diff --git a/ompi/mca/btl/mx/btl_mx_component.c b/ompi/mca/btl/mx/btl_mx_component.c
index e54293a262..20dc15d700 100644
--- a/ompi/mca/btl/mx/btl_mx_component.c
+++ b/ompi/mca/btl/mx/btl_mx_component.c
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
 #include "ompi_config.h"
 #include "ompi/constants.h"
 #include "opal/event/event.h"
+#include "opal/util/opal_environ.h"
 #include "opal/util/if.h"
 #include "opal/util/argv.h"
 #include "opal/util/output.h"
@@ -36,6 +37,8 @@
 #include "ompi/mca/btl/base/base.h" 
 #include "ompi/mca/btl/base/btl_base_error.h"
 
+extern char** environ;
+
 mca_btl_mx_component_t mca_btl_mx_component = {
     {
         /* First, the mca_base_component_t struct containing meta information
@@ -251,6 +254,7 @@ mca_btl_base_module_t** mca_btl_mx_component_init(int *num_btl_modules,
     mx_set_error_handler(MX_ERRORS_RETURN);
     /* Until this BTL reach a stable state let MX library generate assert for the errors */
     /*mx_set_error_handler(MX_ERRORS_ARE_FATAL);*/
+    opal_setenv( "MX_DISABLE_SHMEM", "1", true, &environ );
 
     /* First check if MX is available ... */
     if( MX_SUCCESS != (status = mx_init()) ) {