diff --git a/ansible/group_vars/all.yml b/ansible/group_vars/all.yml
index 4fd6dd180c..5632e13337 100644
--- a/ansible/group_vars/all.yml
+++ b/ansible/group_vars/all.yml
@@ -901,6 +901,7 @@ enable_horizon_zun: "{{ enable_zun | bool }}"
 enable_influxdb: "{{ enable_cloudkitty | bool and cloudkitty_storage_backend == 'influxdb' }}"
 enable_ironic: "no"
 enable_ironic_dnsmasq: "{{ enable_ironic | bool }}"
+enable_ironic_inspector: "no"
 enable_ironic_neutron_agent: "{{ enable_neutron | bool and enable_ironic | bool }}"
 enable_ironic_prometheus_exporter: "{{ enable_ironic | bool and enable_prometheus | bool }}"
 enable_iscsid: "{{ enable_cinder | bool and enable_cinder_backend_iscsi | bool }}"
diff --git a/ansible/roles/ironic/defaults/main.yml b/ansible/roles/ironic/defaults/main.yml
index 13b95e47e1..86adc7b75e 100644
--- a/ansible/roles/ironic/defaults/main.yml
+++ b/ansible/roles/ironic/defaults/main.yml
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ ironic_services:
   ironic-inspector:
     container_name: ironic_inspector
     group: ironic-inspector
-    enabled: true
+    enabled: "{{ enable_ironic_inspector }}"
     image: "{{ ironic_inspector_image_full }}"
     privileged: True
     volumes: "{{ ironic_inspector_default_volumes + ironic_inspector_extra_volumes }}"
diff --git a/ansible/roles/ironic/tasks/bootstrap_service.yml b/ansible/roles/ironic/tasks/bootstrap_service.yml
index bb8a4e5e6e..b1ade0333d 100644
--- a/ansible/roles/ironic/tasks/bootstrap_service.yml
+++ b/ansible/roles/ironic/tasks/bootstrap_service.yml
@@ -43,7 +43,9 @@
     volumes: "{{ ironic_inspector.volumes | reject('equalto', '') | list }}"
   run_once: True
   delegate_to: "{{ groups[ironic_inspector.group][0] }}"
-  when: inventory_hostname in groups[ironic_inspector.group]
+  when:
+    - inventory_hostname in groups[ironic_inspector.group]
+    - enable_ironic_inspector | bool
 
 - name: Running ironic-tftp bootstrap container
   vars:
diff --git a/releasenotes/notes/deprecate-inspector-86fb3aa691099267.yaml b/releasenotes/notes/deprecate-inspector-86fb3aa691099267.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..99b595f456
--- /dev/null
+++ b/releasenotes/notes/deprecate-inspector-86fb3aa691099267.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+---
+upgrade:
+  - |
+    ``enable_ironic_inspector`` is set to ``no`` by default, due to Ironic
+    Inspector project deprecation (and plans for removal).
+deprecations:
+  - |
+    ``ironic-inspector`` deployment is deprecated for removal once
+    implementation in Ironic reaches feature parity. See
+    `Ironic Inspector deprecation notice <https://docs.openstack.org/releasenotes/ironic-inspector/2024.2.html#deprecation-notes>`_
diff --git a/tests/test-ironic.sh b/tests/test-ironic.sh
index 4b011669aa..b182dcc52d 100755
--- a/tests/test-ironic.sh
+++ b/tests/test-ironic.sh
@@ -21,8 +21,6 @@ function test_ironic_logged {
     openstack --os-cloud kolla-admin-system-internal baremetal driver list
     openstack baremetal node list
     openstack baremetal port list
-    # Ironic Inspector API
-    openstack baremetal introspection rule list
 
     openstack baremetal node show tk0
     openstack baremetal node power off tk0