diff --git a/python/libcudf/libcudf/load.py b/python/libcudf/libcudf/load.py
index bf27ecfa7f5..a91fbb7aecf 100644
--- a/python/libcudf/libcudf/load.py
+++ b/python/libcudf/libcudf/load.py
@@ -16,8 +16,36 @@
 import ctypes
 import os
 
+# Loading with RTLD_LOCAL adds the library itself to the loader's
+# loaded library cache without loading any symbols into the global
+# namespace. This allows libraries that express a dependency on
+# this library to be loaded later and successfully satisfy this dependency
+# without polluting the global symbol table with symbols from
+# libcudf that could conflict with symbols from other DSOs.
+PREFERRED_LOAD_FLAG = ctypes.RTLD_LOCAL
+
+
+def _load_system_installation(soname: str):
+    """Try to dlopen() the library indicated by ``soname``
+    Raises ``OSError`` if library cannot be loaded.
+    """
+    return ctypes.CDLL(soname, PREFERRED_LOAD_FLAG)
+
+
+def _load_wheel_installation(soname: str):
+    """Try to dlopen() the library indicated by ``soname``
+
+    Returns ``None`` if the library cannot be loaded.
+    """
+    if os.path.isfile(
+        lib := os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), "lib64", soname)
+    ):
+        return ctypes.CDLL(lib, PREFERRED_LOAD_FLAG)
+    return None
+
 
 def load_library():
+    """Dynamically load libcudf.so and its dependencies"""
     try:
         # libkvikio must be loaded before libcudf because libcudf references its symbols
         import libkvikio
@@ -29,28 +57,28 @@ def load_library():
         # we assume the library is discoverable on system paths.
         pass
 
-    # Dynamically load libcudf.so. Prefer a system library if one is present to
-    # avoid clobbering symbols that other packages might expect, but if no
-    # other library is present use the one in the wheel.
+    prefer_system_installation = (
+        os.getenv("RAPIDS_LIBCUDF_PREFER_SYSTEM_LIBRARY", "false").lower()
+        != "false"
+    )
+
+    soname = "libcudf.so"
     libcudf_lib = None
-    try:
-        libcudf_lib = ctypes.CDLL("libcudf.so", ctypes.RTLD_GLOBAL)
-    except OSError:
-        # If neither of these directories contain the library, we assume we are in an
-        # environment where the C++ library is already installed somewhere else and the
-        # CMake build of the libcudf Python package was a no-op.
-        #
-        # Note that this approach won't work for real editable installs of the libcudf package.
-        # scikit-build-core has limited support for importlib.resources so there isn't a clean
-        # way to support that case yet.
-        for lib_dir in ("lib", "lib64"):
-            if os.path.isfile(
-                lib := os.path.join(
-                    os.path.dirname(__file__), lib_dir, "libcudf.so"
-                )
-            ):
-                libcudf_lib = ctypes.CDLL(lib, ctypes.RTLD_GLOBAL)
-                break
+    if prefer_system_installation:
+        # Prefer a system library if one is present to
+        # avoid clobbering symbols that other packages might expect, but if no
+        # other library is present use the one in the wheel.
+        try:
+            libcudf_lib = _load_system_installation(soname)
+        except OSError:
+            libcudf_lib = _load_wheel_installation(soname)
+    else:
+        # Prefer the libraries bundled in this package. If they aren't found
+        # (which might be the case in builds where the library was prebuilt before
+        # packaging the wheel), look for a system installation.
+        libcudf_lib = _load_wheel_installation(soname)
+        if libcudf_lib is None:
+            libcudf_lib = _load_system_installation(soname)
 
     # The caller almost never needs to do anything with this library, but no
     # harm in offering the option since this object at least provides a handle