+1
I agree this feature is annoying but I have a work-a-round that may help some users. I have added a ruler track and placed it right below the default ruler. I use this to locate and zoom. This takes up very little real estate and helps me to avoid activating/de-activating the loop on the default ruler.
This is not meant to be a permanent solution, of course, but I hope it helps until a fix is provided.