diff --git a/src/gt4py/next/config.py b/src/gt4py/next/config.py
index 0e6bf4ff5d..259b68cc33 100644
--- a/src/gt4py/next/config.py
+++ b/src/gt4py/next/config.py
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
 import enum
 import os
 import pathlib
+import warnings
 from typing import Final
 
 
@@ -124,6 +125,21 @@ def env_flag_to_int(name: str, default: int) -> int:
 DUMP_METRICS_AT_EXIT: str | None = None
 
 
+#: Filter out DaCe related warnings. If not set warnings will be suppressed if the
+#: code runs in no debug mode.
+SKIP_WARNINGS: bool = env_flag_to_bool("GT4PY_SKIP_WARNINGS", default=not __debug__)
+
+
+if SKIP_WARNINGS:
+    # NOTE: Ideally we would suppress the warnings using context managers directly in
+    #   the backend. However, because this is not thread safe in Python versions before
+    #   3.14, we have to do it here.
+    warnings.filterwarnings(action="ignore", module="^dace(\..+)?")
+    warnings.filterwarnings(
+        action="ignore", module="^gt4py.next.program_processors.runners.dace(\..+)?"
+    )
+
+
 def _init_dump_metrics_filename() -> str:
     return f"gt4py_metrics_{datetime.datetime.now().strftime('%Y%m%d_%H%M%S')}.json"
 
diff --git a/src/gt4py/next/program_processors/runners/dace/transformations/concat_where_mapper.py b/src/gt4py/next/program_processors/runners/dace/transformations/concat_where_mapper.py
index 8052426f33..535c9cb2eb 100644
--- a/src/gt4py/next/program_processors/runners/dace/transformations/concat_where_mapper.py
+++ b/src/gt4py/next/program_processors/runners/dace/transformations/concat_where_mapper.py
@@ -1353,18 +1353,16 @@ def _handle_special_case_of_gt4py_scan_point(
     if _handle_special_case_of_gt4py_scan_point_impl(
         state, descending_point, concat_node, consumed_subset
     ):
-        if __debug__:
-            warnings.warn(
-                f"Special rule applied to `concat_where`-inline `{concat_node.data}` into `{nsdfg.label}`.",
-                stacklevel=1,
-            )
+        warnings.warn(
+            f"Special rule applied to `concat_where`-inline `{concat_node.data}` into `{nsdfg.label}`.",
+            stacklevel=1,
+        )
         return True
     else:
-        if __debug__:
-            warnings.warn(
-                f"Special rule applied to `concat_where`-inline `{concat_node.data}` into `{nsdfg.label}` was rejected.",
-                stacklevel=1,
-            )
+        warnings.warn(
+            f"Special rule applied to `concat_where`-inline `{concat_node.data}` into `{nsdfg.label}` was rejected.",
+            stacklevel=1,
+        )
         return False
 
 
diff --git a/tests/next_tests/unit_tests/program_processor_tests/runners_tests/dace_tests/transformation_tests/__init__.py b/tests/next_tests/unit_tests/program_processor_tests/runners_tests/dace_tests/transformation_tests/__init__.py
index a576665ee3..5d748e0586 100644
--- a/tests/next_tests/unit_tests/program_processor_tests/runners_tests/dace_tests/transformation_tests/__init__.py
+++ b/tests/next_tests/unit_tests/program_processor_tests/runners_tests/dace_tests/transformation_tests/__init__.py
@@ -10,4 +10,4 @@
 
 
 #: Attribute defining package-level marks used by a custom pytest hook.
-package_pytestmarks = [pytest.mark.usefixtures("common_dace_config")]
+package_pytestmarks = [pytest.mark.requires_dace, pytest.mark.usefixtures("common_dace_config")]
diff --git a/tests/next_tests/unit_tests/program_processor_tests/runners_tests/dace_tests/transformation_tests/test_strides.py b/tests/next_tests/unit_tests/program_processor_tests/runners_tests/dace_tests/transformation_tests/test_strides.py
index f1c8da0143..2258a0931c 100644
--- a/tests/next_tests/unit_tests/program_processor_tests/runners_tests/dace_tests/transformation_tests/test_strides.py
+++ b/tests/next_tests/unit_tests/program_processor_tests/runners_tests/dace_tests/transformation_tests/test_strides.py
@@ -20,8 +20,6 @@
 
 from . import util
 
-import dace
-
 
 def _make_strides_propagation_level3_sdfg() -> dace.SDFG:
     """Generates the level 3 SDFG (nested-nested) SDFG for `test_strides_propagation()`."""
diff --git a/tests/next_tests/unit_tests/program_processor_tests/runners_tests/dace_tests/transformation_tests/test_warnings.py b/tests/next_tests/unit_tests/program_processor_tests/runners_tests/dace_tests/transformation_tests/test_warnings.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..d9665de12d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/next_tests/unit_tests/program_processor_tests/runners_tests/dace_tests/transformation_tests/test_warnings.py
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+# GT4Py - GridTools Framework
+#
+# Copyright (c) 2014-2024, ETH Zurich
+# All rights reserved.
+#
+# Please, refer to the LICENSE file in the root directory.
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-3-Clause
+
+import pytest
+import warnings
+
+from gt4py.next import config as gtx_config
+
+
+def test_if_warning_is_raised():
+    assert not gtx_config.SKIP_WARNINGS, "Tests do not run in debug mode."
+
+    warn_msg = "This is a warning."
+    with pytest.warns(UserWarning, match=warn_msg):
+        warnings.warn(warn_msg, UserWarning)