diff --git a/google/cloud/spanner_dbapi/connection.py b/google/cloud/spanner_dbapi/connection.py
index 2e60faecc0..b02d62ea27 100644
--- a/google/cloud/spanner_dbapi/connection.py
+++ b/google/cloud/spanner_dbapi/connection.py
@@ -712,14 +712,14 @@ def connect(
                 credentials,
                 project=project,
                 client_info=client_info,
-                route_to_leader_enabled=True,
+                route_to_leader_enabled=route_to_leader_enabled,
             )
         else:
             client = spanner.Client(
                 project=project,
                 credentials=credentials,
                 client_info=client_info,
-                route_to_leader_enabled=True,
+                route_to_leader_enabled=route_to_leader_enabled,
             )
     else:
         if project is not None and client.project != project:
diff --git a/tests/unit/spanner_dbapi/test_connect.py b/tests/unit/spanner_dbapi/test_connect.py
index 86dde73159..30ab3c7a8d 100644
--- a/tests/unit/spanner_dbapi/test_connect.py
+++ b/tests/unit/spanner_dbapi/test_connect.py
@@ -51,6 +51,12 @@ def test_w_implicit(self, mock_client):
 
         self.assertIs(connection.instance, instance)
         client.instance.assert_called_once_with(INSTANCE)
+        mock_client.assert_called_once_with(
+            project=mock.ANY,
+            credentials=mock.ANY,
+            client_info=mock.ANY,
+            route_to_leader_enabled=True,
+        )
 
         self.assertIs(connection.database, database)
         instance.database.assert_called_once_with(DATABASE, pool=None)
@@ -86,7 +92,7 @@ def test_w_explicit(self, mock_client):
             project=PROJECT,
             credentials=credentials,
             client_info=mock.ANY,
-            route_to_leader_enabled=True,
+            route_to_leader_enabled=False,
         )
         client_info = mock_client.call_args_list[0][1]["client_info"]
         self.assertEqual(client_info.user_agent, USER_AGENT)