diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index c0880133abb..6ef0dd66486 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
 * State-viewer tool to dump and apply state changes from/to a range of blocks. [#8628](https://github.com/near/nearcore/pull/8628)
 * Experimental option to dump state of every epoch to external storage. [#8661](https://github.com/near/nearcore/pull/8661)
 * Add prometheus metrics for tracked shards, block height within epoch, if is block/chunk producer. [#8728](https://github.com/near/nearcore/pull/8728)
+* State sync is disabled by default [#8730](https://github.com/near/nearcore/pull/8730)
 * Node can restart if State Sync gets interrupted. [#8732](https://github.com/near/nearcore/pull/8732)
 * Merged two `neard view-state` commands: `apply-state-parts` and `dump-state-parts` into a single `state-parts` command. [#8739](https://github.com/near/nearcore/pull/8739)
 
diff --git a/chain/client/src/client.rs b/chain/client/src/client.rs
index e19cadd5c71..899c2507c58 100644
--- a/chain/client/src/client.rs
+++ b/chain/client/src/client.rs
@@ -240,8 +240,12 @@ impl Client {
             config.header_sync_stall_ban_timeout,
             config.header_sync_expected_height_per_second,
         );
-        let block_sync =
-            BlockSync::new(network_adapter.clone(), config.block_fetch_horizon, config.archive);
+        let block_sync = BlockSync::new(
+            network_adapter.clone(),
+            config.block_fetch_horizon,
+            config.archive,
+            config.state_sync_enabled,
+        );
         let state_sync = StateSync::new(network_adapter.clone(), config.state_sync_timeout);
         let num_block_producer_seats = config.num_block_producer_seats as usize;
         let data_parts = runtime_adapter.num_data_parts();
diff --git a/chain/client/src/info.rs b/chain/client/src/info.rs
index 20bf23b08fc..3de0f56faca 100644
--- a/chain/client/src/info.rs
+++ b/chain/client/src/info.rs
@@ -543,6 +543,14 @@ pub fn display_sync_status(sync_status: &SyncStatus, head: &Tip) -> String {
             for (shard_id, shard_status) in shard_statuses {
                 write!(res, "[{}: {}]", shard_id, shard_status.status.to_string(),).unwrap();
             }
+            // TODO #8719
+            tracing::warn!(target: "stats",
+                "The node is syncing its State. The current implementation of this mechanism is known to be unreliable. It may never complete, or fail randomly and corrupt the DB.\n\
+                 Suggestions:\n\
+                 * Download a recent data snapshot and restart the node.\n\
+                 * Disable state sync in the config. Add `\"state_sync_enabled\": false` to `config.json`.\n\
+                 \n\
+                 A better implementation of State Sync is work in progress.");
             res
         }
         SyncStatus::StateSyncDone => "State sync done".to_string(),
diff --git a/chain/client/src/sync/block.rs b/chain/client/src/sync/block.rs
index b5c750b27c2..11132f001ad 100644
--- a/chain/client/src/sync/block.rs
+++ b/chain/client/src/sync/block.rs
@@ -32,6 +32,8 @@ pub struct BlockSync {
     block_fetch_horizon: BlockHeightDelta,
     /// Whether to enforce block sync
     archive: bool,
+    /// Whether State Sync should be enabled when a node falls far enough behind.
+    state_sync_enabled: bool,
 }
 
 impl BlockSync {
@@ -39,8 +41,15 @@ impl BlockSync {
         network_adapter: PeerManagerAdapter,
         block_fetch_horizon: BlockHeightDelta,
         archive: bool,
+        state_sync_enabled: bool,
     ) -> Self {
-        BlockSync { network_adapter, last_request: None, block_fetch_horizon, archive }
+        BlockSync {
+            network_adapter,
+            last_request: None,
+            block_fetch_horizon,
+            archive,
+            state_sync_enabled,
+        }
     }
 
     /// Runs check if block sync is needed, if it's needed and it's too far - sync state is started instead (returning true).
@@ -85,6 +94,7 @@ impl BlockSync {
         if head.epoch_id != header_head.epoch_id && head.next_epoch_id != header_head.epoch_id {
             if head.height < header_head.height.saturating_sub(self.block_fetch_horizon)
                 && !self.archive
+                && self.state_sync_enabled
             {
                 // Epochs are different and we are too far from horizon, State Sync is needed
                 return Ok(true);
@@ -281,7 +291,7 @@ mod test {
         let network_adapter = Arc::new(MockPeerManagerAdapter::default());
         let block_fetch_horizon = 10;
         let mut block_sync =
-            BlockSync::new(network_adapter.clone().into(), block_fetch_horizon, false);
+            BlockSync::new(network_adapter.clone().into(), block_fetch_horizon, false, true);
         let mut chain_genesis = ChainGenesis::test();
         chain_genesis.epoch_length = 100;
         let mut env = TestEnv::builder(chain_genesis).clients_count(2).build();
@@ -361,7 +371,7 @@ mod test {
         let network_adapter = Arc::new(MockPeerManagerAdapter::default());
         let block_fetch_horizon = 10;
         let mut block_sync =
-            BlockSync::new(network_adapter.clone().into(), block_fetch_horizon, true);
+            BlockSync::new(network_adapter.clone().into(), block_fetch_horizon, true, true);
         let mut chain_genesis = ChainGenesis::test();
         chain_genesis.epoch_length = 5;
         let mut env = TestEnv::builder(chain_genesis).clients_count(2).build();
diff --git a/core/chain-configs/src/client_config.rs b/core/chain-configs/src/client_config.rs
index 898f8e8cb19..d65f19e2007 100644
--- a/core/chain-configs/src/client_config.rs
+++ b/core/chain-configs/src/client_config.rs
@@ -176,6 +176,9 @@ pub struct ClientConfig {
     /// Restart dumping state of selected shards.
     /// Use for troubleshooting of the state dumping process.
     pub state_sync_restart_dump_for_shards: Vec<ShardId>,
+    /// Whether to use the State Sync mechanism.
+    /// If disabled, the node will do Block Sync instead of State Sync.
+    pub state_sync_enabled: bool,
 }
 
 impl ClientConfig {
@@ -250,6 +253,7 @@ impl ClientConfig {
             state_sync_s3_bucket: String::new(),
             state_sync_s3_region: String::new(),
             state_sync_restart_dump_for_shards: vec![],
+            state_sync_enabled: true,
         }
     }
 }
diff --git a/nearcore/src/config.rs b/nearcore/src/config.rs
index f4cd1d367de..e70a8e9cd7c 100644
--- a/nearcore/src/config.rs
+++ b/nearcore/src/config.rs
@@ -356,6 +356,9 @@ pub struct Config {
     /// Options for dumping state of every epoch to S3.
     #[serde(skip_serializing_if = "Option::is_none")]
     pub state_sync: Option<StateSyncConfig>,
+    /// Whether to use state sync (unreliable and corrupts the DB if fails) or do a block sync instead.
+    #[serde(skip_serializing_if = "is_false")]
+    pub state_sync_enabled: bool,
 }
 
 fn is_false(value: &bool) -> bool {
@@ -393,6 +396,7 @@ impl Default for Config {
             split_storage: None,
             expected_shutdown: None,
             state_sync: None,
+            state_sync_enabled: false,
         }
     }
 }
@@ -717,6 +721,7 @@ impl NearConfig {
                     .state_sync
                     .as_ref()
                     .map_or(vec![], |x| x.drop_state_of_dump.clone().unwrap_or(vec![])),
+                state_sync_enabled: config.state_sync_enabled,
             },
             network_config: NetworkConfig::new(
                 config.network,