diff --git a/py-polars/polars/io/csv/functions.py b/py-polars/polars/io/csv/functions.py
index bc73a1b677a1..34b603174d61 100644
--- a/py-polars/polars/io/csv/functions.py
+++ b/py-polars/polars/io/csv/functions.py
@@ -53,6 +53,7 @@ def read_csv(
     ignore_errors: bool = False,
     try_parse_dates: bool = False,
     n_threads: int | None = None,
+    infer_schema: bool = True,
     infer_schema_length: int | None = N_INFER_DEFAULT,
     batch_size: int = 8192,
     n_rows: int | None = None,
@@ -126,7 +127,7 @@ def read_csv(
         Before using this option, try to increase the number of lines used for schema
         inference with e.g `infer_schema_length=10000` or override automatic dtype
         inference for specific columns with the `schema_overrides` option or use
-        `infer_schema_length=0` to read all columns as `pl.String` to check which
+        `infer_schema=False` to read all columns as `pl.String` to check which
         values might cause an issue.
     try_parse_dates
         Try to automatically parse dates. Most ISO8601-like formats can
@@ -136,10 +137,15 @@ def read_csv(
     n_threads
         Number of threads to use in csv parsing.
         Defaults to the number of physical cpu's of your system.
+    infer_schema
+        When `True`, the schema is inferred from the data using the first
+        `infer_schema_length` rows.
+        When `False`, the schema is not inferred and will be `pl.String` if not
+        specified in `schema` or `schema_overrides`.
     infer_schema_length
         The maximum number of rows to scan for schema inference.
-        If set to `0`, all columns will be read as `pl.String`.
         If set to `None`, the full data may be scanned *(this is slow)*.
+        Set `infer_schema=False` to read all columns as `pl.String`.
     batch_size
         Number of lines to read into the buffer at once.
         Modify this to change performance.
@@ -184,7 +190,7 @@ def read_csv(
         with windows line endings (`\r\n`), one can go with the default `\n`. The extra
         `\r` will be removed when processed.
     raise_if_empty
-        When there is no data in the source,`NoDataError` is raised. If this parameter
+        When there is no data in the source, `NoDataError` is raised. If this parameter
         is set to False, an empty DataFrame (with no columns) is returned instead.
     truncate_ragged_lines
         Truncate lines that are longer than the schema.
@@ -410,6 +416,9 @@ def read_csv(
                 for column_name, column_dtype in schema_overrides.items()
             }
 
+    if not infer_schema:
+        infer_schema_length = 0
+
     with prepare_file_arg(
         source,
         encoding=encoding,
@@ -922,6 +931,7 @@ def scan_csv(
     ignore_errors: bool = False,
     cache: bool = True,
     with_column_names: Callable[[list[str]], list[str]] | None = None,
+    infer_schema: bool = True,
     infer_schema_length: int | None = N_INFER_DEFAULT,
     n_rows: int | None = None,
     encoding: CsvEncoding = "utf8",
@@ -989,17 +999,22 @@ def scan_csv(
         utf8 values to be treated as the empty string you can set this param True.
     ignore_errors
         Try to keep reading lines if some lines yield errors.
-        First try `infer_schema_length=0` to read all columns as
+        First try `infer_schema=False` to read all columns as
         `pl.String` to check which values might cause an issue.
     cache
         Cache the result after reading.
     with_column_names
         Apply a function over the column names just in time (when they are determined);
         this function will receive (and should return) a list of column names.
+    infer_schema
+        When `True`, the schema is inferred from the data using the first
+        `infer_schema_length` rows.
+        When `False`, the schema is not inferred and will be `pl.String` if not
+        specified in `schema` or `schema_overrides`.
     infer_schema_length
         The maximum number of rows to scan for schema inference.
-        If set to `0`, all columns will be read as `pl.String`.
         If set to `None`, the full data may be scanned *(this is slow)*.
+        Set `infer_schema=False` to read all columns as `pl.String`.
     n_rows
         Stop reading from CSV file after reading `n_rows`.
     encoding : {'utf8', 'utf8-lossy'}
@@ -1029,7 +1044,7 @@ def scan_csv(
         scanning a headerless CSV file). If the given list is shorter than the width of
         the DataFrame the remaining columns will have their original name.
     raise_if_empty
-        When there is no data in the source,`NoDataError` is raised. If this parameter
+        When there is no data in the source, `NoDataError` is raised. If this parameter
         is set to False, an empty LazyFrame (with no columns) is returned instead.
     truncate_ragged_lines
         Truncate lines that are longer than the schema.
@@ -1153,6 +1168,9 @@ def with_column_names(cols: list[str]) -> list[str]:
             normalize_filepath(source, check_not_directory=False) for source in source
         ]
 
+    if not infer_schema:
+        infer_schema_length = 0
+
     return _scan_csv_impl(
         source,
         has_header=has_header,
diff --git a/py-polars/tests/unit/io/test_csv.py b/py-polars/tests/unit/io/test_csv.py
index bc43533a3150..772a1ea74d7f 100644
--- a/py-polars/tests/unit/io/test_csv.py
+++ b/py-polars/tests/unit/io/test_csv.py
@@ -113,6 +113,19 @@ def test_normalize_filepath(io_files_path: Path) -> None:
     )
 
 
+def test_infer_schema_false() -> None:
+    csv = textwrap.dedent(
+        """\
+        a,b,c
+        1,2,3
+        1,2,3
+        """
+    )
+    f = io.StringIO(csv)
+    df = pl.read_csv(f, infer_schema=False)
+    assert df.dtypes == [pl.String, pl.String, pl.String]
+
+
 def test_csv_null_values() -> None:
     csv = textwrap.dedent(
         """\