diff --git a/x-pack/plugins/rule_registry/server/config.ts b/x-pack/plugins/rule_registry/server/config.ts
index 830762c9b37416..8f98ceb2dd8dbe 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugins/rule_registry/server/config.ts
+++ b/x-pack/plugins/rule_registry/server/config.ts
@@ -17,6 +17,9 @@ export const config = {
       legacyMultiTenancy: schema.object({
         enabled: schema.boolean({ defaultValue: false }),
       }),
+      indexUpgrade: schema.object({
+        enabled: schema.boolean({ defaultValue: false }),
+      }),
     }),
   }),
 };
diff --git a/x-pack/plugins/rule_registry/server/plugin.ts b/x-pack/plugins/rule_registry/server/plugin.ts
index a4122e3a1ffc16..2329b90898ca6a 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugins/rule_registry/server/plugin.ts
+++ b/x-pack/plugins/rule_registry/server/plugin.ts
@@ -103,6 +103,7 @@ export class RuleRegistryPlugin
       logger,
       kibanaVersion,
       isWriteEnabled: isWriteEnabled(this.config, this.legacyConfig),
+      isIndexUpgradeEnabled: this.config.unsafe.indexUpgrade.enabled,
       getClusterClient: async () => {
         const deps = await startDependencies;
         return deps.core.elasticsearch.client.asInternalUser;
diff --git a/x-pack/plugins/rule_registry/server/rule_data_plugin_service/resource_installer.ts b/x-pack/plugins/rule_registry/server/rule_data_plugin_service/resource_installer.ts
index 73651ec298c362..d683cc95065e3b 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugins/rule_registry/server/rule_data_plugin_service/resource_installer.ts
+++ b/x-pack/plugins/rule_registry/server/rule_data_plugin_service/resource_installer.ts
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ interface ConstructorOptions {
   getClusterClient: () => Promise<ElasticsearchClient>;
   logger: Logger;
   isWriteEnabled: boolean;
+  isIndexUpgradeEnabled: boolean;
 }
 
 export class ResourceInstaller {
@@ -115,6 +116,7 @@ export class ResourceInstaller {
   public async installIndexLevelResources(indexInfo: IndexInfo): Promise<void> {
     await this.installWithTimeout(`resources for index ${indexInfo.baseName}`, async () => {
       const { componentTemplates, ilmPolicy } = indexInfo.indexOptions;
+      const { isIndexUpgradeEnabled } = this.options;
 
       if (ilmPolicy != null) {
         await this.createOrUpdateLifecyclePolicy({
@@ -138,9 +140,11 @@ export class ResourceInstaller {
         })
       );
 
-      // TODO: Update all existing namespaced index templates matching this index' base name
+      if (isIndexUpgradeEnabled) {
+        // TODO: Update all existing namespaced index templates matching this index' base name
 
-      await this.updateIndexMappings(indexInfo);
+        await this.updateIndexMappings(indexInfo);
+      }
     });
   }
 
diff --git a/x-pack/plugins/rule_registry/server/rule_data_plugin_service/rule_data_plugin_service.ts b/x-pack/plugins/rule_registry/server/rule_data_plugin_service/rule_data_plugin_service.ts
index ed3d5340756e89..c69677b091c9cf 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugins/rule_registry/server/rule_data_plugin_service/rule_data_plugin_service.ts
+++ b/x-pack/plugins/rule_registry/server/rule_data_plugin_service/rule_data_plugin_service.ts
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ interface ConstructorOptions {
   logger: Logger;
   kibanaVersion: string;
   isWriteEnabled: boolean;
+  isIndexUpgradeEnabled: boolean;
 }
 
 /**
@@ -43,6 +44,7 @@ export class RuleDataPluginService {
       getClusterClient: options.getClusterClient,
       logger: options.logger,
       isWriteEnabled: options.isWriteEnabled,
+      isIndexUpgradeEnabled: options.isIndexUpgradeEnabled,
     });
 
     this.installCommonResources = Promise.resolve(right('ok'));