diff --git a/dd-java-agent/instrumentation/kafka-clients-3.8/src/main/java/datadog/trace/instrumentation/kafka_clients38/ConsumerCoordinatorInstrumentation.java b/dd-java-agent/instrumentation/kafka-clients-3.8/src/main/java/datadog/trace/instrumentation/kafka_clients38/ConsumerCoordinatorInstrumentation.java
index b76616e7d4b..b8b902e7c8a 100644
--- a/dd-java-agent/instrumentation/kafka-clients-3.8/src/main/java/datadog/trace/instrumentation/kafka_clients38/ConsumerCoordinatorInstrumentation.java
+++ b/dd-java-agent/instrumentation/kafka-clients-3.8/src/main/java/datadog/trace/instrumentation/kafka_clients38/ConsumerCoordinatorInstrumentation.java
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 import com.google.auto.service.AutoService;
 import datadog.trace.agent.tooling.Instrumenter;
 import datadog.trace.agent.tooling.InstrumenterModule;
+import datadog.trace.api.Config;
 import java.util.HashMap;
 import java.util.Map;
 
@@ -17,6 +18,11 @@ public ConsumerCoordinatorInstrumentation() {
     super("kafka");
   }
 
+  @Override
+  public boolean isEnabled() {
+    return super.isEnabled() && Config.get().isExperimentalKafkaEnabled();
+  }
+
   @Override
   public Map<String, String> contextStore() {
     Map<String, String> contextStores = new HashMap<>(2);
diff --git a/dd-java-agent/instrumentation/kafka-clients-3.8/src/main/java/datadog/trace/instrumentation/kafka_clients38/KafkaConsumerInfoInstrumentation.java b/dd-java-agent/instrumentation/kafka-clients-3.8/src/main/java/datadog/trace/instrumentation/kafka_clients38/KafkaConsumerInfoInstrumentation.java
index de471d54ad7..5e9cbe89b6f 100644
--- a/dd-java-agent/instrumentation/kafka-clients-3.8/src/main/java/datadog/trace/instrumentation/kafka_clients38/KafkaConsumerInfoInstrumentation.java
+++ b/dd-java-agent/instrumentation/kafka-clients-3.8/src/main/java/datadog/trace/instrumentation/kafka_clients38/KafkaConsumerInfoInstrumentation.java
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
 import com.google.auto.service.AutoService;
 import datadog.trace.agent.tooling.Instrumenter;
 import datadog.trace.agent.tooling.InstrumenterModule;
+import datadog.trace.api.Config;
 import java.util.HashMap;
 import java.util.Map;
 import net.bytebuddy.description.type.TypeDescription;
@@ -30,6 +31,11 @@ public KafkaConsumerInfoInstrumentation() {
     super("kafka");
   }
 
+  @Override
+  public boolean isEnabled() {
+    return super.isEnabled() && Config.get().isExperimentalKafkaEnabled();
+  }
+
   @Override
   public Map<String, String> contextStore() {
     Map<String, String> contextStores = new HashMap<>(4);
diff --git a/dd-java-agent/instrumentation/kafka-clients-3.8/src/main/java/datadog/trace/instrumentation/kafka_clients38/KafkaConsumerInstrumentation.java b/dd-java-agent/instrumentation/kafka-clients-3.8/src/main/java/datadog/trace/instrumentation/kafka_clients38/KafkaConsumerInstrumentation.java
index 576d9c18f8c..3b279b6e5c2 100644
--- a/dd-java-agent/instrumentation/kafka-clients-3.8/src/main/java/datadog/trace/instrumentation/kafka_clients38/KafkaConsumerInstrumentation.java
+++ b/dd-java-agent/instrumentation/kafka-clients-3.8/src/main/java/datadog/trace/instrumentation/kafka_clients38/KafkaConsumerInstrumentation.java
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
 import com.google.auto.service.AutoService;
 import datadog.trace.agent.tooling.Instrumenter;
 import datadog.trace.agent.tooling.InstrumenterModule;
+import datadog.trace.api.Config;
 import java.util.Collections;
 import java.util.HashMap;
 import java.util.Iterator;
@@ -24,6 +25,11 @@ public KafkaConsumerInstrumentation() {
     super("kafka");
   }
 
+  @Override
+  public boolean isEnabled() {
+    return super.isEnabled() && Config.get().isExperimentalKafkaEnabled();
+  }
+
   @Override
   public Map<String, String> contextStore() {
     Map<String, String> contextStores = new HashMap<>(2);
diff --git a/dd-java-agent/instrumentation/kafka-clients-3.8/src/main/java/datadog/trace/instrumentation/kafka_clients38/KafkaProducerInstrumentation.java b/dd-java-agent/instrumentation/kafka-clients-3.8/src/main/java/datadog/trace/instrumentation/kafka_clients38/KafkaProducerInstrumentation.java
index 7bca67754f7..03850a34fd2 100644
--- a/dd-java-agent/instrumentation/kafka-clients-3.8/src/main/java/datadog/trace/instrumentation/kafka_clients38/KafkaProducerInstrumentation.java
+++ b/dd-java-agent/instrumentation/kafka-clients-3.8/src/main/java/datadog/trace/instrumentation/kafka_clients38/KafkaProducerInstrumentation.java
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
 import com.google.auto.service.AutoService;
 import datadog.trace.agent.tooling.Instrumenter;
 import datadog.trace.agent.tooling.InstrumenterModule;
+import datadog.trace.api.Config;
 import java.util.Map;
 
