diff --git a/actiontext/CHANGELOG.md b/actiontext/CHANGELOG.md
index 6f2baec2bd9..aff60a73e7b 100644
--- a/actiontext/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/actiontext/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,3 +1,7 @@
+*   Support `strict_loading:` option for `has_rich_text` declaration
+
+    *Sean Doyle*
+
 *   Update ContentAttachment so that it can encapsulate arbitrary HTML content in a document.
 
     *Jamis Buck*
diff --git a/actiontext/lib/action_text/attribute.rb b/actiontext/lib/action_text/attribute.rb
index ae8fc93fbfa..9daf042f07c 100644
--- a/actiontext/lib/action_text/attribute.rb
+++ b/actiontext/lib/action_text/attribute.rb
@@ -30,7 +30,11 @@ module ActionText
       #
       # * <tt>:encrypted</tt> - Pass true to encrypt the rich text attribute. The encryption will be non-deterministic. See
       #   +ActiveRecord::Encryption::EncryptableRecord.encrypts+. Default: false.
-      def has_rich_text(name, encrypted: false)
+      #
+      # * <tt>:strict_loading</tt> - Pass true to force strict loading. When
+      #   omitted, <tt>strict_loading:</tt> will be set to the value of the
+      #   <tt>strict_loading_by_default</tt> class attribute (false by default).
+      def has_rich_text(name, encrypted: false, strict_loading: strict_loading_by_default)
         class_eval <<-CODE, __FILE__, __LINE__ + 1
           def #{name}
             rich_text_#{name} || build_rich_text_#{name}
@@ -47,7 +51,8 @@ module ActionText
 
         rich_text_class_name = encrypted ? "ActionText::EncryptedRichText" : "ActionText::RichText"
         has_one :"rich_text_#{name}", -> { where(name: name) },
-          class_name: rich_text_class_name, as: :record, inverse_of: :record, autosave: true, dependent: :destroy
+          class_name: rich_text_class_name, as: :record, inverse_of: :record, autosave: true, dependent: :destroy,
+          strict_loading: strict_loading
 
         scope :"with_rich_text_#{name}", -> { includes("rich_text_#{name}") }
         scope :"with_rich_text_#{name}_and_embeds", -> { includes("rich_text_#{name}": { embeds_attachments: :blob }) }
diff --git a/actiontext/test/unit/strict_loading_test.rb b/actiontext/test/unit/strict_loading_test.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..f7e8b69ba68
--- /dev/null
+++ b/actiontext/test/unit/strict_loading_test.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+# frozen_string_literal: true
+
+require "test_helper"
+
+class ActionText::StrictLoadingTest < ActiveSupport::TestCase
+  class MessageWithStrictLoading < Message
+    self.strict_loading_by_default = true
+
+    has_rich_text :strict_loading_content
+  end
+
+  class MessageWithFooter < MessageWithStrictLoading
+    has_rich_text :footer, strict_loading: false
+  end
+
+  test "has_rich_text reads strict_loading: option from strict_loading_by_default" do
+    MessageWithStrictLoading.create! strict_loading_content: "ignored"
+
+    assert_raises ActiveRecord::StrictLoadingViolationError do
+      MessageWithStrictLoading.all.map(&:strict_loading_content)
+    end
+
+    MessageWithStrictLoading.with_rich_text_strict_loading_content.map(&:strict_loading_content)
+  end
+
+  test "pre-loading the association does not raise a StrictLoadingViolationError" do
+    MessageWithStrictLoading.create! strict_loading_content: "ignored"
+
+    records = MessageWithStrictLoading.with_rich_text_strict_loading_content.all
+
+    records.map(&:strict_loading_content)
+  end
+
+  test "has_rich_text accepts strict_loading: overrides" do
+    MessageWithFooter.create! footer: "ignored"
+
+    records = MessageWithFooter.all
+
+    records.map(&:footer)
+  end
+end