diff --git a/src/or/circuituse.c b/src/or/circuituse.c
index f43ce19c83..7532c4e923 100644
--- a/src/or/circuituse.c
+++ b/src/or/circuituse.c
@@ -746,6 +746,7 @@ circuit_predict_and_launch_new(void)
    * want, don't do another -- we want to leave a few slots open so
    * we can still build circuits preemptively as needed. */
   if (num < MAX_UNUSED_OPEN_CIRCUITS-2 &&
+      get_options()->LearnCircuitBuildTimeout &&
       circuit_build_times_needs_circuits_now(&circ_times)) {
     flags = CIRCLAUNCH_NEED_CAPACITY;
     log_info(LD_CIRC,
@@ -881,7 +882,8 @@ circuit_expire_old_circuits_clientside(void)
   tor_gettimeofday(&now);
   cutoff = now;
 
-  if (circuit_build_times_needs_circuits(&circ_times)) {
+  if (get_options()->LearnCircuitBuildTimeout &&
+      circuit_build_times_needs_circuits(&circ_times)) {
     /* Circuits should be shorter lived if we need more of them
      * for learning a good build timeout */
     cutoff.tv_sec -= IDLE_TIMEOUT_WHILE_LEARNING;