diff --git a/operator-framework-core/src/main/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/api/config/ConfigurationService.java b/operator-framework-core/src/main/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/api/config/ConfigurationService.java
index f13ae118f8..e2f3ac77c9 100644
--- a/operator-framework-core/src/main/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/api/config/ConfigurationService.java
+++ b/operator-framework-core/src/main/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/api/config/ConfigurationService.java
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ default Config getClientConfiguration() {
    * @return {@code true} if CRDs should be checked (default), {@code false} otherwise
    */
   default boolean checkCRDAndValidateLocalModel() {
-    return true;
+    return false;
   }
 
   int DEFAULT_RECONCILIATION_THREADS_NUMBER = 5;
diff --git a/operator-framework-core/src/main/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/api/config/Utils.java b/operator-framework-core/src/main/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/api/config/Utils.java
index db882ae09e..d74d27f2d4 100644
--- a/operator-framework-core/src/main/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/api/config/Utils.java
+++ b/operator-framework-core/src/main/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/api/config/Utils.java
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ public static boolean isValidateCustomResourcesEnvVarSet() {
   }
 
   public static boolean shouldCheckCRDAndValidateLocalModel() {
-    return getBooleanFromSystemPropsOrDefault(CHECK_CRD_ENV_KEY, true);
+    return getBooleanFromSystemPropsOrDefault(CHECK_CRD_ENV_KEY, false);
   }
 
   public static boolean debugThreadPool() {
diff --git a/operator-framework-core/src/test/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/api/config/ConfigurationServiceProviderTest.java b/operator-framework-core/src/test/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/api/config/ConfigurationServiceProviderTest.java
index f69dd0bc29..f8c1a0f6aa 100644
--- a/operator-framework-core/src/test/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/api/config/ConfigurationServiceProviderTest.java
+++ b/operator-framework-core/src/test/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/api/config/ConfigurationServiceProviderTest.java
@@ -35,16 +35,16 @@ void shouldProvideTheSetInstanceIfProvided() {
   @Test
   void shouldBePossibleToOverrideConfigOnce() {
     final var config = new AbstractConfigurationService(null);
-    assertTrue(config.checkCRDAndValidateLocalModel());
+    assertFalse(config.checkCRDAndValidateLocalModel());
 
     ConfigurationServiceProvider.set(config);
     var instance = ConfigurationServiceProvider.instance();
     assertEquals(config, instance);
 
-    ConfigurationServiceProvider.overrideCurrent(o -> o.checkingCRDAndValidateLocalModel(false));
+    ConfigurationServiceProvider.overrideCurrent(o -> o.checkingCRDAndValidateLocalModel(true));
     instance = ConfigurationServiceProvider.instance();
     assertNotEquals(config, instance);
-    assertFalse(instance.checkCRDAndValidateLocalModel());
+    assertTrue(instance.checkCRDAndValidateLocalModel());
 
     assertThrows(IllegalStateException.class,
         () -> ConfigurationServiceProvider.overrideCurrent(o -> o.withCloseClientOnStop(false)));
diff --git a/operator-framework-core/src/test/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/api/config/UtilsTest.java b/operator-framework-core/src/test/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/api/config/UtilsTest.java
index 0a24d4f26d..75d263a4e1 100644
--- a/operator-framework-core/src/test/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/api/config/UtilsTest.java
+++ b/operator-framework-core/src/test/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/api/config/UtilsTest.java
@@ -20,8 +20,8 @@
 class UtilsTest {
 
   @Test
-  void shouldCheckCRDAndValidateLocalModelByDefault() {
-    assertTrue(Utils.shouldCheckCRDAndValidateLocalModel());
+  void shouldNotCheckCRDAndValidateLocalModelByDefault() {
+    assertFalse(Utils.shouldCheckCRDAndValidateLocalModel());
   }
 
   @Test
diff --git a/operator-framework-core/src/test/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/processing/ControllerTest.java b/operator-framework-core/src/test/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/processing/ControllerTest.java
index 2f5b9bf4ba..1fb5b06562 100644
--- a/operator-framework-core/src/test/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/processing/ControllerTest.java
+++ b/operator-framework-core/src/test/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/processing/ControllerTest.java
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
 
 import io.fabric8.kubernetes.api.model.Secret;
-import io.javaoperatorsdk.operator.MissingCRDException;
 import io.javaoperatorsdk.operator.MockKubernetesClient;
 import io.javaoperatorsdk.operator.api.config.ConfigurationServiceProvider;
 import io.javaoperatorsdk.operator.api.config.ControllerConfiguration;
@@ -12,7 +11,6 @@
 import io.javaoperatorsdk.operator.sample.simple.TestCustomResource;
 
 import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThat;
-import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertThrows;
 import static org.mockito.Mockito.*;
 
 @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
@@ -47,19 +45,6 @@ void crdShouldNotBeCheckedForCustomResourcesIfDisabled() {
     }
   }
 
-  @Test
-  void crdShouldBeCheckedForCustomResourcesByDefault() {
-    ConfigurationServiceProvider.reset();
-    final var client = MockKubernetesClient.client(TestCustomResource.class);
-    when(configuration.getResourceClass()).thenReturn(TestCustomResource.class);
-
-    final var controller = new Controller<TestCustomResource>(reconciler, configuration, client);
-    // since we're not really connected to a cluster and the CRD wouldn't be deployed anyway, we
-    // expect a MissingCRDException to be thrown
-    assertThrows(MissingCRDException.class, controller::start);
-    verify(client, times(1)).apiextensions();
-  }
-
   @Test
   void usesFinalizerIfThereIfReconcilerImplementsCleaner() {
     Reconciler reconciler = mock(Reconciler.class, withSettings().extraInterfaces(Cleaner.class));