diff --git a/.gitlab/ci/memory.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab/ci/memory.gitlab-ci.yml
index ffe5dbdc31b..9923732e587 100644
--- a/.gitlab/ci/memory.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab/ci/memory.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ memory-on-boot:
     NODE_OPTIONS: --max_old_space_size=3584
   script:
     # Both bootsnap and derailed monkey-patch Kernel#require, which leads to circular dependency
-    - DISABLE_BOOTSNAP=true PATH_TO_HIT="/users/sign_in" CUT_OFF=0.3 bundle exec derailed exec perf:mem >> 'tmp/memory_on_boot.txt'
+    - ENABLE_BOOTSNAP=false PATH_TO_HIT="/users/sign_in" CUT_OFF=0.3 bundle exec derailed exec perf:mem >> 'tmp/memory_on_boot.txt'
     - scripts/generate-memory-metrics-on-boot tmp/memory_on_boot.txt >> 'tmp/memory_on_boot_metrics.txt'
   artifacts:
     paths:
diff --git a/Gemfile b/Gemfile
index de1f44642f2..2f64e258fb3 100644
--- a/Gemfile
+++ b/Gemfile
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@ source 'https://rubygems.org'
 
 gem 'rails', '5.2.3'
 
+gem 'bootsnap', '~> 1.4'
+
 # Improves copy-on-write performance for MRI
 gem 'nakayoshi_fork', '~> 0.0.4'
 
@@ -329,7 +331,6 @@ group :development do
 end
 
 group :development, :test do
-  gem 'bootsnap', '~> 1.4'
   gem 'bullet', '~> 5.5.0', require: !!ENV['ENABLE_BULLET']
   gem 'pry-byebug', '~> 3.5.1', platform: :mri
   gem 'pry-rails', '~> 0.3.4'
diff --git a/Gemfile.lock b/Gemfile.lock
index 2bcc3527de4..79ec7b36a43 100644
--- a/Gemfile.lock
+++ b/Gemfile.lock
@@ -100,7 +100,7 @@ GEM
     binding_ninja (0.2.3)
     binding_of_caller (0.8.0)
       debug_inspector (>= 0.0.1)
-    bootsnap (1.4.1)
+    bootsnap (1.4.4)
       msgpack (~> 1.0)
     bootstrap_form (4.2.0)
       actionpack (>= 5.0)
@@ -529,7 +529,7 @@ GEM
     mixlib-cli (1.7.0)
     mixlib-config (2.2.18)
       tomlrb
-    msgpack (1.2.10)
+    msgpack (1.3.0)
     multi_json (1.13.1)
     multi_xml (0.6.0)
     multipart-post (2.0.0)
diff --git a/changelogs/unreleased/sh-enable-bootsnap.yml b/changelogs/unreleased/sh-enable-bootsnap.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..674a900ee01
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelogs/unreleased/sh-enable-bootsnap.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+title: Make Bootsnap available via ENABLE_BOOTSNAP=1
+merge_request: 30963
+author:
+type: performance
diff --git a/config/boot.rb b/config/boot.rb
index b76b26a5e75..2eacff868eb 100644
--- a/config/boot.rb
+++ b/config/boot.rb
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ ENV['BUNDLE_GEMFILE'] ||= File.expand_path('../Gemfile', __dir__)
 # Set up gems listed in the Gemfile.
 require 'bundler/setup' if File.exist?(ENV['BUNDLE_GEMFILE'])
 begin
-  require 'bootsnap/setup' unless ENV['DISABLE_BOOTSNAP']
+  require 'bootsnap/setup' if ENV['RAILS_ENV'] != 'production' || %w(1 yes true).include?(ENV['ENABLE_BOOTSNAP'])
 rescue LoadError
   # bootsnap is an optional dependency, so if we don't have it, it's fine
 end
diff --git a/doc/administration/environment_variables.md b/doc/administration/environment_variables.md
index 874b1f3c80d..37d7194af53 100644
--- a/doc/administration/environment_variables.md
+++ b/doc/administration/environment_variables.md
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ override certain values.
 
 Variable | Type | Description
 -------- | ---- | -----------
+`ENABLE_BOOTSNAP`                          | string  | Enables Bootsnap for speeding up initial Rails boot (`1` to enable)
 `GITLAB_CDN_HOST`                          | string  | Sets the base URL for a CDN to serve static assets (e.g. `//mycdnsubdomain.fictional-cdn.com`)
 `GITLAB_ROOT_PASSWORD`                     | string  | Sets the password for the `root` user on installation
 `GITLAB_HOST`                              | string  | The full URL of the GitLab server (including `http://` or `https://`)