diff --git a/app/finders/conversation_finder.rb b/app/finders/conversation_finder.rb
index e9f4cb7f5..ce0809142 100644
--- a/app/finders/conversation_finder.rb
+++ b/app/finders/conversation_finder.rb
@@ -184,7 +184,7 @@ class ConversationFinder
   end
 
   def should_cache?
-    true
+    current_account.feature_enabled?('cache_meta_counts')
   end
 
   def cache_key
@@ -192,6 +192,7 @@ class ConversationFinder
   end
 
   def cache_expiry(unassigned_count)
+    # these numbers are intentionally chosen to balance between cache hit rate and freshness
     return 5.seconds if unassigned_count < 100
     return 10.seconds if unassigned_count < 200
     return 15.seconds if unassigned_count < 500
diff --git a/config/features.yml b/config/features.yml
index 70d6c9fcf..730b1fb60 100644
--- a/config/features.yml
+++ b/config/features.yml
@@ -161,3 +161,6 @@
 - name: search_with_gin
   display_name: Search messages with GIN
   enabled: false
+- name: cache_meta_counts
+  display_name: Cache Meta Counts
+  enabled: false