diff --git a/examples/mnist.ipynb b/examples/mnist.ipynb
index 669a3e1..bfda893 100644
--- a/examples/mnist.ipynb
+++ b/examples/mnist.ipynb
@@ -188,7 +188,8 @@
     "        loss.backward(opt=opt)\n",
     "        opt.step()\n",
     "    test_x = mpp.Constant(test_images_)\n",
-    "    test_fx = model(test_x)\n",
+    "    with mpp.no_grad():\n",
+    "        test_fx = model(test_x)\n",
     "    pred_labels = np.argmax(test_fx.value, axis=1)\n",
     "    accuracy = (pred_labels == test_labels).mean().item()\n",
     "    accuracies.append(accuracy)"
diff --git a/src/micrograd_pp/__init__.py b/src/micrograd_pp/__init__.py
index 48b65aa..3f54508 100644
--- a/src/micrograd_pp/__init__.py
+++ b/src/micrograd_pp/__init__.py
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-from ._expr import Constant, Expr, Parameter, maximum, relu
+from ._expr import Constant, Expr, Parameter, is_grad_enabled, maximum, no_grad, relu
 from ._nn import Linear, ReLU, Sequential
 from ._opt import SGD
 
@@ -13,6 +13,8 @@
     "Sequential",
     "SGD",
     "datasets",
+    "is_grad_enabled",
     "maximum",
+    "no_grad",
     "relu",
 )
diff --git a/src/micrograd_pp/_expr.py b/src/micrograd_pp/_expr.py
index 984b229..68e1304 100644
--- a/src/micrograd_pp/_expr.py
+++ b/src/micrograd_pp/_expr.py
@@ -1,15 +1,34 @@
 from __future__ import annotations
 
+import contextlib
 import itertools
 from abc import ABC, abstractmethod
 from collections import deque
 from functools import lru_cache
-from typing import Any, Callable, Sequence
+from typing import Any, Callable, Generator, Sequence
 
 import numpy as np
 import numpy.typing as npt
 
 
+_grad_mode = True
+
+
+@contextlib.contextmanager
+def no_grad() -> Generator[None, None, None]:
+    """Context manager that disables gradient computation."""
+    global _grad_mode
+    state = _grad_mode
+    _grad_mode = False
+    yield
+    _grad_mode = state
+
+
+def is_grad_enabled() -> bool:
+    """Determines whether or not gradient mode is enabled."""
+    return _grad_mode
+
+
 class Expr:
     """Represents a differentiable expression in the graph.
 
@@ -34,11 +53,15 @@ def __init__(
         requires_grad: bool | None = None,
     ) -> None:
         self._value = value
-        self._children = tuple(children)
         self._label = label
-        if requires_grad is None:
-            requires_grad = any(child._requires_grad for child in children)
-        self._requires_grad = requires_grad
+        if is_grad_enabled():
+            self._children = tuple(children)
+            if requires_grad is None:
+                requires_grad = any(child._requires_grad for child in children)
+            self._requires_grad = requires_grad
+        else:
+            self._children = ()
+            self._requires_grad = False
         self._grad = None
 
     def __repr__(self) -> str:
diff --git a/tests/test_expr.py b/tests/test_expr.py
index 539915c..462e4f4 100644
--- a/tests/test_expr.py
+++ b/tests/test_expr.py
@@ -136,6 +136,17 @@ def test_mult_scalar() -> None:
     np.testing.assert_equal(a_.grad, grad)
 
 
+def test_no_grad() -> None:
+    with mpp.no_grad():
+        a = np.random.randn(4, 1, 2)
+        b = np.random.randn(3, 2)
+        a_ = mpp.Parameter(a)
+        b_ = mpp.Parameter(b)
+        c_ = a_ * b_
+        with pytest.raises(ValueError):
+            c_.backward()
+
+
 def test_pow() -> None:
     a = np.random.randn(3, 2)
     a_ = mpp.Parameter(a)
diff --git a/tests/test_mnist.py b/tests/test_mnist.py
index 4db867f..58315df 100644
--- a/tests/test_mnist.py
+++ b/tests/test_mnist.py
@@ -60,7 +60,8 @@ def test_mnist(batch_sz: int = 64, n_epochs: int = 3):
             loss.backward(opt=opt)
             opt.step()
         test_x = mpp.Constant(test_images)
-        test_fx = model(test_x)
+        with mpp.no_grad():
+            test_fx = model(test_x)
         pred_labels = np.argmax(test_fx.value, axis=1)
         accuracy = (pred_labels == test_labels).mean().item()
         print(f"Test accuracy at epoch {epoch}: {accuracy * 100:.2f}%")