diff --git a/pkg/rpc/context.go b/pkg/rpc/context.go
index d9e3d0664b4d..49de5412b7c4 100644
--- a/pkg/rpc/context.go
+++ b/pkg/rpc/context.go
@@ -733,6 +733,14 @@ func (ctx *Context) grpcDialOptions(
 		dialOpts = append(dialOpts, grpc.WithDefaultCallOptions(grpc.UseCompressor((snappyCompressor{}).Name())))
 	}
 
+	// GRPC uses the HTTPS_PROXY environment variable by default[1]. This is
+	// surprising, and likely undesirable for CRDB because it turns the proxy
+	// into an availability risk and a throughput bottleneck. We disable the use
+	// of proxies by default.
+	//
+	// [1]: https://github.com/grpc/grpc-go/blob/c0736608/Documentation/proxy.md
+	dialOpts = append(dialOpts, grpc.WithNoProxy())
+
 	var unaryInterceptors []grpc.UnaryClientInterceptor
 
 	if tracer := ctx.AmbientCtx.Tracer; tracer != nil {