diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index c81586548d210..188ec47d3e6da 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/),
 - Support prefix list for remote repository attributes([#16271](https://github.com/opensearch-project/OpenSearch/pull/16271))
 - Add new configuration setting `synonym_analyzer`, to the `synonym` and `synonym_graph` filters, enabling the specification of a custom analyzer for reading the synonym file ([#16488](https://github.com/opensearch-project/OpenSearch/pull/16488)).
 - Add stats for remote publication failure and move download failure stats to remote methods([#16682](https://github.com/opensearch-project/OpenSearch/pull/16682/))
+- Introduce a setting to disable download of full cluster state from remote on term mismatch([#16798](https://github.com/opensearch-project/OpenSearch/pull/16798/))
 
 ### Dependencies
 - Bump `com.google.cloud:google-cloud-core-http` from 2.23.0 to 2.47.0 ([#16504](https://github.com/opensearch-project/OpenSearch/pull/16504))
diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/action/support/clustermanager/term/TransportGetTermVersionAction.java b/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/action/support/clustermanager/term/TransportGetTermVersionAction.java
index 1cab739a20838..22861e0ba5c31 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/action/support/clustermanager/term/TransportGetTermVersionAction.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/action/support/clustermanager/term/TransportGetTermVersionAction.java
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ private GetTermVersionResponse buildResponse(GetTermVersionRequest request, Clus
         ClusterStateTermVersion termVersion = new ClusterStateTermVersion(state);
         if (discovery instanceof Coordinator) {
             Coordinator coordinator = (Coordinator) discovery;
-            if (coordinator.isRemotePublicationEnabled()) {
+            if (coordinator.canDownloadFullStateFromRemote()) {
                 return new GetTermVersionResponse(termVersion, coordinator.isRemotePublicationEnabled());
             }
         }
diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/cluster/coordination/Coordinator.java b/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/cluster/coordination/Coordinator.java
index 6fee2037501e7..ef0f49b8ae394 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/cluster/coordination/Coordinator.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/cluster/coordination/Coordinator.java
@@ -1906,4 +1906,12 @@ public boolean isRemotePublicationEnabled() {
         }
         return false;
     }
+
+    public boolean canDownloadFullStateFromRemote() {
+        if (remoteClusterStateService != null) {
+            return remoteClusterStateService.isRemotePublicationEnabled() && remoteClusterStateService.canDownloadFromRemoteForReadAPI();
+        }
+        return false;
+    }
+
 }
diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/common/settings/ClusterSettings.java b/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/common/settings/ClusterSettings.java
index 04a19e32c4ebc..007a68b8eaa29 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/common/settings/ClusterSettings.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/common/settings/ClusterSettings.java
@@ -738,6 +738,8 @@ public void apply(Settings value, Settings current, Settings previous) {
                 RemoteClusterStateCleanupManager.REMOTE_CLUSTER_STATE_CLEANUP_INTERVAL_SETTING,
                 RemoteClusterStateService.REMOTE_CLUSTER_STATE_ENABLED_SETTING,
                 RemoteClusterStateService.REMOTE_PUBLICATION_SETTING,
+                RemoteClusterStateService.REMOTE_STATE_DOWNLOAD_TO_SERVE_READ_API,
+
                 INDEX_METADATA_UPLOAD_TIMEOUT_SETTING,
                 GLOBAL_METADATA_UPLOAD_TIMEOUT_SETTING,
                 METADATA_MANIFEST_UPLOAD_TIMEOUT_SETTING,
diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/gateway/remote/RemoteClusterStateService.java b/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/gateway/remote/RemoteClusterStateService.java
index c5fc6d5cae6a7..e7eac0ae67714 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/gateway/remote/RemoteClusterStateService.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/gateway/remote/RemoteClusterStateService.java
@@ -129,6 +129,7 @@ public class RemoteClusterStateService implements Closeable {
      * Gates the functionality of remote publication.
      */
     public static final String REMOTE_PUBLICATION_SETTING_KEY = "cluster.remote_store.publication.enabled";
+    public static final String REMOTE_STATE_DOWNLOAD_TO_SERVE_READ_API_KEY = "cluster.remote_state.download.serve_read_api.enabled";
 
     public static final Setting<Boolean> REMOTE_PUBLICATION_SETTING = Setting.boolSetting(
         REMOTE_PUBLICATION_SETTING_KEY,
@@ -137,6 +138,13 @@ public class RemoteClusterStateService implements Closeable {
         Property.Dynamic
     );
 
+    public static final Setting<Boolean> REMOTE_STATE_DOWNLOAD_TO_SERVE_READ_API = Setting.boolSetting(
+        REMOTE_STATE_DOWNLOAD_TO_SERVE_READ_API_KEY,
+        true,
+        Property.NodeScope,
+        Property.Dynamic
+    );
+
     /**
      * Used to specify if cluster state metadata should be published to remote store
      */
@@ -235,6 +243,9 @@ public static RemoteClusterStateValidationMode parseString(String mode) {
         + "indices, coordination metadata updated : [{}], settings metadata updated : [{}], templates metadata "
         + "updated : [{}], custom metadata updated : [{}], indices routing updated : [{}]";
     private volatile AtomicBoolean isPublicationEnabled;
+
+    private volatile AtomicBoolean downloadFromRemoteForReadAPI;
+
     private final String remotePathPrefix;
 
     private final RemoteClusterStateCache remoteClusterStateCache;
@@ -281,6 +292,8 @@ public RemoteClusterStateService(
                 && RemoteStoreNodeAttribute.isRemoteRoutingTableConfigured(settings)
         );
         clusterSettings.addSettingsUpdateConsumer(REMOTE_PUBLICATION_SETTING, this::setRemotePublicationSetting);
+        this.downloadFromRemoteForReadAPI = new AtomicBoolean(clusterSettings.get(REMOTE_STATE_DOWNLOAD_TO_SERVE_READ_API));
+        clusterSettings.addSettingsUpdateConsumer(REMOTE_STATE_DOWNLOAD_TO_SERVE_READ_API, this::setRemoteDownloadForReadAPISetting);
         this.remotePathPrefix = CLUSTER_REMOTE_STORE_STATE_PATH_PREFIX.get(settings);
         this.remoteRoutingTableService = RemoteRoutingTableServiceFactory.getService(
             repositoriesService,
@@ -1124,6 +1137,14 @@ private void setRemotePublicationSetting(boolean remotePublicationSetting) {
         }
     }
 
+    private void setRemoteDownloadForReadAPISetting(boolean remoteDownloadForReadAPISetting) {
+        this.downloadFromRemoteForReadAPI.set(remoteDownloadForReadAPISetting);
+    }
+
+    public boolean canDownloadFromRemoteForReadAPI() {
+        return this.downloadFromRemoteForReadAPI.get();
+    }
+
     // Package private for unit test
     RemoteRoutingTableService getRemoteRoutingTableService() {
         return this.remoteRoutingTableService;