diff --git a/lib/cudadrv/context.jl b/lib/cudadrv/context.jl
index d8eec2420e..465d760d95 100644
--- a/lib/cudadrv/context.jl
+++ b/lib/cudadrv/context.jl
@@ -322,7 +322,9 @@ device_synchronize() = nonblocking_synchronize()
 @inline function nonblocking_synchronize()
     # perform as much of the sync as possible without blocking in CUDA.
     # XXX: remove this using a yield callback, or by synchronizing on a dedicated thread?
-    nonblocking_synchronize(legacy_stream())
+    if CUDA._use_nonblocking_synchronize[]
+        nonblocking_synchronize(legacy_stream())
+    end
 
     # even though the GPU should be idle now, CUDA hooks work to the actual API call.
     # see NVIDIA bug #3383169 for more details.
diff --git a/lib/cudadrv/events.jl b/lib/cudadrv/events.jl
index 8c4192d9c8..a9abeaa01a 100644
--- a/lib/cudadrv/events.jl
+++ b/lib/cudadrv/events.jl
@@ -52,7 +52,9 @@ Waits for an event to complete.
 function synchronize(e::CuEvent)
     # perform as much of the sync as possible without blocking in CUDA.
     # XXX: remove this using a yield callback, or by synchronizing on a dedicated thread?
-    nonblocking_synchronize(e)
+    if CUDA._use_nonblocking_synchronize[]
+        nonblocking_synchronize(e)
+    end
 
     # even though the GPU should be idle now, CUDA hooks work to the actual API call.
     # see NVIDIA bug #3383169 for more details.
diff --git a/lib/cudadrv/stream.jl b/lib/cudadrv/stream.jl
index 67f455a740..4e63cf463a 100644
--- a/lib/cudadrv/stream.jl
+++ b/lib/cudadrv/stream.jl
@@ -127,7 +127,9 @@ function synchronize(stream::CuStream=stream(); blocking=nothing)
 
     # perform as much of the sync as possible without blocking in CUDA.
     # XXX: remove this using a yield callback, or by synchronizing on a dedicated stream?
-    nonblocking_synchronize(stream)
+    if CUDA._use_nonblocking_synchronize[]
+        nonblocking_synchronize(stream)
+    end
 
     # even though the GPU should be idle now, CUDA hooks work to the actual API call.
     # see NVIDIA bug #3383169 for more details.
diff --git a/src/initialization.jl b/src/initialization.jl
index 9fd4455ff1..c0ddd1b0df 100644
--- a/src/initialization.jl
+++ b/src/initialization.jl
@@ -28,6 +28,8 @@ function functional(show_reason::Bool=false)
     return false
 end
 
+const _use_nonblocking_synchronize = Ref{Bool}(true)
+
 function __init__()
     precompiling = ccall(:jl_generating_output, Cint, ()) != 0
 
@@ -183,6 +185,10 @@ function __init__()
         end
     end
 
+    if haskey(ENV, "JULIA_CUDA_NONBLOCKING_SYNCHRONIZE")
+        _use_nonblocking_synchronize[] = parse(Bool, ENV["JULIA_CUDA_NONBLOCKING_SYNCHRONIZE"])
+    end
+
     _initialized[] = true
 end