diff --git a/src/sql/src/kafka_util.rs b/src/sql/src/kafka_util.rs
index 6953f519e6261..e6a730877fa28 100644
--- a/src/sql/src/kafka_util.rs
+++ b/src/sql/src/kafka_util.rs
@@ -72,10 +72,10 @@ impl Config {
     }
 
     // Allows for returning a default value for this configuration option
-    fn set_default(mut self, d: Option<String>) -> Self {
-        self.default = d;
-        self
-    }
+    // fn set_default(mut self, d: Option<String>) -> Self {
+    //     self.default = d;
+    //     self
+    // }
 
     // Get the appropriate String to use as the Kafka config key.
     fn get_key(&self) -> String {
@@ -148,10 +148,11 @@ pub fn extract_config(
                 // The range of values comes from `statistics.interval.ms` in
                 // https://github.com/edenhill/librdkafka/blob/master/CONFIGURATION.md
                 ValType::Number(0, 86_400_000),
-            )
-            .set_default(Some(
-                chrono::Duration::seconds(1).num_milliseconds().to_string(),
-            )),
+            ),
+            // TODO - stats can be reenabled by default when we figure out why it's leaking memory.
+            // .set_default(Some(
+            //     chrono::Duration::seconds(1).num_milliseconds().to_string(),
+            // )),
             Config::new(
                 "topic_metadata_refresh_interval_ms",
                 // The range of values comes from `topic.metadata.refresh.interval.ms` in
diff --git a/test/catalog-compat/catcompatck/catcompatck b/test/catalog-compat/catcompatck/catcompatck
index 512a1941a11ee..660291da6ab89 100755
--- a/test/catalog-compat/catcompatck/catcompatck
+++ b/test/catalog-compat/catcompatck/catcompatck
@@ -201,11 +201,12 @@ a  b
 3  1
 1  2
 
+# TODO: Uncomment out test once kafka stats are enabled by default once again
 # Kafka metrics for the real_time_src should be enabled now
 # Count should be 2 because there are two materialized views on real_time_src
 # If real_time_src_no_stats were also emitting stats, there would be 3 rows
-> SELECT count(*) FROM mz_kafka_consumer_statistics;
-count
------
-2
+# > SELECT count(*) FROM mz_kafka_consumer_statistics;
+# count
+# -----
+# 2
 EOF
diff --git a/test/testdrive/avro-sources.td b/test/testdrive/avro-sources.td
index 1e75ad4a8362c..a8a8aa88dbf90 100644
--- a/test/testdrive/avro-sources.td
+++ b/test/testdrive/avro-sources.td
@@ -333,20 +333,21 @@ a  b
 5  6
 9  10
 
+# TODO: Uncomment out test once kafka stats are enabled by default once again
 # There should be two partitions for the last created source / consumer (non_dbz_data_varying_partition_2)
-> SELECT count(*) FROM mz_kafka_consumer_statistics GROUP BY consumer_name;
-count
------
-1
-1
-1
-1
-2
-2
-2
-2
-2
-2
+# > SELECT count(*) FROM mz_kafka_consumer_statistics GROUP BY consumer_name;
+# count
+# -----
+# 1
+# 1
+# 1
+# 1
+# 2
+# 2
+# 2
+# 2
+# 2
+# 2
 
 > CREATE MATERIALIZED SOURCE non_dbz_data_varying_partition_3
   FROM KAFKA BROKER '${testdrive.kafka-addr}' TOPIC 'testdrive-non-dbz-data-varying-partition-${testdrive.seed}'
@@ -367,21 +368,22 @@ a  b
 9  10
 11 12
 
+# TODO: Uncomment out test once kafka stats are enabled by default once again
 # There should three partitions for the last three sources / consumers (non_dbz_data_varying_partition_[123])
-> SELECT count(*) FROM mz_kafka_consumer_statistics GROUP BY consumer_name;
-count
------
-1
-1
-1
-1
-2
-2
-2
-2
-3
-3
-3
+# > SELECT count(*) FROM mz_kafka_consumer_statistics GROUP BY consumer_name;
+# count
+# -----
+# 1
+# 1
+# 1
+# 1
+# 2
+# 2
+# 2
+# 2
+# 3
+# 3
+# 3
 
 $ set-sql-timeout duration=12.7s
 
diff --git a/test/testdrive/kafka-stats.td b/test/testdrive/kafka-stats.td
index 82c56c9da5606..c46cf43213e73 100644
--- a/test/testdrive/kafka-stats.td
+++ b/test/testdrive/kafka-stats.td
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ $ kafka-create-topic topic=data
 
 > CREATE SOURCE data
   FROM KAFKA BROKER '${testdrive.kafka-addr}' TOPIC 'testdrive-data-${testdrive.seed}'
+  WITH (statistics_interval_ms = 1000)
   FORMAT AVRO USING SCHEMA '${schema}'
 
 > CREATE MATERIALIZED VIEW test1 AS