diff --git a/demos/main/src/main/java/com/google/android/exoplayer2/demo/DemoUtil.java b/demos/main/src/main/java/com/google/android/exoplayer2/demo/DemoUtil.java
index 704d819db4..080387db7e 100644
--- a/demos/main/src/main/java/com/google/android/exoplayer2/demo/DemoUtil.java
+++ b/demos/main/src/main/java/com/google/android/exoplayer2/demo/DemoUtil.java
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ import com.google.android.exoplayer2.offline.DownloadManager;
 import com.google.android.exoplayer2.ui.DownloadNotificationHelper;
 import com.google.android.exoplayer2.upstream.DataSource;
 import com.google.android.exoplayer2.upstream.DefaultDataSourceFactory;
+import com.google.android.exoplayer2.upstream.DefaultHttpDataSource;
 import com.google.android.exoplayer2.upstream.HttpDataSource;
 import com.google.android.exoplayer2.upstream.cache.Cache;
 import com.google.android.exoplayer2.upstream.cache.CacheDataSource;
@@ -38,6 +39,9 @@ import com.google.android.exoplayer2.upstream.cache.SimpleCache;
 import com.google.android.exoplayer2.util.Log;
 import java.io.File;
 import java.io.IOException;
+import java.net.CookieHandler;
+import java.net.CookieManager;
+import java.net.CookiePolicy;
 import java.util.concurrent.Executors;
 import org.checkerframework.checker.nullness.qual.MonotonicNonNull;
 
@@ -46,6 +50,15 @@ public final class DemoUtil {
 
   public static final String DOWNLOAD_NOTIFICATION_CHANNEL_ID = "download_channel";
 
+  /**
+   * Whether the demo application uses Cronet for networking. Note that Cronet does not provide
+   * automatic support for cookies (https://github.com/google/ExoPlayer/issues/5975).
+   *
+   * <p>If set to false, the platform's default network stack is used with a {@link CookieManager}
+   * configured in {@link #getHttpDataSourceFactory}.
+   */
+  private static final boolean USE_CRONET_FOR_NETWORKING = true;
+
   private static final String USER_AGENT =
       "ExoPlayerDemo/"
           + ExoPlayerLibraryInfo.VERSION
@@ -87,11 +100,18 @@ public final class DemoUtil {
 
   public static synchronized HttpDataSource.Factory getHttpDataSourceFactory(Context context) {
     if (httpDataSourceFactory == null) {
-      context = context.getApplicationContext();
-      CronetEngineWrapper cronetEngineWrapper =
-          new CronetEngineWrapper(context, USER_AGENT, /* preferGMSCoreCronet= */ false);
-      httpDataSourceFactory =
-          new CronetDataSource.Factory(cronetEngineWrapper, Executors.newSingleThreadExecutor());
+      if (USE_CRONET_FOR_NETWORKING) {
+        context = context.getApplicationContext();
+        CronetEngineWrapper cronetEngineWrapper =
+            new CronetEngineWrapper(context, USER_AGENT, /* preferGMSCoreCronet= */ false);
+        httpDataSourceFactory =
+            new CronetDataSource.Factory(cronetEngineWrapper, Executors.newSingleThreadExecutor());
+      } else {
+        CookieManager cookieManager = new CookieManager();
+        cookieManager.setCookiePolicy(CookiePolicy.ACCEPT_ORIGINAL_SERVER);
+        CookieHandler.setDefault(cookieManager);
+        httpDataSourceFactory = new DefaultHttpDataSource.Factory().setUserAgent(USER_AGENT);
+      }
     }
     return httpDataSourceFactory;
   }
diff --git a/demos/main/src/main/java/com/google/android/exoplayer2/demo/PlayerActivity.java b/demos/main/src/main/java/com/google/android/exoplayer2/demo/PlayerActivity.java
index bb2d50ec5b..5fb342be43 100644
--- a/demos/main/src/main/java/com/google/android/exoplayer2/demo/PlayerActivity.java
+++ b/demos/main/src/main/java/com/google/android/exoplayer2/demo/PlayerActivity.java
@@ -58,9 +58,6 @@ import com.google.android.exoplayer2.upstream.DataSource;
 import com.google.android.exoplayer2.util.ErrorMessageProvider;
 import com.google.android.exoplayer2.util.EventLogger;
 import com.google.android.exoplayer2.util.Util;
-import java.net.CookieHandler;
-import java.net.CookieManager;
-import java.net.CookiePolicy;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.Collections;
 import java.util.List;
@@ -77,13 +74,6 @@ public class PlayerActivity extends AppCompatActivity
   private static final String KEY_POSITION = "position";
   private static final String KEY_AUTO_PLAY = "auto_play";
 
-  private static final CookieManager DEFAULT_COOKIE_MANAGER;
-
-  static {
-    DEFAULT_COOKIE_MANAGER = new CookieManager();
-    DEFAULT_COOKIE_MANAGER.setCookiePolicy(CookiePolicy.ACCEPT_ORIGINAL_SERVER);
-  }
-
   protected StyledPlayerView playerView;
   protected LinearLayout debugRootView;
   protected TextView debugTextView;
@@ -111,9 +101,6 @@ public class PlayerActivity extends AppCompatActivity
   public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
     super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
     dataSourceFactory = DemoUtil.getDataSourceFactory(/* context= */ this);
-    if (CookieHandler.getDefault() != DEFAULT_COOKIE_MANAGER) {
-      CookieHandler.setDefault(DEFAULT_COOKIE_MANAGER);
-    }
 
     setContentView();
     debugRootView = findViewById(R.id.controls_root);