diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index cef0cdb..a2933c8 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -70,4 +70,5 @@ target/
 .benchmarks
 benchmark.json
 
-pip-wheel-metadata/
\ No newline at end of file
+pip-wheel-metadata/
+.venv/
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/devcycle_python_sdk/managers/config_manager.py b/devcycle_python_sdk/managers/config_manager.py
index c551450..124e2c6 100644
--- a/devcycle_python_sdk/managers/config_manager.py
+++ b/devcycle_python_sdk/managers/config_manager.py
@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@ def _get_config(self, last_modified: Optional[float] = None):
 
             json_config = json.dumps(self._config)
             self._local_bucketing.store_config(json_config)
-            if self._options.enable_beta_realtime_updates:
+            if not self._options.disable_realtime_updates:
                 if self._sse_manager is None:
                     self._sse_manager = SSEManager(
                         self.sse_state,
diff --git a/devcycle_python_sdk/options.py b/devcycle_python_sdk/options.py
index 384f5e9..c934ee9 100644
--- a/devcycle_python_sdk/options.py
+++ b/devcycle_python_sdk/options.py
@@ -46,6 +46,7 @@ def __init__(
         disable_automatic_event_logging: bool = False,
         disable_custom_event_logging: bool = False,
         enable_beta_realtime_updates: bool = False,
+        disable_realtime_updates: bool = False,
     ):
         self.events_api_uri = events_api_uri
         self.config_cdn_uri = config_cdn_uri
@@ -61,7 +62,12 @@ def __init__(
         self.on_client_initialized = on_client_initialized
         self.event_request_timeout_ms = event_request_timeout_ms
         self.event_retry_delay_ms = event_retry_delay_ms
-        self.enable_beta_realtime_updates = enable_beta_realtime_updates
+        self.disable_realtime_updates = disable_realtime_updates
+
+        if enable_beta_realtime_updates:
+            logger.warning(
+                "DevCycle: `enable_beta_realtime_updates` is deprecated and will be removed in a future release.",
+            )
 
         if self.flush_event_queue_size >= self.max_event_queue_size:
             logger.warning(
diff --git a/example/local_bucketing_client_example.py b/example/local_bucketing_client_example.py
index f48c03d..584ee24 100644
--- a/example/local_bucketing_client_example.py
+++ b/example/local_bucketing_client_example.py
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ def main():
 
     # create an instance of the DevCycle Client object
     server_sdk_key = os.environ["DEVCYCLE_SERVER_SDK_KEY"]
-    options = DevCycleLocalOptions(enable_beta_realtime_updates=True)
+    options = DevCycleLocalOptions()
     client = DevCycleLocalClient(server_sdk_key, options)
 
     # Wait for DevCycle to initialize and load the configuration
diff --git a/test/managers/test_config_manager.py b/test/managers/test_config_manager.py
index b60fd9f..e8a2a47 100644
--- a/test/managers/test_config_manager.py
+++ b/test/managers/test_config_manager.py
@@ -19,7 +19,9 @@ class EnvironmentConfigManagerTest(unittest.TestCase):
     def setUp(self) -> None:
         self.sdk_key = "dvc_server_" + str(uuid.uuid4())
         self.test_local_bucketing = MagicMock()
-        self.test_options = DevCycleLocalOptions(config_polling_interval_ms=500)
+        self.test_options = DevCycleLocalOptions(
+            config_polling_interval_ms=500, disable_realtime_updates=True
+        )
 
         now = datetime.now()
         stamp = mktime(now.timetuple())
diff --git a/test/test_local_client.py b/test/test_local_client.py
index c9399f1..a6acf35 100644
--- a/test/test_local_client.py
+++ b/test/test_local_client.py
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ def setUp(self) -> None:
             config_cdn_uri="http://localhost/",
             disable_custom_event_logging=True,
             disable_automatic_event_logging=True,
+            disable_realtime_updates=True,
         )
         self.test_user = DevCycleUser(user_id="test_user_id")
         self.test_user_empty_id = DevCycleUser(user_id="")