 @AutoService(InstrumenterModule.class)
@@ -20,6 +21,11 @@ public KafkaProducerInstrumentation() {
     super("kafka");
   }
 
+  @Override
+  public boolean isEnabled() {
+    return super.isEnabled() && Config.get().isExperimentalKafkaEnabled();
+  }
+
   @Override
   public String instrumentedType() {
     return "org.apache.kafka.clients.producer.KafkaProducer";
diff --git a/dd-java-agent/instrumentation/kafka-clients-3.8/src/main/java/datadog/trace/instrumentation/kafka_clients38/LegacyKafkaConsumerInfoInstrumentation.java b/dd-java-agent/instrumentation/kafka-clients-3.8/src/main/java/datadog/trace/instrumentation/kafka_clients38/LegacyKafkaConsumerInfoInstrumentation.java
index da7558755dd..6390a9c0d4f 100644
--- a/dd-java-agent/instrumentation/kafka-clients-3.8/src/main/java/datadog/trace/instrumentation/kafka_clients38/LegacyKafkaConsumerInfoInstrumentation.java
+++ b/dd-java-agent/instrumentation/kafka-clients-3.8/src/main/java/datadog/trace/instrumentation/kafka_clients38/LegacyKafkaConsumerInfoInstrumentation.java
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
 import com.google.auto.service.AutoService;
 import datadog.trace.agent.tooling.Instrumenter;
 import datadog.trace.agent.tooling.InstrumenterModule;
+import datadog.trace.api.Config;
 import java.util.HashMap;
 import java.util.Map;
 import net.bytebuddy.description.type.TypeDescription;
@@ -30,6 +31,11 @@ public LegacyKafkaConsumerInfoInstrumentation() {
     super("kafka");
   }
 
+  @Override
+  public boolean isEnabled() {
+    return super.isEnabled() && Config.get().isExperimentalKafkaEnabled();
+  }
+
   @Override
   public Map<String, String> contextStore() {
     Map<String, String> contextStores = new HashMap<>(4);
diff --git a/dd-java-agent/instrumentation/kafka-clients-3.8/src/main/java/datadog/trace/instrumentation/kafka_clients38/MetadataInstrumentation.java b/dd-java-agent/instrumentation/kafka-clients-3.8/src/main/java/datadog/trace/instrumentation/kafka_clients38/MetadataInstrumentation.java
index e02510bae79..21e486f5bf5 100644
--- a/dd-java-agent/instrumentation/kafka-clients-3.8/src/main/java/datadog/trace/instrumentation/kafka_clients38/MetadataInstrumentation.java
+++ b/dd-java-agent/instrumentation/kafka-clients-3.8/src/main/java/datadog/trace/instrumentation/kafka_clients38/MetadataInstrumentation.java
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
 import com.google.auto.service.AutoService;
 import datadog.trace.agent.tooling.Instrumenter;
 import datadog.trace.agent.tooling.InstrumenterModule;
+import datadog.trace.api.Config;
 import java.util.Map;
 import net.bytebuddy.description.type.TypeDescription;
 import net.bytebuddy.matcher.ElementMatcher;
@@ -21,6 +22,11 @@ public MetadataInstrumentation() {
     super("kafka");
   }
 
+  @Override
+  public boolean isEnabled() {
+    return super.isEnabled() && Config.get().isExperimentalKafkaEnabled();
+  }
+
   @Override
   public String hierarchyMarkerType() {
     return "org.apache.kafka.clients.Metadata";
diff --git a/dd-java-agent/instrumentation/kafka-clients-3.8/src/main/java/datadog/trace/instrumentation/kafka_clients38/OffsetCommitCallbackInvokerInstrumentation.java b/dd-java-agent/instrumentation/kafka-clients-3.8/src/main/java/datadog/trace/instrumentation/kafka_clients38/OffsetCommitCallbackInvokerInstrumentation.java
index c35ab00e625..a62238dd8ae 100644
--- a/dd-java-agent/instrumentation/kafka-clients-3.8/src/main/java/datadog/trace/instrumentation/kafka_clients38/OffsetCommitCallbackInvokerInstrumentation.java
+++ b/dd-java-agent/instrumentation/kafka-clients-3.8/src/main/java/datadog/trace/instrumentation/kafka_clients38/OffsetCommitCallbackInvokerInstrumentation.java
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 
 import datadog.trace.agent.tooling.Instrumenter;
 import datadog.trace.agent.tooling.InstrumenterModule;
+import datadog.trace.api.Config;
 
