diff --git a/pgxn/neon/libpagestore.c b/pgxn/neon/libpagestore.c
index d0572e66cb..04d072037d 100644
--- a/pgxn/neon/libpagestore.c
+++ b/pgxn/neon/libpagestore.c
@@ -435,6 +435,14 @@ pg_init_libpagestore(void)
 							GUC_UNIT_MB,
 							NULL, NULL, NULL);
 
+	DefineCustomBoolVariable("neon.prefetch",
+							 "Enable Neon prefetch mechanism",
+							 NULL,
+							 &prefetch_enabled,
+							 false,
+							 PGC_SIGHUP,
+							 NULL, NULL, NULL);
+
 	relsize_hash_init();
 
 	if (page_server != NULL)
diff --git a/pgxn/neon/pagestore_client.h b/pgxn/neon/pagestore_client.h
index 5b21abc1bd..749b1289a1 100644
--- a/pgxn/neon/pagestore_client.h
+++ b/pgxn/neon/pagestore_client.h
@@ -154,6 +154,7 @@ extern char *zenith_timeline;
 extern char *zenith_tenant;
 extern bool wal_redo;
 extern int32 max_cluster_size;
+extern bool prefetch_enabled;
 
 extern const f_smgr *smgr_zenith(BackendId backend, RelFileNode rnode);
 extern void smgr_init_zenith(void);
diff --git a/pgxn/neon/pagestore_smgr.c b/pgxn/neon/pagestore_smgr.c
index ebf899dfdb..8c643ac826 100644
--- a/pgxn/neon/pagestore_smgr.c
+++ b/pgxn/neon/pagestore_smgr.c
@@ -98,6 +98,7 @@ char	   *page_server_connstring; // with substituted password
 char	   *zenith_timeline;
 char	   *zenith_tenant;
 bool		wal_redo = false;
+bool		prefetch_enabled;
 int32		max_cluster_size;
 
 /* unlogged relation build states */
@@ -1026,7 +1027,7 @@ zenith_prefetch(SMgrRelation reln, ForkNumber forknum, BlockNumber blocknum)
 			elog(ERROR, "unknown relpersistence '%c'", reln->smgr_relpersistence);
 	}
 
-	if (n_prefetch_requests < MAX_PREFETCH_REQUESTS)
+	if (prefetch_enabled && n_prefetch_requests < MAX_PREFETCH_REQUESTS)
 	{
 		prefetch_requests[n_prefetch_requests].rnode = reln->smgr_rnode.node;
 		prefetch_requests[n_prefetch_requests].forkNum = forknum;