diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 70edd1f281..edb6383b8f 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -17,6 +17,9 @@
   @vmaerten).
 - Improved shell completion scripts (Zsh, Fish, PowerShell) by adding missing
   flags and dynamic experimental feature detection (#2532 by @vmaerten).
+- Improved performance of fuzzy task name matching by implementing lazy
+  initialization. Added `--disable-fuzzy` flag and `disable-fuzzy` taskrc option
+  to allow disabling fuzzy matching entirely (#2521, #2523 by @vmaerten).
 - Added LLM-optimized documentation via VitePress plugin, generating `llms.txt`
   and `llms-full.txt` for AI-powered development tools (#2513 by @vmaerten).
 - Fixed Zsh and Fish completions to stop suggesting task names after `--`
diff --git a/completion/fish/task.fish b/completion/fish/task.fish
index 76e797202e..b2b9b045cb 100644
--- a/completion/fish/task.fish
+++ b/completion/fish/task.fish
@@ -71,6 +71,7 @@ complete -c $GO_TASK_PROGNAME -s c -l color                     -d 'colored outp
 complete -c $GO_TASK_PROGNAME -s C -l concurrency               -d 'limit number of concurrent tasks'
 complete -c $GO_TASK_PROGNAME      -l completion                -d 'generate shell completion script' -xa "bash zsh fish powershell"
 complete -c $GO_TASK_PROGNAME -s d -l dir                       -d 'set directory of execution'
+complete -c $GO_TASK_PROGNAME      -l disable-fuzzy             -d 'disable fuzzy matching for task names'
 complete -c $GO_TASK_PROGNAME -s n -l dry                       -d 'compile and print tasks without executing'
 complete -c $GO_TASK_PROGNAME -s x -l exit-code                 -d 'pass-through exit code of task command'
 complete -c $GO_TASK_PROGNAME      -l experiments               -d 'list available experiments'
diff --git a/completion/ps/task.ps1 b/completion/ps/task.ps1
index b25124ab41..941c1d48c4 100644
--- a/completion/ps/task.ps1
+++ b/completion/ps/task.ps1
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ Register-ArgumentCompleter -CommandName task -ScriptBlock {
 			[CompletionResult]::new('--completion', '--completion', [CompletionResultType]::ParameterName, 'generate shell completion'),
 			[CompletionResult]::new('-d', '-d', [CompletionResultType]::ParameterName, 'set directory'),
 			[CompletionResult]::new('--dir', '--dir', [CompletionResultType]::ParameterName, 'set directory'),
+			[CompletionResult]::new('--disable-fuzzy', '--disable-fuzzy', [CompletionResultType]::ParameterName, 'disable fuzzy matching'),
 			[CompletionResult]::new('-n', '-n', [CompletionResultType]::ParameterName, 'dry run'),
 			[CompletionResult]::new('--dry', '--dry', [CompletionResultType]::ParameterName, 'dry run'),
 			[CompletionResult]::new('-x', '-x', [CompletionResultType]::ParameterName, 'pass-through exit code'),
diff --git a/completion/zsh/_task b/completion/zsh/_task
index 0738ed2c24..85a5dd1e67 100755
--- a/completion/zsh/_task
+++ b/completion/zsh/_task
@@ -60,6 +60,7 @@ _task() {
         '(-c --color)'{-c,--color}'[colored output]'
         '(--completion)--completion[generate shell completion script]:shell:(bash zsh fish powershell)'
         '(-d --dir)'{-d,--dir}'[dir to run in]:execution dir:_dirs'
+        '(--disable-fuzzy)--disable-fuzzy[disable fuzzy matching for task names]'
         '(-n --dry)'{-n,--dry}'[compiles and prints tasks without executing]'
         '(--dry)--dry[dry-run mode, compile and print tasks only]'
         '(-x --exit-code)'{-x,--exit-code}'[pass-through exit code of task command]'
diff --git a/executor.go b/executor.go
index ca106f2ac2..3ca5fbcf66 100644
--- a/executor.go
+++ b/executor.go
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ type (
 		Watch               bool
 		Verbose             bool
 		Silent              bool
+		DisableFuzzy        bool
 		AssumeYes           bool
 		AssumeTerm          bool // Used for testing
 		Dry                 bool
@@ -65,7 +66,8 @@ type (
 		UserWorkingDir     string
 		EnableVersionCheck bool
 
