diff --git a/services/web/app/src/Features/Uploads/UploadsRouter.mjs b/services/web/app/src/Features/Uploads/UploadsRouter.mjs
index 4727f434f1..82e6658caa 100644
--- a/services/web/app/src/Features/Uploads/UploadsRouter.mjs
+++ b/services/web/app/src/Features/Uploads/UploadsRouter.mjs
@@ -26,13 +26,15 @@ export default {
       ProjectUploadController.uploadProject
     )
 
-    webRouter.post(
-      '/project/new/import-docx',
-      AuthenticationController.requireLogin(),
-      RateLimiterMiddleware.rateLimit(rateLimiters.projectUpload),
-      ProjectUploadController.multerMiddleware,
-      ProjectUploadController.importDocx
-    )
+    if (Settings.enablePandocConversions) {
+      webRouter.post(
+        '/project/new/import-docx',
+        AuthenticationController.requireLogin(),
+        RateLimiterMiddleware.rateLimit(rateLimiters.projectUpload),
+        ProjectUploadController.multerMiddleware,
+        ProjectUploadController.importDocx
+      )
+    }
 
     const fileUploadEndpoint = '/Project/:Project_id/upload'
     const fileUploadRateLimit = RateLimiterMiddleware.rateLimit(
diff --git a/services/web/app/src/infrastructure/ExpressLocals.mjs b/services/web/app/src/infrastructure/ExpressLocals.mjs
index 65bb04b485..3638d83eb9 100644
--- a/services/web/app/src/infrastructure/ExpressLocals.mjs
+++ b/services/web/app/src/infrastructure/ExpressLocals.mjs
@@ -417,6 +417,7 @@ export default async function (webRouter, privateApiRouter, publicApiRouter) {
       cioWriteKey: Settings.analytics?.cio?.writeKey,
       cioSiteId: Settings.analytics?.cio?.siteId,
       linkedInInsightsPartnerId: Settings.analytics?.linkedIn?.partnerId,
+      enablePandocConversions: Settings.enablePandocConversions,
     }
     next()
   })
diff --git a/services/web/config/settings.defaults.js b/services/web/config/settings.defaults.js
index 7c4039b1e9..eaf6c35177 100644
--- a/services/web/config/settings.defaults.js
+++ b/services/web/config/settings.defaults.js
@@ -1104,6 +1104,8 @@ module.exports = {
   managedUsers: {
     enabled: false,
   },
+
+  enablePandocConversions: process.env.ENABLE_PANDOC_CONVERSIONS === 'true',
 }
 
 module.exports.mergeWith = function (overrides) {
diff --git a/services/web/cypress/support/ct/window.ts b/services/web/cypress/support/ct/window.ts
index ae2a194bc1..f40fd101fc 100644
--- a/services/web/cypress/support/ct/window.ts
+++ b/services/web/cypress/support/ct/window.ts
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ export function resetMeta() {
     hasLinkedProjectFileFeature: true,
     hasLinkedProjectOutputFileFeature: true,
     hasLinkUrlFeature: true,
+    enablePandocConversions: true,
   })
 }
 
