diff --git a/binders/rabbit-binder/spring-cloud-stream-binder-rabbit/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/stream/binder/rabbit/RabbitMessageChannelBinder.java b/binders/rabbit-binder/spring-cloud-stream-binder-rabbit/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/stream/binder/rabbit/RabbitMessageChannelBinder.java
index 6b4fd1633..8a3ef60e9 100644
--- a/binders/rabbit-binder/spring-cloud-stream-binder-rabbit/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/stream/binder/rabbit/RabbitMessageChannelBinder.java
+++ b/binders/rabbit-binder/spring-cloud-stream-binder-rabbit/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/stream/binder/rabbit/RabbitMessageChannelBinder.java
@@ -134,6 +134,7 @@ import org.springframework.util.StringUtils;
  * @author Artem Bilan
  * @author Soby Chacko
  * @author Oleg Zhurakousky
+ * @author Christian Tzolov
  */
 // @checkstyle:off
 public class RabbitMessageChannelBinder extends
@@ -277,6 +278,14 @@ public class RabbitMessageChannelBinder extends
 		}
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * Get the underlying {@link ConnectionFactory} instance to 
+	 * allow manually altering the connection lifecycle.
+	 */
+	public ConnectionFactory getConnectionFactory() {
+		return this.connectionFactory;
+	}
+
 	@Override
 	public RabbitConsumerProperties getExtendedConsumerProperties(String channelName) {
 		return this.extendedBindingProperties.getExtendedConsumerProperties(channelName);