diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index b78adf6e06..7b02f81270 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -103,6 +103,7 @@ This release version has been deprecated release due to CI bug
 - Remove long-deprecated `perm*whitelist*` methods [#7401](https://github.com/hyperledger/besu/pull/7401)
 
 ### Additions and Improvements
+- Allow optional loading of `jemalloc` (if installed) by setting the environment variable `BESU_USING_JEMALLOC` to true/false. It that env is not set at all it will behave as if it is set to `true`
 - Expose set finalized/safe block in plugin api BlockchainService. These method can be used by plugins to set finalized/safe block for a PoA network (such as QBFT, IBFT and Clique).[#7382](https://github.com/hyperledger/besu/pull/7382)
 - In process RPC service [#7395](https://github.com/hyperledger/besu/pull/7395)
 - Added support for tracing private transactions using `priv_traceTransaction` API. [#6161](https://github.com/hyperledger/besu/pull/6161)
diff --git a/besu/src/main/java/org/hyperledger/besu/cli/ConfigurationOverviewBuilder.java b/besu/src/main/java/org/hyperledger/besu/cli/ConfigurationOverviewBuilder.java
index b3dfa2a054..a7b43d0d9e 100644
--- a/besu/src/main/java/org/hyperledger/besu/cli/ConfigurationOverviewBuilder.java
+++ b/besu/src/main/java/org/hyperledger/besu/cli/ConfigurationOverviewBuilder.java
@@ -433,14 +433,18 @@ public class ConfigurationOverviewBuilder {
   private void detectJemalloc(final List<String> lines) {
     Optional.ofNullable(Objects.isNull(environment) ? null : environment.get("BESU_USING_JEMALLOC"))
         .ifPresentOrElse(
-            t -> {
+            jemallocEnabled -> {
               try {
-                final String version = PlatformDetector.getJemalloc();
-                lines.add("jemalloc: " + version);
+                if (Boolean.parseBoolean(jemallocEnabled)) {
+                  final String version = PlatformDetector.getJemalloc();
+                  lines.add("jemalloc: " + version);
+                } else {
+                  logger.warn(
+                      "besu_using_jemalloc is present but is not set to true, jemalloc library not loaded");
+                }
               } catch (final Throwable throwable) {
                 logger.warn(
-                    "BESU_USING_JEMALLOC is present but we failed to load jemalloc library to get the version",
-                    throwable);
+                    "besu_using_jemalloc is present but we failed to load jemalloc library to get the version");
               }
             },
             () -> {
diff --git a/besu/src/main/scripts/unixStartScript.txt b/besu/src/main/scripts/unixStartScript.txt
index 3302b9c2fe..9e5c5a300b 100644
--- a/besu/src/main/scripts/unixStartScript.txt
+++ b/besu/src/main/scripts/unixStartScript.txt
@@ -182,19 +182,19 @@ APP_ARGS=`save "\$@"`
 # Collect all arguments for the java command, following the shell quoting and substitution rules
 eval set -- \$DEFAULT_JVM_OPTS \$JAVA_OPTS \$${optsEnvironmentVar} <% if ( appNameSystemProperty ) { %>"\"-D${appNameSystemProperty}=\$APP_BASE_NAME\"" <% } %>-classpath "\"\$CLASSPATH\"" <% if ( mainClassName.startsWith('--module ') ) { %>--module-path "\"\$MODULE_PATH\"" <% } %>${mainClassName} "\$APP_ARGS"
 
-unset BESU_USING_JEMALLOC
 if [ "\$darwin" = "false" -a "\$msys" = "false" ]; then
-  # check if jemalloc is available
-  TEST_JEMALLOC=\$(LD_PRELOAD=libjemalloc.so sh -c true 2>&1)
-
-  # if jemalloc is available the output is empty, otherwise the output has an error line
-  if [ -z "\$TEST_JEMALLOC" ]; then
-    export LD_PRELOAD=libjemalloc.so
-    export BESU_USING_JEMALLOC=true
-  else
-    # jemalloc not available, as fallback limit malloc to 2 arenas
-    export MALLOC_ARENA_MAX=2
-  fi
+      if [ "\$BESU_USING_JEMALLOC" != "FALSE" -a "\$BESU_USING_JEMALLOC" != "false" ]; then
+      # check if jemalloc is available
+      TEST_JEMALLOC=\$(LD_PRELOAD=libjemalloc.so sh -c true 2>&1)
+
+      # if jemalloc is available the output is empty, otherwise the output has an error line
+      if [ -z "\$TEST_JEMALLOC" ]; then
+        export LD_PRELOAD=libjemalloc.so
+      else
+        # jemalloc not available, as fallback limit malloc to 2 arenas
+        export MALLOC_ARENA_MAX=2
+      fi
+    fi
 fi
 
 exec "\$JAVACMD" "\$@"
diff --git a/besu/src/test/java/org/hyperledger/besu/cli/BesuCommandTest.java b/besu/src/test/java/org/hyperledger/besu/cli/BesuCommandTest.java
index ea06f406ed..eb789478b9 100644
--- a/besu/src/test/java/org/hyperledger/besu/cli/BesuCommandTest.java
+++ b/besu/src/test/java/org/hyperledger/besu/cli/BesuCommandTest.java
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ import static org.mockito.ArgumentMatchers.any;
 import static org.mockito.ArgumentMatchers.contains;
 import static org.mockito.ArgumentMatchers.eq;
 import static org.mockito.ArgumentMatchers.isNotNull;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.argThat;
 import static org.mockito.Mockito.atLeast;
 import static org.mockito.Mockito.never;
 import static org.mockito.Mockito.verify;
@@ -2412,13 +2413,16 @@ public class BesuCommandTest extends CommandTestAbstract {
   @Test
   public void logsWarningWhenFailToLoadJemalloc() {
     assumeTrue(PlatformDetector.getOSType().equals("linux"));
-    setEnvironmentVariable("BESU_USING_JEMALLOC", "true");
+    setEnvironmentVariable("BESU_USING_JEMALLOC", "false");
     parseCommand();
     verify(mockLogger)
         .warn(
-            eq(
-                "BESU_USING_JEMALLOC is present but we failed to load jemalloc library to get the version"),
-            any(Throwable.class));
+            argThat(
+                arg ->
+                    arg.equals(
+                            "besu_using_jemalloc is present but is not set to true, jemalloc library not loaded")
+                        || arg.equals(
+                            "besu_using_jemalloc is present but we failed to load jemalloc library to get the version")));
   }
 
   @Test