diff --git a/docker/main/rootfs/etc/s6-overlay/s6-rc.d/chroma/run b/docker/main/rootfs/etc/s6-overlay/s6-rc.d/chroma/run
index 45b44779b..ef477d8a2 100644
--- a/docker/main/rootfs/etc/s6-overlay/s6-rc.d/chroma/run
+++ b/docker/main/rootfs/etc/s6-overlay/s6-rc.d/chroma/run
@@ -9,8 +9,19 @@ set -o errexit -o nounset -o pipefail
 # Tell S6-Overlay not to restart this service
 s6-svc -O .
 
-echo "[INFO] Starting ChromaDB..."
+search_enabled=`python3 /usr/local/semantic_search/get_search_settings.py | jq -r .enabled`
 
 # Replace the bash process with the Frigate process, redirecting stderr to stdout
 exec 2>&1
-exec /usr/local/chroma run --path /config/chroma --host 127.0.0.1
+
+if [[ "$search_enabled" == 'true' ]]; then
+    echo "[INFO] Starting ChromaDB..."
+    exec /usr/local/chroma run --path /config/chroma --host 127.0.0.1
+else
+    while true
+    do
+        sleep 9999
+        continue
+    done
+    exit 0
+fi
diff --git a/docker/main/rootfs/usr/local/semantic_search/get_search_settings.py b/docker/main/rootfs/usr/local/semantic_search/get_search_settings.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e4ec4ea1c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docker/main/rootfs/usr/local/semantic_search/get_search_settings.py
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+"""Prints the semantic_search config as json to stdout."""
+
+import json
+import os
+
+import yaml
+
+config_file = os.environ.get("CONFIG_FILE", "/config/config.yml")
+
+# Check if we can use .yaml instead of .yml
+config_file_yaml = config_file.replace(".yml", ".yaml")
+if os.path.isfile(config_file_yaml):
+    config_file = config_file_yaml
+
+try:
+    with open(config_file) as f:
+        raw_config = f.read()
+
+    if config_file.endswith((".yaml", ".yml")):
+        config: dict[str, any] = yaml.safe_load(raw_config)
+    elif config_file.endswith(".json"):
+        config: dict[str, any] = json.loads(raw_config)
+except FileNotFoundError:
+    config: dict[str, any] = {}
+
+search_config: dict[str, any] = config.get("semantic_search", {"enabled": False})
+
+print(json.dumps(search_config))
diff --git a/frigate/api/app.py b/frigate/api/app.py
index 79a78f454..732cdcf76 100644
--- a/frigate/api/app.py
+++ b/frigate/api/app.py
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import os
 import traceback
 from datetime import datetime, timedelta
 from functools import reduce
+from typing import Optional
 
 import requests
 from flask import Blueprint, Flask, current_app, jsonify, make_response, request
@@ -55,7 +56,7 @@ bp.register_blueprint(NotificationBp)
 def create_app(
     frigate_config,
     database: SqliteQueueDatabase,
-    embeddings: EmbeddingsContext,
+    embeddings: Optional[EmbeddingsContext],
     detected_frames_processor,
     storage_maintainer: StorageMaintainer,
     onvif: OnvifController,
diff --git a/frigate/app.py b/frigate/app.py
index dcc61a58c..9149f9854 100644
--- a/frigate/app.py
+++ b/frigate/app.py
@@ -321,6 +321,10 @@ class FrigateApp:
         logger.info(f"Review process started: {review_segment_process.pid}")
 
     def init_embeddings_manager(self) -> None:
+        if not self.config.semantic_search.enabled:
+            self.embeddings = None
+            return
+
         # Create a client for other processes to use
         self.embeddings = EmbeddingsContext()
         embedding_process = mp.Process(
@@ -816,7 +820,8 @@ class FrigateApp:
         self.db.stop()
 
         # Save embeddings stats to disk
-        self.embeddings.save_stats()
+        if self.embeddings:
+            self.embeddings.save_stats()
 
         # Stop Communicators
         self.inter_process_communicator.stop()
diff --git a/frigate/config.py b/frigate/config.py
index 126d964ff..a430b3d6c 100644
--- a/frigate/config.py
+++ b/frigate/config.py
@@ -736,7 +736,7 @@ class ReviewConfig(FrigateBaseModel):
 
 
 class SemanticSearchConfig(FrigateBaseModel):
-    enabled: bool = Field(default=True, title="Enable semantic search.")
+    enabled: bool = Field(default=False, title="Enable semantic search.")
     reindex: Optional[bool] = Field(
         default=False, title="Reindex all detections on startup."
     )