diff --git a/dist/bin/scala b/dist/bin/scala
index c6c6f8807a64..fa4f4cb25a11 100755
--- a/dist/bin/scala
+++ b/dist/bin/scala
@@ -59,6 +59,7 @@ done
 # SCALA_CLI_CMD_BASH is an array, set by cli-common-platform
 eval "${SCALA_CLI_CMD_BASH[@]}" \
   "--prog-name scala" \
+  "--skip-cli-updates" \
   "--cli-default-scala-version \"$SCALA_VERSION\"" \
   "-r \"$MVN_REPOSITORY\"" \
   "${scala_args[@]}"
diff --git a/dist/bin/scala.bat b/dist/bin/scala.bat
index d473facbbb1c..7418909da263 100644
--- a/dist/bin/scala.bat
+++ b/dist/bin/scala.bat
@@ -21,8 +21,9 @@ call :setScalaOpts
 
 call "%_PROG_HOME%\bin\cli-common-platform.bat"
 
-@rem SCALA_CLI_CMD_WIN is an array, set in cli-common-platform.bat
-call %SCALA_CLI_CMD_WIN% "--prog-name" "scala" "--cli-default-scala-version" "%_SCALA_VERSION%" "-r" "%MVN_REPOSITORY%" %*
+@rem SCALA_CLI_CMD_WIN is an array, set in cli-common-platform.bat.
+@rem WE NEED TO PASS '--skip-cli-updates' for JVM launchers but we actually don't need it for native launchers
+call %SCALA_CLI_CMD_WIN% "--prog-name" "scala" "--skip-cli-updates" "--cli-default-scala-version" "%_SCALA_VERSION%" "-r" "%MVN_REPOSITORY%" %*
 
 if not %ERRORLEVEL%==0 ( set _EXITCODE=1& goto end )