-		fuzzyModel *fuzzy.Model
+		fuzzyModel     *fuzzy.Model
+		fuzzyModelOnce sync.Once
 
 		concurrencySemaphore chan struct{}
 		taskCallCount        map[string]*int32
@@ -312,6 +314,19 @@ func (o *silentOption) ApplyToExecutor(e *Executor) {
 	e.Silent = o.silent
 }
 
+// WithDisableFuzzy tells the [Executor] to disable fuzzy matching for task names.
+func WithDisableFuzzy(disableFuzzy bool) ExecutorOption {
+	return &disableFuzzyOption{disableFuzzy}
+}
+
+type disableFuzzyOption struct {
+	disableFuzzy bool
+}
+
+func (o *disableFuzzyOption) ApplyToExecutor(e *Executor) {
+	e.DisableFuzzy = o.disableFuzzy
+}
+
 // WithAssumeYes tells the [Executor] to assume "yes" for all prompts.
 func WithAssumeYes(assumeYes bool) ExecutorOption {
 	return &assumeYesOption{assumeYes}
diff --git a/internal/flags/flags.go b/internal/flags/flags.go
index 1e8bb5a3e3..eb5930dc10 100644
--- a/internal/flags/flags.go
+++ b/internal/flags/flags.go
@@ -58,6 +58,7 @@ var (
 	Watch               bool
 	Verbose             bool
 	Silent              bool
+	DisableFuzzy        bool
 	AssumeYes           bool
 	Dry                 bool
 	Summary             bool
@@ -125,6 +126,7 @@ func init() {
 	pflag.BoolVarP(&Watch, "watch", "w", false, "Enables watch of the given task.")
 	pflag.BoolVarP(&Verbose, "verbose", "v", getConfig(config, func() *bool { return config.Verbose }, false), "Enables verbose mode.")
 	pflag.BoolVarP(&Silent, "silent", "s", false, "Disables echoing.")
+	pflag.BoolVar(&DisableFuzzy, "disable-fuzzy", getConfig(config, func() *bool { return config.DisableFuzzy }, false), "Disables fuzzy matching for task names.")
 	pflag.BoolVarP(&AssumeYes, "yes", "y", false, "Assume \"yes\" as answer to all prompts.")
 	pflag.BoolVarP(&Parallel, "parallel", "p", false, "Executes tasks provided on command line in parallel.")
 	pflag.BoolVarP(&Dry, "dry", "n", false, "Compiles and prints tasks in the order that they would be run, without executing them.")
@@ -248,6 +250,7 @@ func (o *flagsOption) ApplyToExecutor(e *task.Executor) {
 		task.WithWatch(Watch),
 		task.WithVerbose(Verbose),
 		task.WithSilent(Silent),
+		task.WithDisableFuzzy(DisableFuzzy),
 		task.WithAssumeYes(AssumeYes),
 		task.WithDry(Dry || Status),
 		task.WithSummary(Summary),
diff --git a/setup.go b/setup.go
index c903864750..2fc3a6bf1e 100644
--- a/setup.go
+++ b/setup.go
@@ -36,7 +36,6 @@ func (e *Executor) Setup() error {
 	if err := e.readTaskfile(node); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
-	e.setupFuzzyModel()
 	e.setupStdFiles()
 	if err := e.setupOutput(); err != nil {
 		return err
diff --git a/task.go b/task.go
index 2a21644086..603d4e908a 100644
--- a/task.go
+++ b/task.go
@@ -456,8 +456,11 @@ func (e *Executor) GetTask(call *Call) (*ast.Task, error) {
 	// If we found no tasks
 	if len(aliasedTasks) == 0 {
 		didYouMean := ""
-		if e.fuzzyModel != nil {
-			didYouMean = e.fuzzyModel.SpellCheck(call.Task)
+		if !e.DisableFuzzy {
+			e.fuzzyModelOnce.Do(e.setupFuzzyModel)
+			if e.fuzzyModel != nil {
+				didYouMean = e.fuzzyModel.SpellCheck(call.Task)
+			}
 		}
 		return nil, &errors.TaskNotFoundError{
 			TaskName:   call.Task,
diff --git a/taskrc/ast/taskrc.go b/taskrc/ast/taskrc.go
index dd4de9cc77..8952315d62 100644
--- a/taskrc/ast/taskrc.go
+++ b/taskrc/ast/taskrc.go
@@ -10,12 +10,13 @@ import (
 )
 
