diff --git a/sdk/lib/opentelemetry/sdk.rb b/sdk/lib/opentelemetry/sdk.rb
index 8bfde7198e..6447f18af5 100644
--- a/sdk/lib/opentelemetry/sdk.rb
+++ b/sdk/lib/opentelemetry/sdk.rb
@@ -61,6 +61,11 @@ module SDK
     #       c.use_all
     #     end
     def configure
+      if ENV['OTEL_SDK_DISABLED'] == 'true'
+        OpenTelemetry.logger.warn 'Environment variable OTEL_SDK_DISABLED is defined as true. SDK is disabled.'
+        return
+      end
+
       configurator = Configurator.new
       yield configurator if block_given?
       configurator.configure
diff --git a/sdk/test/opentelemetry/sdk_test.rb b/sdk/test/opentelemetry/sdk_test.rb
index f0ad461213..a7f65eb9a6 100644
--- a/sdk/test/opentelemetry/sdk_test.rb
+++ b/sdk/test/opentelemetry/sdk_test.rb
@@ -27,4 +27,13 @@
       _(received_message).must_match(/unexpected configuration error due to unknown keyword: .*invalid_option/)
     end
   end
+
+  describe '#configure (sdk disabled)' do
+    it 'ignore configuration when sdk is disabled by env' do
+      config = OpenTelemetry::TestHelpers.with_env('OTEL_SDK_DISABLED' => 'true') do
+        OpenTelemetry::SDK.configure
+      end
+      _(config).must_equal nil
+    end
+  end
 end