diff --git a/cuda_bindings/cuda/bindings/utils/__init__.py b/cuda_bindings/cuda/bindings/utils/__init__.py
index 0bfff4b78be..f76b07ee2f9 100644
--- a/cuda_bindings/cuda/bindings/utils/__init__.py
+++ b/cuda_bindings/cuda/bindings/utils/__init__.py
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 # SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
 from typing import Any, Callable
 
+from ._envvar import envvar_bool
 from ._nvvm_utils import check_nvvm_compiler_options
 from ._ptx_utils import get_minimal_required_cuda_ver_from_ptx_ver, get_ptx_ver
 from ._version_check import warn_if_cuda_major_version_mismatch
diff --git a/cuda_bindings/cuda/bindings/utils/_envvar.py b/cuda_bindings/cuda/bindings/utils/_envvar.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..16a812f0035
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cuda_bindings/cuda/bindings/utils/_envvar.py
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+# SPDX-FileCopyrightText: Copyright (c) 2025-2026 NVIDIA CORPORATION & AFFILIATES. All rights reserved.
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+
+import os
+
+_TRUE_VALUES = frozenset({"1", "true", "yes", "on"})
+_FALSE_VALUES = frozenset({"0", "false", "no", "off"})
+
+
+def envvar_bool(name: str, default: bool = False) -> bool:
+    """Read a bool-like environment variable.
+
+    Unset, empty, or whitespace-only means ``default``. ``1/true/yes/on`` and
+    ``0/false/no/off`` are recognised case-insensitively, and any other integer
+    follows C truthiness, so ``2`` is true and ``-0`` is false.
+
+    A value that is none of those keeps the historical set-means-true
+    behaviour rather than raising, because these variables are read during
+    import and a raise would turn a typo into an import failure.
+    """
+    raw = os.environ.get(name)
+    if raw is None:
+        return default
+    raw = raw.strip()
+    if not raw:
+        return default
+    lowered = raw.lower()
+    if lowered in _TRUE_VALUES:
+        return True
+    if lowered in _FALSE_VALUES:
+        return False
+    try:
+        return int(raw, 0) != 0
+    except ValueError:
+        return True
diff --git a/cuda_bindings/cuda/bindings/utils/_version_check.py b/cuda_bindings/cuda/bindings/utils/_version_check.py
index 5c68b50152e..d05c313b7a1 100644
--- a/cuda_bindings/cuda/bindings/utils/_version_check.py
+++ b/cuda_bindings/cuda/bindings/utils/_version_check.py
@@ -1,14 +1,17 @@
 # SPDX-FileCopyrightText: Copyright (c) 2025-2026 NVIDIA CORPORATION & AFFILIATES. All rights reserved.
 # SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
 
-import os
 import threading
 import warnings
 
+from ._envvar import envvar_bool
+
 # Track whether we've already checked major version compatibility
 _major_version_compatibility_checked = False
 _lock = threading.Lock()
 
+_DISABLE_WARNING_ENV_VAR = "CUDA_PYTHON_DISABLE_MAJOR_VERSION_WARNING"
+
 
 def warn_if_cuda_major_version_mismatch():
     """Warn if the CUDA driver major version is older than cuda-bindings compile-time version.
@@ -21,7 +24,8 @@ def warn_if_cuda_major_version_mismatch():
     The check runs only once per process. Subsequent calls are no-ops.
 
     The warning can be suppressed by setting the environment variable
-    ``CUDA_PYTHON_DISABLE_MAJOR_VERSION_WARNING=1``.
+    ``CUDA_PYTHON_DISABLE_MAJOR_VERSION_WARNING=1``. Setting it to ``0`` (or
+    leaving it unset or empty) keeps the warning enabled.
     """
     global _major_version_compatibility_checked
     if _major_version_compatibility_checked:
@@ -32,7 +36,7 @@ def warn_if_cuda_major_version_mismatch():
         _major_version_compatibility_checked = True
 
     # Allow users to suppress the warning
-    if os.environ.get("CUDA_PYTHON_DISABLE_MAJOR_VERSION_WARNING"):
+    if envvar_bool(_DISABLE_WARNING_ENV_VAR):
         return
 
