diff --git a/spring-cloud-stream-binder-rabbit/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/stream/binder/rabbit/RabbitMessageChannelBinder.java b/spring-cloud-stream-binder-rabbit/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/stream/binder/rabbit/RabbitMessageChannelBinder.java
index 902e32fe0..76b11a7d5 100644
--- a/spring-cloud-stream-binder-rabbit/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/stream/binder/rabbit/RabbitMessageChannelBinder.java
+++ b/spring-cloud-stream-binder-rabbit/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/stream/binder/rabbit/RabbitMessageChannelBinder.java
@@ -605,8 +605,7 @@ public class RabbitMessageChannelBinder extends
 					this.template.setUsePublisherConnection(true);
 				}
 
-				private final String exchange = deadLetterExchangeName(
-						properties.getExtension());
+				private final String exchange = deadLetterExchangeName(properties.getExtension());
 
 				private final String routingKey = properties.getExtension()
 						.getDeadLetterRoutingKey();
@@ -616,6 +615,8 @@ public class RabbitMessageChannelBinder extends
 
 				private int maxStackTraceLength = -1;
 
+				private Boolean dlxPresent;
+
 				@Override
 				public void handleMessage(org.springframework.messaging.Message<?> message) throws MessagingException {
 					Message amqpMessage = StaticMessageHeaderAccessor.getSourceData(message);
@@ -628,6 +629,9 @@ public class RabbitMessageChannelBinder extends
 						logger.error("No raw message header in " + message);
 					}
 					else {
+						if (!checkDlx()) {
+							return;
+						}
 						Throwable cause = (Throwable) message.getPayload();
 						if (!shouldRepublish(cause)) {
 							if (logger.isDebugEnabled()) {
@@ -692,6 +696,30 @@ public class RabbitMessageChannelBinder extends
 					}
 				}
 
+				private boolean checkDlx() {
+					if (this.dlxPresent == null) {
+						if (properties.getExtension().isAutoBindDlq()) {
+							this.dlxPresent = Boolean.TRUE;
+						}
+						else {
+							this.dlxPresent = this.template.execute(channel -> {
+								String dlx = deadLetterExchangeName(properties.getExtension());
+								try {
+									channel.exchangeDeclarePassive(dlx);
+									return Boolean.TRUE;
+								}
+								catch (IOException e) {
+									logger.warn("'republishToDlq' is true, but the '"
+											+ dlx
+											+ "' dead letter exchange is not present; disabling 'republishToDlq'");
+									return Boolean.FALSE;
+								}
+							});
+						}
+					}
+					return this.dlxPresent;
+				}
+
 				/**
 				 * Traverse the cause tree, stopping at AmqpRejectAndDontRequeueException
 				 * or ImmediateAcknowledgeAmqpException.
diff --git a/spring-cloud-stream-binder-rabbit/src/test/java/org/springframework/cloud/stream/binder/rabbit/RepublishUnitTests.java b/spring-cloud-stream-binder-rabbit/src/test/java/org/springframework/cloud/stream/binder/rabbit/RepublishUnitTests.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..873348d63
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spring-cloud-stream-binder-rabbit/src/test/java/org/springframework/cloud/stream/binder/rabbit/RepublishUnitTests.java
@@ -0,0 +1,76 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2020-2020 the original author or authors.
+ *
+ * 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
+ *
+ *      https://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 org.springframework.cloud.stream.binder.rabbit;
+
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.util.Collections;
+
+import com.rabbitmq.client.Channel;
+import org.junit.Test;
+
+import org.springframework.amqp.core.Message;
+import org.springframework.amqp.core.MessageProperties;
+import org.springframework.amqp.rabbit.connection.Connection;
+import org.springframework.amqp.rabbit.connection.ConnectionFactory;
+import org.springframework.boot.autoconfigure.amqp.RabbitProperties;
+import org.springframework.cloud.stream.binder.ExtendedConsumerProperties;
+import org.springframework.cloud.stream.binder.rabbit.properties.RabbitConsumerProperties;
+import org.springframework.cloud.stream.provisioning.ConsumerDestination;
+import org.springframework.integration.IntegrationMessageHeaderAccessor;
+import org.springframework.messaging.MessageHandler;
+import org.springframework.messaging.support.ErrorMessage;
+
+import static org.mockito.ArgumentMatchers.any;
+import static org.mockito.ArgumentMatchers.eq;
+import static org.mockito.BDDMockito.given;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.mock;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.never;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.times;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.verify;
+
+/**
+ * @author Gary Russell
+ * @since 3.0.6
+ *
+ */
+public class RepublishUnitTests {
+
+	@Test
+	public void testBadRepublishSetting() throws IOException {
+		ConnectionFactory cf = mock(ConnectionFactory.class);
+		Connection conn = mock(Connection.class);
+		given(cf.createConnection()).willReturn(conn);
+		Channel channel = mock(Channel.class);
+		given(channel.isOpen()).willReturn(true);
+		given(channel.exchangeDeclarePassive("DLX")).willThrow(new IOException());
+		given(conn.createChannel(false)).willReturn(channel);
+		RabbitProperties props = new RabbitProperties();
+		RabbitMessageChannelBinder binder = new RabbitMessageChannelBinder(cf, props, null);
+		RabbitConsumerProperties extension = new RabbitConsumerProperties();
+		ExtendedConsumerProperties<RabbitConsumerProperties> bindingProps =
+				new ExtendedConsumerProperties<RabbitConsumerProperties>(extension);
+		MessageHandler handler = binder.getErrorMessageHandler(mock(ConsumerDestination.class), "foo", bindingProps);
+		ErrorMessage message = new ErrorMessage(new RuntimeException("test"),
+				Collections.singletonMap(IntegrationMessageHeaderAccessor.SOURCE_DATA,
+						new Message("foo".getBytes(), new MessageProperties())));
+		handler.handleMessage(message);
+		handler.handleMessage(message);
+		verify(channel, times(1)).exchangeDeclarePassive("DLX");
+		verify(channel, never()).basicPublish(any(), any(), eq(false), any(), any());
+	}
+
+}