diff --git a/build.sh b/build.sh
index ac283d01fc9..bda3d83798a 100755
--- a/build.sh
+++ b/build.sh
@@ -329,7 +329,7 @@ fi
 if buildAll || hasArg cudf; then
 
     cd ${REPODIR}/python/cudf
-    python setup.py build_ext --inplace -- -DCMAKE_PREFIX_PATH=${INSTALL_PREFIX} -DCMAKE_LIBRARY_PATH=${LIBCUDF_BUILD_DIR} ${EXTRA_CMAKE_ARGS} -- -j${PARALLEL_LEVEL:-1}
+    python setup.py build_ext --inplace -- -DCMAKE_PREFIX_PATH=${INSTALL_PREFIX} -DCMAKE_LIBRARY_PATH=${LIBCUDF_BUILD_DIR} -DCMAKE_CUDA_ARCHITECTURES=${CUDF_CMAKE_CUDA_ARCHITECTURES} ${EXTRA_CMAKE_ARGS} -- -j${PARALLEL_LEVEL:-1}
     if [[ ${INSTALL_TARGET} != "" ]]; then
         python setup.py install --single-version-externally-managed --record=record.txt  -- -DCMAKE_PREFIX_PATH=${INSTALL_PREFIX} -DCMAKE_LIBRARY_PATH=${LIBCUDF_BUILD_DIR} ${EXTRA_CMAKE_ARGS} -- -j${PARALLEL_LEVEL:-1}
     fi
@@ -338,7 +338,7 @@ fi
 if buildAll || hasArg strings_udf; then
 
     cd ${REPODIR}/python/strings_udf
-    python setup.py build_ext --inplace -- -DCMAKE_PREFIX_PATH=${INSTALL_PREFIX} -DCMAKE_LIBRARY_PATH=${LIBCUDF_BUILD_DIR} ${EXTRA_CMAKE_ARGS} -- -j${PARALLEL_LEVEL:-1}
+    python setup.py build_ext --inplace -- -DCMAKE_PREFIX_PATH=${INSTALL_PREFIX} -DCMAKE_LIBRARY_PATH=${LIBCUDF_BUILD_DIR} -DCMAKE_CUDA_ARCHITECTURES=${CUDF_CMAKE_CUDA_ARCHITECTURES} ${EXTRA_CMAKE_ARGS} -- -j${PARALLEL_LEVEL:-1}
     if [[ ${INSTALL_TARGET} != "" ]]; then
         python setup.py install --single-version-externally-managed --record=record.txt  -- -DCMAKE_PREFIX_PATH=${INSTALL_PREFIX} -DCMAKE_LIBRARY_PATH=${LIBCUDF_BUILD_DIR} ${EXTRA_CMAKE_ARGS} -- -j${PARALLEL_LEVEL:-1}
     fi
diff --git a/ci/gpu/build.sh b/ci/gpu/build.sh
index 850afaa44e2..7f3ac81b5c6 100755
--- a/ci/gpu/build.sh
+++ b/ci/gpu/build.sh
@@ -269,6 +269,8 @@ cd "$WORKSPACE/python/custreamz"
 gpuci_logger "Python py.test for cuStreamz"
 py.test -n 8 --cache-clear --basetemp="$WORKSPACE/custreamz-cuda-tmp" --junitxml="$WORKSPACE/junit-custreamz.xml" -v --cov-config=.coveragerc --cov=custreamz --cov-report=xml:"$WORKSPACE/python/custreamz/custreamz-coverage.xml" --cov-report term custreamz
 
+
+# only install strings_udf after cuDF is finished testing without its presence
 gpuci_logger "Installing strings_udf"
 gpuci_mamba_retry install strings_udf -c "${CONDA_BLD_DIR}" -c "${CONDA_ARTIFACT_PATH}"
 
@@ -276,11 +278,18 @@ gpuci_mamba_retry install strings_udf -c "${CONDA_BLD_DIR}" -c "${CONDA_ARTIFACT
 cd "$WORKSPACE/python/strings_udf/strings_udf"
 gpuci_logger "Python py.test for strings_udf"
 
-# retest cudf with strings_udf present
-cd $WORKSPACE/python/cudf/cudf
-py.test -n 8 --cache-clear --basetemp="$WORKSPACE/strings-udf-cuda-tmp" --junitxml="$WORKSPACE/junit-strings-udf.xml" -v --cov-config=.coveragerc --cov=strings_udf --cov-report=xml:"$WORKSPACE/python/strings_udf/strings-udf-coverage.xml" --cov-report term tests
-gpuci_logger "Python py.test retest cuDF UDFs"
-py.test tests/test_udf_masked_ops.py -n 8 --cache-clear
+STRINGS_UDF_PYTEST_RETCODE=0
+py.test -n 8 --cache-clear --basetemp="$WORKSPACE/strings-udf-cuda-tmp" --junitxml="$WORKSPACE/junit-strings-udf.xml" -v --cov-config=.coveragerc --cov=strings_udf --cov-report=xml:"$WORKSPACE/python/strings_udf/strings-udf-coverage.xml" --cov-report term tests || STRINGS_UDF_PYTEST_RETCODE=$?
+
+if [ ${STRINGS_UDF_PYTEST_RETCODE} -eq 5 ]; then
+    echo "No strings UDF tests were run, but this script will continue to execute."
+elif [ ${STRINGS_UDF_PYTEST_RETCODE} -ne 0 ]; then
+    exit ${STRINGS_UDF_PYTEST_RETCODE}
+else
+    cd "$WORKSPACE/python/cudf/cudf"
+    gpuci_logger "Python py.test retest cuDF UDFs"
+    py.test tests/test_udf_masked_ops.py -n 8 --cache-clear
+fi
 
