diff --git a/activemq-broker/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/broker/region/virtual/VirtualTopic.java b/activemq-broker/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/broker/region/virtual/VirtualTopic.java
index 95fa3330ec..14ea3fe34f 100644
--- a/activemq-broker/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/broker/region/virtual/VirtualTopic.java
+++ b/activemq-broker/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/broker/region/virtual/VirtualTopic.java
@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@ public class VirtualTopic implements VirtualDestination {
     private boolean selectorAware = false;
     private boolean local = false;
     private boolean concurrentSend = false;
+    private boolean transactedSend = false;
 
     @Override
     public ActiveMQDestination getVirtualDestination() {
@@ -181,4 +182,16 @@ public class VirtualTopic implements VirtualDestination {
     public void setConcurrentSend(boolean concurrentSend) {
         this.concurrentSend = concurrentSend;
     }
+
+    public boolean isTransactedSend() {
+        return transactedSend;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * When true, dispatch to matching destinations always uses a transaction.
+     * @param transactedSend
+     */
+    public void setTransactedSend(boolean transactedSend) {
+        this.transactedSend = transactedSend;
+    }
 }
diff --git a/activemq-broker/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/broker/region/virtual/VirtualTopicInterceptor.java b/activemq-broker/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/broker/region/virtual/VirtualTopicInterceptor.java
index 7967562ab9..36c08e084a 100644
--- a/activemq-broker/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/broker/region/virtual/VirtualTopicInterceptor.java
+++ b/activemq-broker/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/broker/region/virtual/VirtualTopicInterceptor.java
@@ -43,6 +43,8 @@ public class VirtualTopicInterceptor extends DestinationFilter {
     private final String postfix;
     private final boolean local;
     private final boolean concurrentSend;
+    private final boolean transactedSend;
+
     private final LRUCache<ActiveMQDestination, ActiveMQQueue> cache = new LRUCache<ActiveMQDestination, ActiveMQQueue>();
 
     public VirtualTopicInterceptor(Destination next, VirtualTopic virtualTopic) {
@@ -51,6 +53,7 @@ public class VirtualTopicInterceptor extends DestinationFilter {
         this.postfix = virtualTopic.getPostfix();
         this.local = virtualTopic.isLocal();
         this.concurrentSend = virtualTopic.isConcurrentSend();
+        this.transactedSend = virtualTopic.isTransactedSend();
     }
 
     public Topic getTopic() {
@@ -120,7 +123,7 @@ public class VirtualTopicInterceptor extends DestinationFilter {
 
     private LocalTransactionId beginLocalTransaction(int numDestinations, ConnectionContext connectionContext, Message message) throws Exception {
         LocalTransactionId result = null;
-        if (numDestinations > 1 && message.isPersistent() && message.getTransactionId() == null) {
+        if (transactedSend && numDestinations > 1 && message.isPersistent() && message.getTransactionId() == null) {
             result = new LocalTransactionId(new ConnectionId(message.getMessageId().getProducerId().toString()), message.getMessageId().getProducerSequenceId());
             connectionContext.getBroker().beginTransaction(connectionContext, result);
             connectionContext.setTransaction(connectionContext.getTransactions().get(result));
diff --git a/activemq-unit-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/activemq/broker/virtual/VirtualTopicFanoutPerfTest.java b/activemq-unit-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/activemq/broker/virtual/VirtualTopicFanoutPerfTest.java
index 90cdeea90c..4ba82eb6a4 100644
--- a/activemq-unit-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/activemq/broker/virtual/VirtualTopicFanoutPerfTest.java
+++ b/activemq-unit-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/activemq/broker/virtual/VirtualTopicFanoutPerfTest.java
@@ -55,6 +55,7 @@ public class VirtualTopicFanoutPerfTest {
                 for (VirtualDestination virtualDestination : ((VirtualDestinationInterceptor) destinationInterceptor).getVirtualDestinations()) {
                     if (virtualDestination instanceof VirtualTopic) {
                         ((VirtualTopic) virtualDestination).setConcurrentSend(true);
+                        ((VirtualTopic) virtualDestination).setTransactedSend(true);
                 }
             }
         }