diff --git a/hudi-client/hudi-client-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hudi/config/HoodieWriteConfig.java b/hudi-client/hudi-client-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hudi/config/HoodieWriteConfig.java
index 107469f72b815..211485f3c1164 100644
--- a/hudi-client/hudi-client-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hudi/config/HoodieWriteConfig.java
+++ b/hudi-client/hudi-client-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hudi/config/HoodieWriteConfig.java
@@ -2794,7 +2794,12 @@ public HoodieWriteConfig build() {
     private String getDefaultMarkersType(EngineType engineType) {
       switch (engineType) {
         case SPARK:
-          return MarkerType.TIMELINE_SERVER_BASED.toString();
+          if (writeConfig.isEmbeddedTimelineServerEnabled()) {
+            return MarkerType.TIMELINE_SERVER_BASED.toString();
+          } else {
+            LOG.warn("Embedded timeline server is disabled, fallback to use direct marker type for spark");
+            return MarkerType.DIRECT.toString();
+          }
         case FLINK:
         case JAVA:
           // Timeline-server-based marker is not supported for Flink and Java engines