 # Run benchmarks with both cudf and pandas to ensure compatibility is maintained.
 # Benchmarks are run in DEBUG_ONLY mode, meaning that only small data sizes are used.
diff --git a/python/cudf/cudf/core/udf/__init__.py b/python/cudf/cudf/core/udf/__init__.py
index 97ed1be82c6..443466b28bd 100644
--- a/python/cudf/cudf/core/udf/__init__.py
+++ b/python/cudf/cudf/core/udf/__init__.py
@@ -1,6 +1,10 @@
 # Copyright (c) 2022, NVIDIA CORPORATION.
-from numba import types
-from numba.cuda.cudaimpl import lower as cuda_lower
+import numpy as np
+from numba import cuda, types
+from numba.cuda.cudaimpl import (
+    lower as cuda_lower,
+    registry as cuda_lowering_registry,
+)
 
 from cudf.core.dtypes import dtype
 from cudf.core.udf import api, row_function, utils
@@ -11,8 +15,6 @@
 _units = ["ns", "ms", "us", "s"]
 _datetime_cases = {types.NPDatetime(u) for u in _units}
 _timedelta_cases = {types.NPTimedelta(u) for u in _units}
-
-
 _supported_masked_types = (
     types.integer_domain
     | types.real_domain
@@ -20,37 +22,40 @@
     | _timedelta_cases
     | {types.boolean}
 )
-
 _STRING_UDFS_ENABLED = False
 try:
     import strings_udf
-    from strings_udf import ptxpath
-    from strings_udf._lib.cudf_jit_udf import to_string_view_array
-    from strings_udf._typing import str_view_arg_handler, string_view
-
-    from . import strings_typing  # isort: skip
-    from . import strings_lowering  # isort: skip
-
-    cuda_lower(api.Masked, strings_typing.string_view, types.boolean)(
-        masked_lowering.masked_constructor
-    )
-
-    # add an overload of pack_return(string_view)
-    cuda_lower(api.pack_return, strings_typing.string_view)(
-        masked_lowering.pack_return_scalar_impl
-    )
-
-    _supported_masked_types |= {strings_typing.string_view}
-    utils.launch_arg_getters[dtype("O")] = to_string_view_array
-    utils.masked_array_types[dtype("O")] = string_view
-    utils.JIT_SUPPORTED_TYPES |= STRING_TYPES
-    utils.ptx_files.append(ptxpath)
-    utils.arg_handlers.append(str_view_arg_handler)
-    row_function.itemsizes[dtype("O")] = string_view.size_bytes
-
-    _STRING_UDFS_ENABLED = True
+
+    if strings_udf.ENABLED:
+        from . import strings_typing  # isort: skip
+        from . import strings_lowering  # isort: skip
+        from strings_udf import ptxpath
+        from strings_udf._lib.cudf_jit_udf import to_string_view_array
+        from strings_udf._typing import str_view_arg_handler, string_view
+
+        # add an overload of MaskedType.__init__(string_view, bool)
+        cuda_lower(api.Masked, strings_typing.string_view, types.boolean)(
+            masked_lowering.masked_constructor
+        )
+
+        # add an overload of pack_return(string_view)
+        cuda_lower(api.pack_return, strings_typing.string_view)(
+            masked_lowering.pack_return_scalar_impl
+        )
+
+        _supported_masked_types |= {strings_typing.string_view}
+        utils.launch_arg_getters[dtype("O")] = to_string_view_array
+        utils.masked_array_types[dtype("O")] = string_view
+        utils.JIT_SUPPORTED_TYPES |= STRING_TYPES
+        utils.ptx_files.append(ptxpath)
+        utils.arg_handlers.append(str_view_arg_handler)
+        row_function.itemsizes[dtype("O")] = string_view.size_bytes
+
+        _STRING_UDFS_ENABLED = True
+    else:
+        del strings_udf
+
 except ImportError as e:
     # allow cuDF to work without strings_udf
     pass
-
 masked_typing.register_masked_constructor(_supported_masked_types)
diff --git a/python/strings_udf/CMakeLists.txt b/python/strings_udf/CMakeLists.txt
index 53d31575363..3e54162b732 100644
--- a/python/strings_udf/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/python/strings_udf/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -18,6 +18,9 @@ set(strings_udf_version 22.10.00)
 
 include(../../fetch_rapids.cmake)
 
