diff --git a/distributed/diagnostics/tests/test_cudf_diagnostics.py b/distributed/diagnostics/tests/test_cudf_diagnostics.py
index fd252590ab3..d1be17eb41b 100644
--- a/distributed/diagnostics/tests/test_cudf_diagnostics.py
+++ b/distributed/diagnostics/tests/test_cudf_diagnostics.py
@@ -1,25 +1,36 @@
 from __future__ import annotations
 
-import asyncio
-import os
+import sys
 
 import pytest
 
-from distributed.utils_test import gen_cluster
+import dask
+from dask.distributed import worker
 
-pytestmark = [
-    pytest.mark.gpu,
-    pytest.mark.skipif(
-        os.environ.get("CUDF_SPILL", "off") != "on"
-        or os.environ.get("CUDF_SPILL_STATS", "0") != "1"
-        or os.environ.get("DASK_DISTRIBUTED__DIAGNOSTICS__CUDF", "0") != "1",
-        reason="cuDF spill stats monitoring must be enabled manually",
-    ),
-]
+from distributed.utils_test import async_poll_for, gen_cluster
 
 cudf = pytest.importorskip("cudf")
 
 
+@pytest.fixture
+def cudf_spill():
+    """
+    Configures cuDF options to enable spilling.
+
+    Returns the settings to their original values after the test.
+    """
+    spill = cudf.get_option("spill")
+    spill_stats = cudf.get_option("spill_stats")
+
+    cudf.set_option("spill", True)
+    cudf.set_option("spill_stats", 1)
+
+    yield
+
+    cudf.set_option("spill", spill)
+    cudf.set_option("spill_stats", spill_stats)
+
+
 def force_spill():
     from cudf.core.buffer.spill_manager import get_global_manager
 
@@ -37,7 +48,13 @@ def force_spill():
 @gen_cluster(
     client=True,
     nthreads=[("127.0.0.1", 1)],
+    # whether worker.cudf_metric is in DEFAULT_METRICS depends on the value
+    # of distributed.diagnostics.cudf when distributed.worker is imported.
+    worker_kwargs={
+        "metrics": {**worker.DEFAULT_METRICS, "cudf": worker.cudf_metric},
+    },
 )
+@pytest.mark.usefixtures("cudf_spill")
 async def test_cudf_metrics(c, s, *workers):
     w = list(s.workers.values())[0]
     assert "cudf" in w.metrics
@@ -45,7 +62,13 @@ async def test_cudf_metrics(c, s, *workers):
 
     spill_totals = (await c.run(force_spill, workers=[w.address]))[w.address]
     assert spill_totals > 0
-    # We have to wait for the worker's metrics to update.
-    # TODO: avoid sleep, is it possible to wait on the next update of metrics?
-    await asyncio.sleep(1)
+    await async_poll_for(lambda: w.metrics["cudf"]["cudf-spilled"] > 0, timeout=2)
     assert w.metrics["cudf"]["cudf-spilled"] == spill_totals
+
+
+def test_cudf_default_metrics(monkeypatch):
+    with dask.config.set(**{"distributed.diagnostics.cudf": 1}):
+        del sys.modules["distributed.worker"]
+        import distributed.worker
+
+    assert "cudf" in distributed.worker.DEFAULT_METRICS
diff --git a/distributed/worker.py b/distributed/worker.py
index c8a4bbd574e..8a57f563005 100644
--- a/distributed/worker.py
+++ b/distributed/worker.py
@@ -3224,21 +3224,17 @@ async def rmm_metric(worker):
     DEFAULT_METRICS["rmm"] = rmm_metric
     del _rmm
 
-# avoid importing cuDF unless explicitly enabled
-if dask.config.get("distributed.diagnostics.cudf"):
-    try:
-        import cudf as _cudf  # noqa: F401
-    except Exception:
-        pass
-    else:
-        from distributed.diagnostics import cudf
 
-        async def cudf_metric(worker):
-            result = await offload(cudf.real_time)
-            return result
+async def cudf_metric(worker):
+    # avoid importing optional cudf at the top-level
+    from distributed.diagnostics import cudf
 
-        DEFAULT_METRICS["cudf"] = cudf_metric
-        del _cudf
+    result = await offload(cudf.real_time)
+    return result
+
+
+if dask.config.get("distributed.diagnostics.cudf"):
+    DEFAULT_METRICS["cudf"] = cudf_metric
 
 
 def print(