diff --git a/distributed/distributed-schema.yaml b/distributed/distributed-schema.yaml
index 942eab8ff9a..dda31a0d2d2 100644
--- a/distributed/distributed-schema.yaml
+++ b/distributed/distributed-schema.yaml
@@ -246,7 +246,15 @@ properties:
 
                   These modules will have a ``routes`` keyword that gets added to the main HTTP Server.
                   This is also a list that can be extended with user defined modules.
+                  These routes should be read-only; they should not be able to affect cluster state.
+              insecure-routes:
+                type: array
+                description: |
+                  A list of modules that will only be added as HTTP routes if unauthenticated client connections are allowed
 
+                  These routes offer the ability to affect cluster state. Unlike client connections, HTTP routes do not support
+                  authentication. Since the client is the primary way to affect cluster state, it's assumed that if client
+                  connections require authentication, these routes should not be exposed.
           allowed-imports:
             type: array
             description: |
diff --git a/distributed/distributed.yaml b/distributed/distributed.yaml
index 931c7438ad2..8073d7713d1 100644
--- a/distributed/distributed.yaml
+++ b/distributed/distributed.yaml
@@ -53,10 +53,11 @@ distributed:
         - distributed.http.scheduler.prometheus
         - distributed.http.scheduler.info
         - distributed.http.scheduler.json
-        - distributed.http.scheduler.api
         - distributed.http.health
         - distributed.http.proxy
         - distributed.http.statics
+      insecure-routes:
+        - distributed.http.scheduler.api
 
     allowed-imports:
       - dask
diff --git a/distributed/http/scheduler/tests/test_scheduler_http.py b/distributed/http/scheduler/tests/test_scheduler_http.py
index 94f7563039e..ee3584b796c 100644
--- a/distributed/http/scheduler/tests/test_scheduler_http.py
+++ b/distributed/http/scheduler/tests/test_scheduler_http.py
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
 from dask.sizeof import sizeof
 
 from distributed.utils import is_valid_xml
-from distributed.utils_test import gen_cluster, inc, slowinc
+from distributed.utils_test import gen_cluster, inc, slowinc, tls_only_security
 
 
 @gen_cluster(client=True)
@@ -259,6 +259,15 @@ async def test_api(c, s, a, b):
             assert (await resp.text()) == "API V1"
 
 
+@gen_cluster(client=True, clean_kwargs={"threads": False}, security=tls_only_security())
+async def test_api_disabled_if_secure(c, s, a, b):
+    async with aiohttp.ClientSession() as session:
+        async with session.get(
+            "http://localhost:%d/api/v1" % s.http_server.port
+        ) as resp:
+            assert resp.status == 404
+
+
 @gen_cluster(client=True, clean_kwargs={"threads": False})
 async def test_retire_workers(c, s, a, b):
     async with aiohttp.ClientSession() as session:
diff --git a/distributed/scheduler.py b/distributed/scheduler.py
index 45d7c58bf79..9617afa7bcc 100644
--- a/distributed/scheduler.py
+++ b/distributed/scheduler.py
@@ -2951,6 +2951,10 @@ def __init__(
             except ImportError:
                 show_dashboard = False
                 http_server_modules.append("distributed.http.scheduler.missing_bokeh")
+        if not self.security.require_encryption:
+            http_server_modules.extend(
+                dask.config.get("distributed.scheduler.http.insecure-routes")
+            )
         routes = get_handlers(
             server=self, modules=http_server_modules, prefix=http_prefix
         )
diff --git a/docs/source/http_services.rst b/docs/source/http_services.rst
index 31bb62292a7..a4caf906c39 100644
--- a/docs/source/http_services.rst
+++ b/docs/source/http_services.rst
@@ -52,7 +52,11 @@ Pages and JSON endpoints served by the scheduler
 Scheduler API
 -------------
 
-Scheduler methods exposed by the API with an example of the request body they take
+Scheduler methods exposed by the API with an example of the request body they take.
+
+.. note::
+   To prevent unauthorized access, the scheduler API is disabled by default if `tls`_ is enabled.
+   See the ``distributed.http.insecure-routes`` :doc:`config <configuration>` setting.
 
 - ``/api/v1/retire_workers`` : retire certain workers on the scheduler
 
@@ -63,7 +67,7 @@ Scheduler methods exposed by the API with an example of the request body they ta
     }
 
 - ``/api/v1/get_workers`` : get all workers on the scheduler
-- ``/api/v1/adaptive_target`` : get the target number of workers based on the scheduler's load 
+- ``/api/v1/adaptive_target`` : get the target number of workers based on the scheduler's load
 
 Individual bokeh plots
 ----------------------