The IR is off by default and has to be purposely activated with a triple click from on. When the light is turned off for at least 5 seconds, the IR becomes inactive again when you turn the light back on. In other words, it doesn’t come into play when you don’t want it, unless you’re prone to accidental triple-clicking when the light is on :-)
Covering the IR with tape and then turning the light on and triple clicking on it has an interesting net effect: it effectively does what you want - the IR is activated, but because it’s always covered and not covered and then uncovered, it does nothing (I wrongly predicted that it would turn the light off after 3 seconds) and the light shines on.