diff --git a/cpp/src/io/utilities/config_utils.cpp b/cpp/src/io/utilities/config_utils.cpp
index 3307b4fa539..cea0ebad8f5 100644
--- a/cpp/src/io/utilities/config_utils.cpp
+++ b/cpp/src/io/utilities/config_utils.cpp
@@ -56,7 +56,8 @@ void set_up_kvikio()
 {
   static std::once_flag flag{};
   std::call_once(flag, [] {
-    auto const compat_mode = kvikio::detail::getenv_or<bool>("KVIKIO_COMPAT_MODE", true);
+    auto const compat_mode =
+      kvikio::detail::getenv_or("KVIKIO_COMPAT_MODE", kvikio::CompatMode::ON);
     kvikio::defaults::compat_mode_reset(compat_mode);
 
     auto const nthreads = getenv_or<unsigned int>("KVIKIO_NTHREADS", 4u);
diff --git a/cpp/src/io/utilities/data_sink.cpp b/cpp/src/io/utilities/data_sink.cpp
index 68377ad6d5f..b37a5ac900a 100644
--- a/cpp/src/io/utilities/data_sink.cpp
+++ b/cpp/src/io/utilities/data_sink.cpp
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ class file_sink : public data_sink {
       cufile_integration::set_up_kvikio();
       _kvikio_file = kvikio::FileHandle(filepath, "w");
       CUDF_LOG_INFO("Writing a file using kvikIO, with compatibility mode {}.",
-                    _kvikio_file.is_compat_mode_on() ? "on" : "off");
+                    _kvikio_file.is_compat_mode_preferred() ? "on" : "off");
     } else {
       _cufile_out = detail::make_cufile_output(filepath);
     }
diff --git a/cpp/src/io/utilities/datasource.cpp b/cpp/src/io/utilities/datasource.cpp
index 0870e4a84a7..10814eea458 100644
--- a/cpp/src/io/utilities/datasource.cpp
+++ b/cpp/src/io/utilities/datasource.cpp
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ class file_source : public datasource {
       cufile_integration::set_up_kvikio();
       _kvikio_file = kvikio::FileHandle(filepath);
       CUDF_LOG_INFO("Reading a file using kvikIO, with compatibility mode {}.",
-                    _kvikio_file.is_compat_mode_on() ? "on" : "off");
+                    _kvikio_file.is_compat_mode_preferred() ? "on" : "off");
     } else {
       _cufile_in = detail::make_cufile_input(filepath);
     }