diff --git a/fabtests/pytest/efa/test_rdm.py b/fabtests/pytest/efa/test_rdm.py
index abd6453c1a0..0c68b898478 100644
--- a/fabtests/pytest/efa/test_rdm.py
+++ b/fabtests/pytest/efa/test_rdm.py
@@ -114,12 +114,16 @@ def test_rdm_pingpong_1G(cmdline_args, completion_semantic):
 def test_rdm_pingpong_zcpy_recv(cmdline_args, memory_type, zcpy_recv_max_msg_size, zcpy_recv_message_size):
     if cmdline_args.server_id == cmdline_args.client_id:
         pytest.skip("no zero copy recv for intra-node communication")
-    efa_run_client_server_test(cmdline_args, f"fi_rdm_pingpong --max-msg-size {zcpy_recv_max_msg_size}",
+    cmdline_args_copy = copy.copy(cmdline_args)
+    cmdline_args_copy.append_environ("FI_EFA_ENABLE_SHM_TRANSFER=0")
+    efa_run_client_server_test(cmdline_args_copy, f"fi_rdm_pingpong --max-msg-size {zcpy_recv_max_msg_size}",
                                "short", "transmit_complete", memory_type, zcpy_recv_message_size)
 
 @pytest.mark.functional
 def test_rdm_bw_zcpy_recv(cmdline_args, memory_type, zcpy_recv_max_msg_size, zcpy_recv_message_size):
     if cmdline_args.server_id == cmdline_args.client_id:
         pytest.skip("no zero copy recv for intra-node communication")
-    efa_run_client_server_test(cmdline_args, f"fi_rdm_bw --max-msg-size {zcpy_recv_max_msg_size}",
+    cmdline_args_copy = copy.copy(cmdline_args)
+    cmdline_args_copy.append_environ("FI_EFA_ENABLE_SHM_TRANSFER=0")
+    efa_run_client_server_test(cmdline_args_copy, f"fi_rdm_bw --max-msg-size {zcpy_recv_max_msg_size}",
                                "short", "transmit_complete", memory_type, zcpy_recv_message_size)
diff --git a/prov/efa/src/rdm/efa_rdm_ep_fiops.c b/prov/efa/src/rdm/efa_rdm_ep_fiops.c
index 39cc5ce13ae..ae1ff943f04 100644
--- a/prov/efa/src/rdm/efa_rdm_ep_fiops.c
+++ b/prov/efa/src/rdm/efa_rdm_ep_fiops.c
@@ -466,6 +466,12 @@ void efa_rdm_ep_set_use_zcpy_rx(struct efa_rdm_ep *ep)
 		goto out;
 	}
 
+	if (ep->shm_ep) {
+		EFA_INFO(FI_LOG_EP_CTRL, "Libfabric SHM is not turned off, zero-copy receive protocol will be disabled\n");
+		ep->use_zcpy_rx = false;
+		goto out;
+	}
+
 out:
 	EFA_INFO(FI_LOG_EP_CTRL, "efa_rdm_ep->use_zcpy_rx = %d\n",
 		 ep->use_zcpy_rx);
@@ -1225,6 +1231,8 @@ static int efa_rdm_ep_ctrl(struct fid *fid, int command, void *arg)
 		if (ret)
 			return ret;
 
+		efa_rdm_ep_update_shm(ep);
+
 		efa_rdm_ep_set_use_zcpy_rx(ep);
 
 		ret = efa_rdm_ep_create_base_ep_ibv_qp(ep);
@@ -1255,8 +1263,6 @@ static int efa_rdm_ep_ctrl(struct fid *fid, int command, void *arg)
 		EFA_INFO(FI_LOG_EP_CTRL, "libfabric %s efa endpoint created! address: %s\n",
 			fi_tostr("1", FI_TYPE_VERSION), ep_addr_str);
 
-		efa_rdm_ep_update_shm(ep);
-
 		/* Enable shm provider endpoint & post recv buff.
 		 * Once core ep enabled, 18 bytes efa_addr (16 bytes raw + 2 bytes qpn) is set.
 		 * We convert the address to 'gid_qpn' format, and set it as shm ep name, so
diff --git a/prov/efa/test/efa_unit_test_ep.c b/prov/efa/test/efa_unit_test_ep.c
index d05672d4c6f..f27450652bd 100644
--- a/prov/efa/test/efa_unit_test_ep.c
+++ b/prov/efa/test/efa_unit_test_ep.c
@@ -946,6 +946,7 @@ static void
 test_efa_rdm_ep_use_zcpy_rx_impl(struct efa_resource *resource, bool expected_use_zcpy_rx) {
 	struct efa_rdm_ep *ep;
 	size_t max_msg_size = 1000;
+	bool shm_permitted = false;
 
 	efa_unit_test_resource_construct_with_hints(resource, FI_EP_RDM, FI_VERSION(1, 14),
 	                                            resource->hints, false, true);
@@ -955,6 +956,11 @@ test_efa_rdm_ep_use_zcpy_rx_impl(struct efa_resource *resource, bool expected_us
 	/* Set sufficiently small max_msg_size */
 	assert_int_equal(fi_setopt(&resource->ep->fid, FI_OPT_ENDPOINT, FI_OPT_MAX_MSG_SIZE,
 			&max_msg_size, sizeof max_msg_size), 0);
+
+	/* Disable shm */
+	assert_int_equal(fi_setopt(&resource->ep->fid, FI_OPT_ENDPOINT, FI_OPT_SHARED_MEMORY_PERMITTED,
+			&shm_permitted, sizeof shm_permitted), 0);
+
 	assert_true(ep->max_msg_size == max_msg_size);
 	assert_int_equal(fi_enable(resource->ep), 0);
 	assert_true(ep->use_zcpy_rx == expected_use_zcpy_rx);