diff --git a/hbd/client/plugins/nagios_runner.py b/hbd/client/plugins/nagios_runner.py
index 566522f..64301f6 100644
--- a/hbd/client/plugins/nagios_runner.py
+++ b/hbd/client/plugins/nagios_runner.py
@@ -87,13 +87,14 @@ class NagiosRunnerPlugin(MonitorPlugin):
     
     async def initialize(self) -> bool:
         """Initialize the Nagios runner plugin.
-        
+
         Returns:
             True if at least one command is configured, False otherwise
         """
         self.logger.info(f"Initializing {self.name} plugin")
-        
+
         if not self.commands:
+            self.skip_reason = "no commands configured (add nagios_runner.commands to config)"
             self.logger.info("No Nagios commands configured")
             return False
         
diff --git a/tests/test_nagios_runner.py b/tests/test_nagios_runner.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4656a5e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_nagios_runner.py
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+import asyncio
+import logging
+import os
+import stat
+
+import pytest
+
+from hbd.client.plugins.nagios_runner import (
+    NagiosRunnerPlugin,
+    NAGIOS_OK,
+    NAGIOS_WARNING,
+    NAGIOS_CRITICAL,
+    NAGIOS_UNKNOWN,
+)
+
+
+def test_no_commands_sets_skip_reason():
+    plugin = NagiosRunnerPlugin(config={"commands": []})
+    result = asyncio.run(plugin.initialize())
+    assert result is False
+    assert plugin.skip_reason is not None
+    assert "nagios_runner.commands" in plugin.skip_reason