diff --git a/distributed/distributed.yaml b/distributed/distributed.yaml
index 931c7438ad2..74d59addb35 100644
--- a/distributed/distributed.yaml
+++ b/distributed/distributed.yaml
@@ -53,7 +53,6 @@ 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
diff --git a/distributed/http/scheduler/tests/test_scheduler_http.py b/distributed/http/scheduler/tests/test_scheduler_http.py
index 94f7563039e..e86f004b47e 100644
--- a/distributed/http/scheduler/tests/test_scheduler_http.py
+++ b/distributed/http/scheduler/tests/test_scheduler_http.py
@@ -10,11 +10,14 @@
 from tornado.escape import url_escape
 from tornado.httpclient import AsyncHTTPClient, HTTPClientError
 
+import dask.config
 from dask.sizeof import sizeof
 
 from distributed.utils import is_valid_xml
 from distributed.utils_test import gen_cluster, inc, slowinc
 
+DEFAULT_ROUTES = dask.config.get("distributed.scheduler.http.routes")
+
 
 @gen_cluster(client=True)
 async def test_connect(c, s, a, b):
@@ -248,7 +251,20 @@ async def test_eventstream(c, s, a, b):
     ws_client.close()
 
 
-@gen_cluster(client=True, clean_kwargs={"threads": False})
+def test_api_disabled_by_default():
+    assert "distributed.http.scheduler.api" not in dask.config.get(
+        "distributed.scheduler.http.routes"
+    )
+
+
+@gen_cluster(
+    client=True,
+    clean_kwargs={"threads": False},
+    config={
+        "distributed.scheduler.http.routes": DEFAULT_ROUTES
+        + ["distributed.http.scheduler.api"]
+    },
+)
 async def test_api(c, s, a, b):
     async with aiohttp.ClientSession() as session:
         async with session.get(
@@ -259,7 +275,14 @@ async def test_api(c, s, a, b):
             assert (await resp.text()) == "API V1"
 
 
-@gen_cluster(client=True, clean_kwargs={"threads": False})
+@gen_cluster(
+    client=True,
+    clean_kwargs={"threads": False},
+    config={
+        "distributed.scheduler.http.routes": DEFAULT_ROUTES
+        + ["distributed.http.scheduler.api"]
+    },
+)
 async def test_retire_workers(c, s, a, b):
     async with aiohttp.ClientSession() as session:
         params = {"workers": [a.address, b.address]}
@@ -273,7 +296,14 @@ async def test_retire_workers(c, s, a, b):
             assert len(retired_workers_info) == 2
 
 
-@gen_cluster(client=True, clean_kwargs={"threads": False})
+@gen_cluster(
+    client=True,
+    clean_kwargs={"threads": False},
+    config={
+        "distributed.scheduler.http.routes": DEFAULT_ROUTES
+        + ["distributed.http.scheduler.api"]
+    },
+)
 async def test_get_workers(c, s, a, b):
     async with aiohttp.ClientSession() as session:
         async with session.get(
@@ -286,7 +316,14 @@ async def test_get_workers(c, s, a, b):
             assert set(workers_address) == {a.address, b.address}
 
 
-@gen_cluster(client=True, clean_kwargs={"threads": False})
+@gen_cluster(
+    client=True,
+    clean_kwargs={"threads": False},
+    config={
+        "distributed.scheduler.http.routes": DEFAULT_ROUTES
+        + ["distributed.http.scheduler.api"]
+    },
+)
 async def test_adaptive_target(c, s, a, b):
     async with aiohttp.ClientSession() as session:
         async with session.get(