diff --git a/mobile/lib/main.dart b/mobile/lib/main.dart
index 76f4c548c..6a42a0a3b 100644
--- a/mobile/lib/main.dart
+++ b/mobile/lib/main.dart
@@ -240,9 +240,15 @@ Future<void> _init(bool isBackground, {String via = ''}) async {
   // See https://gitlab.com/fdroid/fdroiddata/-/merge_requests/12671#note_1294346819
   if (!UpdateService.instance.isFdroidFlavor()) {
     // unawaited(ObjectDetectionService.instance.init());
-    unawaited(FaceMlService.instance.init());
-    FaceMlService.instance.listenIndexOnDiffSync();
-    FaceMlService.instance.listenOnPeopleChangedSync();
+    if (flagService.faceSearchEnabled) {
+      unawaited(FaceMlService.instance.init());
+      FaceMlService.instance.listenIndexOnDiffSync();
+      FaceMlService.instance.listenOnPeopleChangedSync();
+    } else {
+      if (LocalSettings.instance.isFaceIndexingEnabled) {
+        unawaited(LocalSettings.instance.toggleFaceIndexing());
+      }
+    }
   }
   PersonService.init(
     EntityService.instance,
diff --git a/mobile/lib/ui/settings/machine_learning_settings_page.dart b/mobile/lib/ui/settings/machine_learning_settings_page.dart
index b74b33fe5..d401eb082 100644
--- a/mobile/lib/ui/settings/machine_learning_settings_page.dart
+++ b/mobile/lib/ui/settings/machine_learning_settings_page.dart
@@ -64,6 +64,7 @@ class _MachineLearningSettingsPageState
 
   @override
   Widget build(BuildContext context) {
+    final bool facesFlag = flagService.faceSearchEnabled;
     return Scaffold(
       body: CustomScrollView(
         primary: false,
@@ -96,7 +97,9 @@ class _MachineLearningSettingsPageState
                       children: [
                         _getMagicSearchSettings(context),
                         const SizedBox(height: 12),
-                        _getFacesSearchSettings(context),
+                        facesFlag
+                            ? _getFacesSearchSettings(context)
+                            : const SizedBox.shrink(),
                       ],
                     ),
                   ),
diff --git a/mobile/lib/ui/settings_page.dart b/mobile/lib/ui/settings_page.dart
index 7bdc19852..cc0064a30 100644
--- a/mobile/lib/ui/settings_page.dart
+++ b/mobile/lib/ui/settings_page.dart
@@ -144,7 +144,9 @@ class SettingsPage extends StatelessWidget {
 
     if (hasLoggedIn && flagService.internalUser) {
       contents.addAll([sectionSpacing, const DebugSectionWidget()]);
-      contents.addAll([sectionSpacing, const FaceDebugSectionWidget()]);
+      if (flagService.faceSearchEnabled) {
+        contents.addAll([sectionSpacing, const FaceDebugSectionWidget()]);
+      }
     }
     contents.add(const AppVersionWidget());
     contents.add(const DeveloperSettingsWidget());
diff --git a/mobile/plugins/ente_feature_flag/lib/src/service.dart b/mobile/plugins/ente_feature_flag/lib/src/service.dart
index 47539eeb5..8d7f22679 100644
--- a/mobile/plugins/ente_feature_flag/lib/src/service.dart
+++ b/mobile/plugins/ente_feature_flag/lib/src/service.dart
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ class FlagService {
 
   bool get mapEnabled => flags.mapEnabled;
 
-  bool get faceSearchEnabled => flags.faceSearchEnabled;
+  bool get faceSearchEnabled => internalUser || flags.faceSearchEnabled;
 
   bool get passKeyEnabled => flags.passKeyEnabled || internalOrBetaUser;