diff --git a/packages/backend-core/src/environment.ts b/packages/backend-core/src/environment.ts
index 6bef6efeb3..0ffe9966b1 100644
--- a/packages/backend-core/src/environment.ts
+++ b/packages/backend-core/src/environment.ts
@@ -143,6 +143,7 @@ const environment = {
   POSTHOG_TOKEN: process.env.POSTHOG_TOKEN,
   POSTHOG_PERSONAL_TOKEN: process.env.POSTHOG_PERSONAL_TOKEN,
   POSTHOG_API_HOST: process.env.POSTHOG_API_HOST || "https://us.i.posthog.com",
+  POSTHOG_FEATURE_FLAGS: process.env.POSTHOG_FEATURE_FLAGS,
   ENABLE_ANALYTICS: process.env.ENABLE_ANALYTICS,
   TENANT_FEATURE_FLAGS: process.env.TENANT_FEATURE_FLAGS,
   CLOUDFRONT_CDN: process.env.CLOUDFRONT_CDN,
diff --git a/packages/backend-core/src/features/index.ts b/packages/backend-core/src/features/index.ts
index 5b6ea4ca92..fda95c6553 100644
--- a/packages/backend-core/src/features/index.ts
+++ b/packages/backend-core/src/features/index.ts
@@ -6,7 +6,12 @@ import tracer from "dd-trace"
 
 let posthog: PostHog | undefined
 export function init(opts?: PostHogOptions) {
-  if (env.POSTHOG_TOKEN && env.POSTHOG_API_HOST && !env.SELF_HOSTED) {
+  if (
+    env.POSTHOG_TOKEN &&
+    env.POSTHOG_API_HOST &&
+    !env.SELF_HOSTED &&
+    env.POSTHOG_FEATURE_FLAGS
+  ) {
     console.log("initializing posthog client...")
     posthog = new PostHog(env.POSTHOG_TOKEN, {
       host: env.POSTHOG_API_HOST,