diff --git a/services/web/docker-compose.common.env b/services/web/docker-compose.common.env
index fe57bd39c3..c5cb1d7285 100644
--- a/services/web/docker-compose.common.env
+++ b/services/web/docker-compose.common.env
@@ -50,3 +50,4 @@ DEVICE_HISTORY_SECRET=1b46e6cdf72db02845da06c9517c9cfbbfa0d87357479f4e1df3ce160b
 QUEUE_PROCESSING_ENABLED=true
 CURRENT_IMAGE_NAME=texlive-full:2025.1
 ALLOWED_IMAGE_NAMES=[{"imageName":"texlive-full:2025.1","imageDesc":"2025"},{"imageName":"wl_texlive:2018.1","imageDesc":"2018"}]
+ENABLE_PANDOC_CONVERSIONS=true
diff --git a/services/web/frontend/js/features/project-list/components/new-project-button.tsx b/services/web/frontend/js/features/project-list/components/new-project-button.tsx
index 636649017b..625e0f3181 100644
--- a/services/web/frontend/js/features/project-list/components/new-project-button.tsx
+++ b/services/web/frontend/js/features/project-list/components/new-project-button.tsx
@@ -58,7 +58,9 @@ function NewProjectButton({
   const portalTemplates = getMeta('ol-portalTemplates') || []
   const { show: enableAddAffiliationWidget } = useAddAffiliation()
   const sendProjectListMB = useSendProjectListMB()
-  const docxImportEnabled = useFeatureFlag('import-docx')
+  const docxImportEnabled =
+    useFeatureFlag('import-docx') &&
+    getMeta('ol-ExposedSettings').enablePandocConversions
   const sendTrackingEvent = useCallback(
     ({
       dropdownMenu,
diff --git a/services/web/frontend/js/features/project-list/components/welcome-message-new/welcome-message-create-new-project-dropdown.tsx b/services/web/frontend/js/features/project-list/components/welcome-message-new/welcome-message-create-new-project-dropdown.tsx
index 6059671f86..393bcbe477 100644
--- a/services/web/frontend/js/features/project-list/components/welcome-message-new/welcome-message-create-new-project-dropdown.tsx
+++ b/services/web/frontend/js/features/project-list/components/welcome-message-new/welcome-message-create-new-project-dropdown.tsx
@@ -60,7 +60,9 @@ function WelcomeMessageCreateNewProjectDropdown({
 }: WelcomeMessageCreateNewProjectDropdownProps) {
   const { t } = useTranslation()
   const portalTemplates = getMeta('ol-portalTemplates') || []
-  const docxImportEnabled = useFeatureFlag('import-docx')
+  const docxImportEnabled =
+    useFeatureFlag('import-docx') &&
+    getMeta('ol-ExposedSettings').enablePandocConversions
 
   const { isOverleaf } = getMeta('ol-ExposedSettings')
 
diff --git a/services/web/test/frontend/features/project-list/components/welcome-message.test.tsx b/services/web/test/frontend/features/project-list/components/welcome-message.test.tsx
index 9d190502b2..f874f3894a 100644
--- a/services/web/test/frontend/features/project-list/components/welcome-message.test.tsx
+++ b/services/web/test/frontend/features/project-list/components/welcome-message.test.tsx
@@ -14,10 +14,15 @@ const WelcomeMessage = () => {
 
 describe('<WelcomeMessage />', function () {
   beforeEach(function () {
+    window.metaAttributesCache.set('ol-splitTestVariants', {
+      'import-docx': 'enabled',
+    })
+
     Object.assign(getMeta('ol-ExposedSettings'), {
       isOverleaf: true,
       wikiEnabled: true,
       templatesEnabled: true,
+      enablePandocConversions: true,
     })
   })
 
@@ -42,9 +47,24 @@ describe('<WelcomeMessage />', function () {
     screen.getByText('Blank project')
     screen.getByText('Example project')
     screen.getByText('Upload project')
+    screen.getByText('Import Word document')
     screen.getByText('Import from GitHub')
   })
 
+  it('does not show the import from Word document when the feature is disabled', function () {
+    getMeta('ol-ExposedSettings').enablePandocConversions = false
+    render(<WelcomeMessage />)
+
+    const button = screen.getByRole('button', {
+      name: 'Create a new project',
+    })
+
+    fireEvent.click(button)
+
+    screen.getByText('Blank project')
+    expect(screen.queryByText('Import Word document')).to.not.exist
+  })
+
   it('show the correct dropdown menu for affiliated users', function () {
     window.metaAttributesCache.set('ol-portalTemplates', [
       {
diff --git a/services/web/types/exposed-settings.ts b/services/web/types/exposed-settings.ts
index 4412a1b848..49fbba7c18 100644
--- a/services/web/types/exposed-settings.ts
+++ b/services/web/types/exposed-settings.ts
@@ -51,4 +51,5 @@ export type ExposedSettings = {
   wikiEnabled?: boolean
   templatesEnabled?: boolean
   linkedInInsightsPartnerId?: string
+  enablePandocConversions: boolean
 }