diff --git a/spiffworkflow-backend/src/spiffworkflow_backend/config/local_development.py b/spiffworkflow-backend/src/spiffworkflow_backend/config/local_development.py
index d1017315..f10d924e 100644
--- a/spiffworkflow-backend/src/spiffworkflow_backend/config/local_development.py
+++ b/spiffworkflow-backend/src/spiffworkflow_backend/config/local_development.py
@@ -17,5 +17,5 @@ SPIFFWORKFLOW_BACKEND_GIT_USERNAME = "sartography-automated-committer"
 SPIFFWORKFLOW_BACKEND_GIT_USER_EMAIL = f"{SPIFFWORKFLOW_BACKEND_GIT_USERNAME}@users.noreply.github.com"
 
 SPIFFWORKFLOW_BACKEND_EXTENSIONS_API_ENABLED = (
-    environ.get("SPIFFWORKFLOW_BACKEND_EXTENSIONS_API_ENABLED", default="true")
+    environ.get("SPIFFWORKFLOW_BACKEND_EXTENSIONS_API_ENABLED", default="false")
 ) == "true"
diff --git a/spiffworkflow-backend/src/spiffworkflow_backend/routes/extensions_controller.py b/spiffworkflow-backend/src/spiffworkflow_backend/routes/extensions_controller.py
index bff83fea..afae3363 100644
--- a/spiffworkflow-backend/src/spiffworkflow_backend/routes/extensions_controller.py
+++ b/spiffworkflow-backend/src/spiffworkflow_backend/routes/extensions_controller.py
@@ -98,13 +98,15 @@ def extension_run(
 
 
 def extension_list() -> flask.wrappers.Response:
-    _raise_unless_extensions_api_enabled()
-    process_model_extensions = ProcessModelService.get_process_models_for_api(
-        process_group_id=current_app.config["SPIFFWORKFLOW_BACKEND_EXTENSIONS_PROCESS_MODEL_PREFIX"],
-        recursive=True,
-        filter_runnable_as_extension=True,
-        include_files=True,
-    )
+    # return an empty list if the extensions api is not enabled
+    process_model_extensions = []
+    if current_app.config["SPIFFWORKFLOW_BACKEND_EXTENSIONS_API_ENABLED"]:
+        process_model_extensions = ProcessModelService.get_process_models_for_api(
+            process_group_id=current_app.config["SPIFFWORKFLOW_BACKEND_EXTENSIONS_PROCESS_MODEL_PREFIX"],
+            recursive=True,
+            filter_runnable_as_extension=True,
+            include_files=True,
+        )
     return make_response(jsonify(process_model_extensions), 200)