diff --git a/vllm/distributed/kv_transfer/kv_connector/v1/nixl_connector.py b/vllm/distributed/kv_transfer/kv_connector/v1/nixl_connector.py
index 12aeb4e68b61b..8b433e2cbcc23 100644
--- a/vllm/distributed/kv_transfer/kv_connector/v1/nixl_connector.py
+++ b/vllm/distributed/kv_transfer/kv_connector/v1/nixl_connector.py
@@ -42,7 +42,9 @@ Transfer = tuple[int, float]  # (xfer_handle, start_time)
 EngineId = str
 ReqId = str
 GET_META_MSG = b"get_meta_msg"
-NIXL_NUM_WORKERS = 4
+
+import os
+VLLM_DEBUG_NIXL_XFER_TIME = os.getenv("VLLM_DEBUG_NIXL_XFER_TIME", "0") == "1"
 
 logger = init_logger(__name__)
 
@@ -50,16 +52,11 @@ logger = init_logger(__name__)
 try:
     from nixl._api import nixl_agent as NixlWrapper, nixl_agent_config
     NIXL_VERSION = metadata.version("nixl")
-    NIXL_major, NIXL_minor, NIXL_patch = map(int, NIXL_VERSION.split("."))
-
-    
 except ImportError:
     logger.warning("NIXL is not available")
     NixlWrapper = None
     NIXL_VERSION = None
 
-NIXL_NUM_WORKERS
-
 class NixlAgentMetadata(
         msgspec.Struct,
         omit_defaults=True,  # type: ignore[call-arg]
@@ -368,7 +365,7 @@ class NixlConnectorWorker:
 
         # Agent.
         import os
-        NIXL_NUM_WORKERS = int(os.getenv("VLLM_NIXL_NUM_WORKERS", "1"))
+        NIXL_NUM_WORKERS = int(os.getenv("VLLM_NIXL_NUM_WORKERS", "8"))
         logger.info(f"Using NIXL_NUM_WORKERS={NIXL_NUM_WORKERS} for NIXL agent.")
 
         config = nixl_agent_config(enable_prog_thread=False, num_threads=NIXL_NUM_WORKERS)
@@ -1038,7 +1035,9 @@ class NixlConnectorWorker:
         start = time.perf_counter()
         self.nixl_wrapper.transfer(handle)
         end = time.perf_counter()
-        logger.info(f"TIME: {end - start}")
+        if VLLM_DEBUG_NIXL_XFER_TIME:
+            # Log the time taken for the transfer.
+            logger.info(f"TIME: {end - start}")
 
         # Use handle to check completion in future step().
         # TODO (NickLucche) surface xfer elapsed time