadata = map[string]string{
-	"bootstrapServers": "broker1:9092,broker2:9092",
-	"consumerGroup":    "my-group",
-	"topic":            "my-topic",
+	"bootstrapServers":   "broker1:9092,broker2:9092",
+	"consumerGroup":      "my-group",
+	"topic":              "my-topic",
+	"allowIdleConsumers": "false",
 }
 
 // A complete valid authParams example for sasl, with username and passwd
@@ -45,21 +47,25 @@ var validWithoutAuthParams = map[string]string{}
 
 var parseKafkaMetadataTestDataset = []parseKafkaMetadataTestData{
 	// failure, no bootstrapServers
-	{map[string]string{}, true, 0, nil, "", "", ""},
+	{map[string]string{}, true, 0, nil, "", "", "", false},
 	// failure, no consumer group
-	{map[string]string{"bootstrapServers": "foobar:9092"}, true, 1, []string{"foobar:9092"}, "", "", "latest"},
+	{map[string]string{"bootstrapServers": "foobar:9092"}, true, 1, []string{"foobar:9092"}, "", "", "latest", false},
 	// failure, no topic
-	{map[string]string{"bootstrapServers": "foobar:9092", "consumerGroup": "my-group"}, true, 1, []string{"foobar:9092"}, "my-group", "", offsetResetPolicy("latest")},
+	{map[string]string{"bootstrapServers": "foobar:9092", "consumerGroup": "my-group"}, true, 1, []string{"foobar:9092"}, "my-group", "", offsetResetPolicy("latest"), false},
 	// success
-	{map[string]string{"bootstrapServers": "foobar:9092", "consumerGroup": "my-group", "topic": "my-topic"}, false, 1, []string{"foobar:9092"}, "my-group", "my-topic", offsetResetPolicy("latest")},
+	{map[string]string{"bootstrapServers": "foobar:9092", "consumerGroup": "my-group", "topic": "my-topic"}, false, 1, []string{"foobar:9092"}, "my-group", "my-topic", offsetResetPolicy("latest"), false},
 	// success, more brokers
-	{map[string]string{"bootstrapServers": "foo:9092,bar:9092", "consumerGroup": "my-group", "topic": "my-topic"}, false, 2, []string{"foo:9092", "bar:9092"}, "my-group", "my-topic", offsetResetPolicy("latest")},
+	{map[string]string{"bootstrapServers": "foo:9092,bar:9092", "consumerGroup": "my-group", "topic": "my-topic"}, false, 2, []string{"foo:9092", "bar:9092"}, "my-group", "my-topic", offsetResetPolicy("latest"), false},
 	// success, offsetResetPolicy policy latest
-	{map[string]string{"bootstrapServers": "foo:9092,bar:9092", "consumerGroup": "my-group", "topic": "my-topic", "offsetResetPolicy": "latest"}, false, 2, []string{"foo:9092", "bar:9092"}, "my-group", "my-topic", offsetResetPolicy("latest")},
+	{map[string]string{"bootstrapServers": "foo:9092,bar:9092", "consumerGroup": "my-group", "topic": "my-topic", "offsetResetPolicy": "latest"}, false, 2, []string{"foo:9092", "bar:9092"}, "my-group", "my-topic", offsetResetPolicy("latest"), false},
 	// failure, offsetResetPolicy policy wrong
-	{map[string]string{"bootstrapServers": "foo:9092,bar:9092", "consumerGroup": "my-group", "topic": "my-topic", "offsetResetPolicy": "foo"}, true, 2, []string{"foo:9092", "bar:9092"}, "my-group", "my-topic", ""},
+	{map[string]string{"bootstrapServers": "foo:9092,bar:9092", "consumerGroup": "my-group", "topic": "my-topic", "offsetResetPolicy": "foo"}, true, 2, []string{"foo:9092", "bar:9092"}, "my-group", "my-topic", "", false},
 	// success, offsetResetPolicy policy earliest
-	{map[string]string{"bootstrapServers": "foo:9092,bar:9092", "consumerGroup": "my-group", "topic": "my-topic", "offsetResetPolicy": "earliest"}, false, 2, []string{"foo:9092", "bar:9092"}, "my-group", "my-topic", offsetResetPolicy("earliest")},
+	{map[string]string{"bootstrapServers": "foo:9092,bar:9092", "consumerGroup": "my-group", "topic": "my-topic", "offsetResetPolicy": "earliest"}, false, 2, []string{"foo:9092", "bar:9092"}, "my-group", "my-topic", offsetResetPolicy("earliest"), false},
+	// failure, allowIdleConsumers malformed
+	{map[string]string{"bootstrapServers": "foobar:9092", "consumerGroup": "my-group", "topic": "my-topic", "allowIdleConsumers": "notvalid"}, true, 1, []string{"foobar:9092"}, "my-group", "my-topic", offsetResetPolicy("latest"), false},
+	// success, allowIdleConsumers is true
+	{map[string]string{"bootstrapServers": "foobar:9092", "consumerGroup": "my-group", "topic": "my-topic", "allowIdleConsumers": "true"}, false, 1, []string{"foobar:9092"}, "my-group", "my-topic", offsetResetPolicy("latest"), true},
 }
 
 var parseKafkaAuthParamsTestDataset = []parseKafkaAuthParamsTestData{
@@ -156,6 +162,9 @@ func TestGetBrokers(t *testing.T) {
 		if err == nil && meta.offsetResetPolicy != testData.offsetResetPolicy {
 			t.Errorf("Expected offsetResetPolicy %s but got %s\n", testData.offsetResetPolicy, meta.offsetResetPolicy)
 		}
+		if err == nil && meta.allowIdleConsumers != testData.allowIdleConsumers {
+			t.Errorf("Expected allowIdleConsumers %t but got %t\n", testData.allowIdleConsumers, meta.allowIdleConsumers)
+		}
 	}
 }