diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index ae0b42ee97..b931d27a02 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ set(UR_CONFORMANCE_TARGET_TRIPLES "" CACHE STRING
     "List of sycl targets to build CTS device binaries for")
 set(UR_CONFORMANCE_AMD_ARCH "" CACHE STRING "AMD device target ID to build CTS binaries for")
 option(UR_CONFORMANCE_ENABLE_MATCH_FILES "Enable CTS match files" ON)
-option(UR_CONFORMANCE_TEST_LOADER "Also test the loader in the conformance tests" ON)
+option(UR_CONFORMANCE_TEST_LOADER "Also test the loader in the conformance tests" OFF)
 set(UR_ADAPTER_LEVEL_ZERO_SOURCE_DIR "" CACHE PATH
     "Path to external 'level_zero' adapter source dir")
 set(UR_ADAPTER_OPENCL_SOURCE_DIR "" CACHE PATH
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 50168843b0..94beac88a6 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -133,7 +133,7 @@ List of options provided by CMake:
 | UR_CONFORMANCE_TARGET_TRIPLES | SYCL triples to build CTS device binaries for | Comma-separated list | spir64 |
 | UR_CONFORMANCE_AMD_ARCH | AMD device target ID to build CTS binaries for | string | `""` |
 | UR_CONFORMANCE_ENABLE_MATCH_FILES | Enable CTS match files | ON/OFF | ON |
-| UR_CONFORMANCE_TEST_LOADER | Build and run "loader" tests for the CTS | ON/OFF | ON |
+| UR_CONFORMANCE_TEST_LOADER | Additionally build and run "loader" tests for the CTS | ON/OFF | OFF |
 | UR_BUILD_ADAPTER_L0     | Build the Level-Zero adapter            | ON/OFF     | OFF     |
 | UR_BUILD_ADAPTER_OPENCL | Build the OpenCL adapter                | ON/OFF     | OFF     |
 | UR_BUILD_ADAPTER_CUDA   | Build the CUDA adapter                  | ON/OFF     | OFF     |