diff --git a/doc/developer-notes.md b/doc/developer-notes.md
index df224f89cd..d5f1839d06 100644
--- a/doc/developer-notes.md
+++ b/doc/developer-notes.md
@@ -453,7 +453,7 @@ Threads
 
 - ThreadScriptCheck : Verifies block scripts.
 
-- ThreadImport : Loads blocks from blk*.dat files or bootstrap.dat.
+- ThreadImport : Loads blocks from `blk*.dat` files or `-loadblock=<file>`.
 
 - ThreadDNSAddressSeed : Loads addresses of peers from the DNS.
 
diff --git a/doc/release-notes-15954.md b/doc/release-notes-15954.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..f4d2c5688c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/doc/release-notes-15954.md
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+Configuration option changes
+-----------------------------
+
+Importing blocks upon startup via the `bootstrap.dat` file no longer occurs by default. The file must now be specified with `-loadblock=<file>`.
diff --git a/src/init.cpp b/src/init.cpp
index fed793794b..c3a4afa50e 100644
--- a/src/init.cpp
+++ b/src/init.cpp
@@ -509,7 +509,7 @@ void SetupServerArgs(NodeContext& node)
     argsman.AddArg("-dbcache=<n>", strprintf("Maximum database cache size <n> MiB (%d to %d, default: %d). In addition, unused mempool memory is shared for this cache (see -maxmempool).", nMinDbCache, nMaxDbCache, nDefaultDbCache), ArgsManager::ALLOW_ANY, OptionsCategory::OPTIONS);
     argsman.AddArg("-debuglogfile=<file>", strprintf("Specify location of debug log file. Relative paths will be prefixed by a net-specific datadir location. (-nodebuglogfile to disable; default: %s)", DEFAULT_DEBUGLOGFILE), ArgsManager::ALLOW_ANY, OptionsCategory::OPTIONS);
     argsman.AddArg("-includeconf=<file>", "Specify additional configuration file, relative to the -datadir path (only useable from configuration file, not command line)", ArgsManager::ALLOW_ANY, OptionsCategory::OPTIONS);
-    argsman.AddArg("-loadblock=<file>", "Imports blocks from external blk000??.dat file on startup", ArgsManager::ALLOW_ANY, OptionsCategory::OPTIONS);
+    argsman.AddArg("-loadblock=<file>", "Imports blocks from external file on startup", ArgsManager::ALLOW_ANY, OptionsCategory::OPTIONS);
     argsman.AddArg("-maxmempool=<n>", strprintf("Keep the transaction memory pool below <n> megabytes (default: %u)", DEFAULT_MAX_MEMPOOL_SIZE), ArgsManager::ALLOW_ANY, OptionsCategory::OPTIONS);
     argsman.AddArg("-maxorphantxsize=<n>", strprintf("Maximum total size of all orphan transactions in megabytes (default: %u)", DEFAULT_MAX_ORPHAN_TRANSACTIONS_SIZE), ArgsManager::ALLOW_ANY, OptionsCategory::OPTIONS);
     argsman.AddArg("-maxrecsigsage=<n>", strprintf("Number of seconds to keep LLMQ recovery sigs (default: %u)", llmq::DEFAULT_MAX_RECOVERED_SIGS_AGE), ArgsManager::ALLOW_ANY, OptionsCategory::OPTIONS);
@@ -900,22 +900,6 @@ static void ThreadImport(ChainstateManager& chainman, std::vector<fs::path> vImp
         LoadGenesisBlock(chainparams);
     }
 
-    // hardcoded $DATADIR/bootstrap.dat
-    fs::path pathBootstrap = GetDataDir() / "bootstrap.dat";
-    if (fs::exists(pathBootstrap)) {
-        FILE *file = fsbridge::fopen(pathBootstrap, "rb");
-        if (file) {
-            fs::path pathBootstrapOld = GetDataDir() / "bootstrap.dat.old";
-            LogPrintf("Importing bootstrap.dat...\n");
-            LoadExternalBlockFile(chainparams, file);
-            if (!RenameOver(pathBootstrap, pathBootstrapOld)) {
-                throw std::runtime_error("Rename failed");
-            }
-        } else {
-            LogPrintf("Warning: Could not open bootstrap file %s\n", pathBootstrap.string());
-        }
-    }
-
     // -loadblock=
     for (const fs::path& path : vImportFiles) {
         FILE *file = fsbridge::fopen(path, "rb");