 type TaskRC struct {
-	Version     *semver.Version `yaml:"version"`
-	Verbose     *bool           `yaml:"verbose"`
-	Concurrency *int            `yaml:"concurrency"`
-	Remote      Remote          `yaml:"remote"`
-	Experiments map[string]int  `yaml:"experiments"`
-	Failfast    bool            `yaml:"failfast"`
+	Version      *semver.Version `yaml:"version"`
+	Verbose      *bool           `yaml:"verbose"`
+	DisableFuzzy *bool           `yaml:"disable-fuzzy"`
+	Concurrency  *int            `yaml:"concurrency"`
+	Remote       Remote          `yaml:"remote"`
+	Failfast     bool            `yaml:"failfast"`
+	Experiments  map[string]int  `yaml:"experiments"`
 }
 
 type Remote struct {
@@ -53,6 +54,7 @@ func (t *TaskRC) Merge(other *TaskRC) {
 	}
 
 	t.Verbose = cmp.Or(other.Verbose, t.Verbose)
+	t.DisableFuzzy = cmp.Or(other.DisableFuzzy, t.DisableFuzzy)
 	t.Concurrency = cmp.Or(other.Concurrency, t.Concurrency)
 	t.Failfast = cmp.Or(other.Failfast, t.Failfast)
 }
diff --git a/website/src/docs/reference/cli.md b/website/src/docs/reference/cli.md
index d95bb85981..c434e5b854 100644
--- a/website/src/docs/reference/cli.md
+++ b/website/src/docs/reference/cli.md
@@ -108,6 +108,16 @@ Disable command echoing.
 task deploy --silent
 ```
 
+#### `--disable-fuzzy`
+
+Disable fuzzy matching for task names. When enabled, Task will not suggest similar task names when you mistype a task name.
+
+```bash
+task buidl --disable-fuzzy
+# Output: Task "buidl" does not exist
+# (without "Did you mean 'build'?" suggestion)
+```
+
 ### Execution Control
 
 #### `-F, --failfast`
diff --git a/website/src/docs/reference/config.md b/website/src/docs/reference/config.md
index 478c334df1..a0129e8f7a 100644
--- a/website/src/docs/reference/config.md
+++ b/website/src/docs/reference/config.md
@@ -91,6 +91,17 @@ experiments:
 verbose: true
 ```
 
+### `disable-fuzzy`
+
+- **Type**: `boolean`
+- **Default**: `false`
+- **Description**: Disable fuzzy matching for task names. When enabled, Task will not suggest similar task names when you mistype a task name.
+- **CLI equivalent**: [`--disable-fuzzy`](./cli.md#--disable-fuzzy)
+
+```yaml
+disable-fuzzy: true
+```
+
 ### `concurrency`
 
 - **Type**: `integer`
@@ -120,6 +131,7 @@ Here's a complete example of a `.taskrc.yml` file with all available options:
 ```yaml
 # Global settings
 verbose: true
+disable-fuzzy: false
 concurrency: 2
 
 # Enable experimental features
diff --git a/website/src/public/schema-taskrc.json b/website/src/public/schema-taskrc.json
index d4ac369637..34c6ed5336 100644
--- a/website/src/public/schema-taskrc.json
+++ b/website/src/public/schema-taskrc.json
@@ -57,6 +57,10 @@
       "type": "boolean",
       "description": "Enable verbose output"
     },
+    "disable-fuzzy": {
+      "type": "boolean",
+      "description": "Disable fuzzy matching for task names"
+    },
     "concurrency": {
       "type": "integer",
       "description": "Number of concurrent tasks to run",