     # Import here to avoid circular imports and allow lazy loading
@@ -55,7 +59,7 @@ def warn_if_cuda_major_version_mismatch():
             f"NVIDIA driver only supports up to CUDA {runtime_major}. Some cuda-bindings "
             f"features may not work correctly. Consider updating your NVIDIA driver, "
             f"or using a cuda-bindings version built for CUDA {runtime_major}. "
-            f"(Set CUDA_PYTHON_DISABLE_MAJOR_VERSION_WARNING=1 to suppress this warning.)",
+            f"(Set {_DISABLE_WARNING_ENV_VAR}=1 to suppress this warning.)",
             UserWarning,
             stacklevel=3,
         )
diff --git a/cuda_bindings/tests/test_envvar.py b/cuda_bindings/tests/test_envvar.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..a1f2d016910
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cuda_bindings/tests/test_envvar.py
@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+# SPDX-FileCopyrightText: Copyright (c) 2025-2026 NVIDIA CORPORATION & AFFILIATES. All rights reserved.
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+
+import pytest
+
+from cuda.bindings.utils import envvar_bool
+
+_VAR = "CUDA_PYTHON_TEST_ENVVAR_BOOL"
+
+
+@pytest.mark.agent_authored(model="claude-opus-5")
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(
+    ("raw", "expected"),
+    [
+        pytest.param("0", False, id="zero"),
+        pytest.param(" 0 ", False, id="zero-padded"),
+        pytest.param("", False, id="empty"),
+        pytest.param("   ", False, id="blank"),
+        pytest.param("1", True, id="one"),
+        pytest.param("2", True, id="two"),
+        pytest.param("-0", False, id="negative-zero"),
+        pytest.param("false", False, id="false"),
+        pytest.param("FALSE", False, id="false-upper"),
+        pytest.param("no", False, id="no"),
+        pytest.param("off", False, id="off"),
+        pytest.param("true", True, id="true"),
+        pytest.param("True", True, id="true-capitalised"),
+        pytest.param("yes", True, id="yes"),
+        pytest.param("on", True, id="on"),
+        # Anything unrecognised keeps the historical set-means-true behaviour.
+        pytest.param("banana", True, id="unrecognised"),
+    ],
+)
+def test_envvar_bool_parsing(monkeypatch, raw, expected):
+    monkeypatch.setenv(_VAR, raw)
+    assert envvar_bool(_VAR) is expected
+
+
+@pytest.mark.agent_authored(model="claude-opus-5")
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("default", [False, True])
+def test_envvar_bool_unset_returns_default(monkeypatch, default):
+    monkeypatch.delenv(_VAR, raising=False)
+    assert envvar_bool(_VAR, default) is default
+
+
+@pytest.mark.agent_authored(model="claude-opus-5")
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("raw", ["", "   "])
+def test_envvar_bool_blank_returns_default(monkeypatch, raw):
+    """Blank is "not set", so it must not override a True default."""
+    monkeypatch.setenv(_VAR, raw)
+    assert envvar_bool(_VAR, True) is True
diff --git a/cuda_bindings/tests/test_version_check.py b/cuda_bindings/tests/test_version_check.py
index 03c3d7d3c2c..009322433d2 100644
--- a/cuda_bindings/tests/test_version_check.py
+++ b/cuda_bindings/tests/test_version_check.py
@@ -84,6 +84,27 @@ def test_warning_suppressed_by_env_var(self):
             warn_if_cuda_major_version_mismatch()
             assert len(w) == 0
 
+    @pytest.mark.agent_authored(model="claude-opus-5")
+    def test_warning_not_suppressed_when_env_var_is_zero(self):
+        """``=0`` is how a user says "no, keep warning me".
+
+        A bare truthiness test on the raw string made ``=0`` suppress the
+        warning -- the opposite of what the warning itself tells the user to
+        type, and the opposite of the other boolean knobs in this repository
+        (``CUDA_PYTHON_CUDA_PER_THREAD_DEFAULT_STREAM``,
+        ``CUDA_CORE_DONT_FIX_TAB_COMPLETION``), which both parse with ``int()``.
+        """
+        with (
+            mock.patch.object(driver, "CUDA_VERSION", 13000),
+            mock.patch.object(driver, "cuDriverGetVersion", return_value=(driver.CUresult.CUDA_SUCCESS, 12080)),
+            mock.patch.dict(os.environ, {"CUDA_PYTHON_DISABLE_MAJOR_VERSION_WARNING": "0"}),
+            warnings.catch_warnings(record=True) as w,
+        ):
+            warnings.simplefilter("always")
+            warn_if_cuda_major_version_mismatch()
+            assert len(w) == 1
+            assert issubclass(w[0].category, UserWarning)
+
     def test_error_when_driver_version_fails(self):
         """Should raise RuntimeError if cuDriverGetVersion fails."""
         with (