+include(rapids-cuda)
+rapids_cuda_init_architectures(strings-udf-python)
+
 project(
   strings-udf-python
   VERSION ${strings_udf_version}
diff --git a/python/strings_udf/cpp/CMakeLists.txt b/python/strings_udf/cpp/CMakeLists.txt
index 5bbb6ae4791..735e9ff5c27 100644
--- a/python/strings_udf/cpp/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/python/strings_udf/cpp/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -19,9 +19,7 @@ include(rapids-cpm)
 include(rapids-cuda)
 include(rapids-find)
 
-rapids_cpm_init()
-
-rapids_cuda_init_architectures(STRINGS_UDF)
+rapids_cuda_init_architectures(strings-udf-cpp)
 
 # Create a project so that we can enable CUDA architectures in this file.
 project(
@@ -30,6 +28,8 @@ project(
   LANGUAGES CUDA
 )
 
+rapids_cpm_init()
+
 rapids_find_package(
   CUDAToolkit REQUIRED
   BUILD_EXPORT_SET strings-udf-exports
diff --git a/python/strings_udf/strings_udf/__init__.py b/python/strings_udf/strings_udf/__init__.py
index ed0c2a228a7..8a06f02d8f9 100644
--- a/python/strings_udf/strings_udf/__init__.py
+++ b/python/strings_udf/strings_udf/__init__.py
@@ -12,26 +12,62 @@
 
 __version__ = _version.get_versions()["version"]
 
+ENABLED = False
+
+
+def compiler_from_ptx_file(path):
+    """Parse a PTX file header and extract the CUDA version used to compile it.
+    Here is an example PTX header that this function should parse:
+    // Generated by NVIDIA NVVM Compiler
+    //
+    // Compiler Build ID: CL-30672275
+    // Cuda compilation tools, release 11.5, V11.5.119
+    // Based on NVVM 7
+    """
+    file = open(path).read()
+    major, minor = (
+        re.search(r"Cuda compilation tools, release ([0-9\.]+)", file)
+        .group(1)
+        .split(".")
+    )
+    return int(major), int(minor)
+
+
 # adapted from PTXCompiler
 cp = subprocess.run([sys.executable, "-c", CMD], capture_output=True)
-
-# must have a driver to proceed
 if cp.returncode == 0:
+    # must have a driver to proceed
+    versions = [int(s) for s in cp.stdout.strip().split()]
+    driver_version = tuple(versions[:2])
+    runtime_version = tuple(versions[2:])
 
-    # Load the highest compute capability file available that is less than
-    # the current device's.
-    files = glob.glob(os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), "shim_*.ptx"))
-    dev = cuda.get_current_device()
-    cc = "".join(str(x) for x in dev.compute_capability)
-    files = glob.glob(os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), "shim_*.ptx"))
-    if len(files) == 0:
-        raise RuntimeError(
-            "This strings_udf installation is missing the necessary PTX "
-            "files. Please file an issue reporting this error and how you "
-            "installed cudf and strings_udf."
+    # CUDA enhanced compatibility not yet enabled
+    if driver_version >= runtime_version:
+        # Load the highest compute capability file available that is less than
+        # the current device's.
+        files = glob.glob(
+            os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), "shim_*.ptx")
         )
-    sms = [os.path.basename(f).rstrip(".ptx").lstrip("shim_") for f in files]
-    selected_sm = max(sm for sm in sms if sm < cc)
-    ptxpath = os.path.join(
-        os.path.dirname(__file__), f"shim_{selected_sm}.ptx"
-    )
+        dev = cuda.get_current_device()
+        cc = "".join(str(x) for x in dev.compute_capability)
+        files = glob.glob(
+            os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), "shim_*.ptx")
+        )
+        if len(files) == 0:
+            raise RuntimeError(
+                "This strings_udf installation is missing the necessary PTX "
+                "files. Please file an issue reporting this error and how you "
+                "installed cudf and strings_udf."
+            )
+        sms = [
+            os.path.basename(f).rstrip(".ptx").lstrip("shim_") for f in files
+        ]
+        selected_sm = max(sm for sm in sms if sm < cc)
+        ptxpath = os.path.join(
+            os.path.dirname(__file__), f"shim_{selected_sm}.ptx"
+        )
+
+        if driver_version >= compiler_from_ptx_file(ptxpath):
+            ENABLED = True
+        else:
+            del ptxpath
diff --git a/python/strings_udf/strings_udf/tests/test_string_udfs.py b/python/strings_udf/strings_udf/tests/test_string_udfs.py
index 1a5dfa00dd7..f214915ae12 100644
--- a/python/strings_udf/strings_udf/tests/test_string_udfs.py
+++ b/python/strings_udf/strings_udf/tests/test_string_udfs.py
@@ -15,6 +15,9 @@
 from strings_udf._lib.cudf_jit_udf import to_string_view_array
 from strings_udf._typing import str_view_arg_handler, string_view
 
+if not strings_udf.ENABLED:
+    pytest.skip("Strings UDF not enabled.", allow_module_level=True)
+
 
 def get_kernel(func, dtype):
     """