diff --git a/config/config.sample.php b/config/config.sample.php
index c8ee3c301aec3..b3fe801f29104 100644
--- a/config/config.sample.php
+++ b/config/config.sample.php
@@ -2534,6 +2534,15 @@
  */
 'unified_search.enabled' => false,
 
+/**
+ * List of search providers that are allowed to be used in the unified search
+ *
+ * Defaults to ``[]`` (all providers allowed)
+ *
+ * For example: Set to ['files', 'settings'] to only allow file and settings search.
+ */
+'unified_search_providers_allowed' => [],
+
 /**
  * Enable features that are do respect accessibility standards yet.
  *
diff --git a/core/src/components/UnifiedSearch/UnifiedSearchModal.vue b/core/src/components/UnifiedSearch/UnifiedSearchModal.vue
index ef0883c5b25dc..3b5406149f9da 100644
--- a/core/src/components/UnifiedSearch/UnifiedSearchModal.vue
+++ b/core/src/components/UnifiedSearch/UnifiedSearchModal.vue
@@ -325,6 +325,7 @@ export default defineComponent({
 		subscribe('nextcloud:unified-search:add-filter', this.handlePluginFilter)
 		getProviders().then((providers) => {
 			this.providers = providers
+			unifiedSearchLogger.debug(`getProviders`, { providers: this.providers })
 			this.externalFilters.forEach(filter => {
 				this.providers.push(filter)
 			})
diff --git a/lib/private/Search/SearchComposer.php b/lib/private/Search/SearchComposer.php
index d23662f7055ff..dc18bcdf2a6d8 100644
--- a/lib/private/Search/SearchComposer.php
+++ b/lib/private/Search/SearchComposer.php
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
 
 use InvalidArgumentException;
 use OC\AppFramework\Bootstrap\Coordinator;
+use OCP\IConfig;
 use OCP\IURLGenerator;
 use OCP\IUser;
 use OCP\Search\FilterDefinition;
@@ -23,7 +24,10 @@
 use Psr\Container\ContainerInterface;
 use Psr\Log\LoggerInterface;
 use RuntimeException;
+use function array_filter;
 use function array_map;
+use function array_values;
+use function in_array;
 
 /**
  * Queries individual \OCP\Search\IProvider implementations and composes a
@@ -60,6 +64,7 @@ public function __construct(
 		private ContainerInterface $container,
 		private IURLGenerator $urlGenerator,
 		private LoggerInterface $logger,
+		private IConfig $config,
 	) {
 		$this->commonFilters = [
 			IFilter::BUILTIN_TERM => new FilterDefinition(IFilter::BUILTIN_TERM, FilterDefinition::TYPE_STRING),
@@ -197,7 +202,24 @@ function (array $providerData) use ($route, $routeParameters) {
 			return $provider1['order'] <=> $provider2['order'];
 		});
 
-		return $providers;
+		return $this->reduceProviders($providers);
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * reduce providers based on 'unified_search_providers_allowed' config array
+	 * @param array $providers
+	 * @return array
+	 */
+	private function reduceProviders(array $providers): array {
+		$allowedProviders = $this->config->getSystemValue('unified_search_providers_allowed', []);
+
+		if (empty($allowedProviders)) {
+			return $providers;
+		}
+
+		return array_values(array_filter($providers, function ($p) use ($allowedProviders) {
+			return in_array($p['id'], $allowedProviders);
+		}));
 	}
 
 	private function fetchIcon(string $appId, string $providerId): string {