 // new - this instrumentation is completely new.
 // the purpose of this class is to provide us with information on consumer group and cluster ID
@@ -14,6 +15,11 @@ public OffsetCommitCallbackInvokerInstrumentation() {
     super("kafka");
   }
 
+  @Override
+  public boolean isEnabled() {
+    return super.isEnabled() && Config.get().isExperimentalKafkaEnabled();
+  }
+
   @Override
   public String instrumentedType() {
     return "org.apache.kafka.clients.consumer.internals.OffsetCommitCallbackInvoker";
diff --git a/dd-java-agent/instrumentation/kafka-clients-3.8/src/test/groovy/KafkaClientCustomPropagationConfigTest.groovy b/dd-java-agent/instrumentation/kafka-clients-3.8/src/test/groovy/KafkaClientCustomPropagationConfigTest.groovy
index 5db495e5904..3270c6eb371 100644
--- a/dd-java-agent/instrumentation/kafka-clients-3.8/src/test/groovy/KafkaClientCustomPropagationConfigTest.groovy
+++ b/dd-java-agent/instrumentation/kafka-clients-3.8/src/test/groovy/KafkaClientCustomPropagationConfigTest.groovy
@@ -52,6 +52,7 @@ class KafkaClientCustomPropagationConfigTest extends AgentTestRunner {
     super.configurePreAgent()
 
     injectSysConfig("dd.kafka.e2e.duration.enabled", "true")
+    injectSysConfig("dd.trace.experimental.kafka.enabled","true")
   }
 
   @Flaky
diff --git a/dd-java-agent/instrumentation/kafka-clients-3.8/src/test/groovy/KafkaClientTestBase.groovy b/dd-java-agent/instrumentation/kafka-clients-3.8/src/test/groovy/KafkaClientTestBase.groovy
index 6476c47f84f..369e1c3c649 100644
--- a/dd-java-agent/instrumentation/kafka-clients-3.8/src/test/groovy/KafkaClientTestBase.groovy
+++ b/dd-java-agent/instrumentation/kafka-clients-3.8/src/test/groovy/KafkaClientTestBase.groovy
@@ -66,6 +66,7 @@ abstract class KafkaClientTestBase extends VersionedNamingTestBase {
     super.configurePreAgent()
 
     injectSysConfig("dd.kafka.e2e.duration.enabled", "true")
+    injectSysConfig("dd.trace.experimental.kafka.enabled","true")
   }
 
   public static final LinkedHashMap<String, String> PRODUCER_PATHWAY_EDGE_TAGS
diff --git a/dd-trace-api/src/main/java/datadog/trace/api/config/TraceInstrumentationConfig.java b/dd-trace-api/src/main/java/datadog/trace/api/config/TraceInstrumentationConfig.java
index 11eece593ab..f461ebfc64d 100644
--- a/dd-trace-api/src/main/java/datadog/trace/api/config/TraceInstrumentationConfig.java
+++ b/dd-trace-api/src/main/java/datadog/trace/api/config/TraceInstrumentationConfig.java
@@ -158,5 +158,7 @@ public final class TraceInstrumentationConfig {
   /** If set, the instrumentation will set its resource name on the local root too. */
   public static final String AXIS_PROMOTE_RESOURCE_NAME = "trace.axis.promote.resource-name";
 
+  public static final String EXPERIMENTAL_KAFKA_ENABLED = "trace.experimental.kafka.enabled";
+
   private TraceInstrumentationConfig() {}
 }
diff --git a/internal-api/src/main/java/datadog/trace/api/Config.java b/internal-api/src/main/java/datadog/trace/api/Config.java
index dcf3f67af43..27089d90386 100644
--- a/internal-api/src/main/java/datadog/trace/api/Config.java
+++ b/internal-api/src/main/java/datadog/trace/api/Config.java
@@ -413,6 +413,9 @@ public static String getHostName() {
   private final boolean kafkaClientPropagationEnabled;
   private final Set<String> kafkaClientPropagationDisabledTopics;
   private final boolean kafkaClientBase64DecodingEnabled;
+  // enable the Kafka-3.8 instrumentation manually until testing issues are resolved.
+  private final boolean experimentalKafkaEnabled;
+
   private final boolean jmsPropagationEnabled;
   private final Set<String> jmsPropagationDisabledTopics;
   private final Set<String> jmsPropagationDisabledQueues;
@@ -1564,6 +1567,7 @@ PROFILING_DATADOG_PROFILER_ENABLED, isDatadogProfilerSafeInCurrentEnvironment())
         tryMakeImmutableSet(configProvider.getList(KAFKA_CLIENT_PROPAGATION_DISABLED_TOPICS));
     kafkaClientBase64DecodingEnabled =
         configProvider.getBoolean(KAFKA_CLIENT_BASE64_DECODING_ENABLED, false);
+    experimentalKafkaEnabled = configProvider.getBoolean(EXPERIMENTAL_KAFKA_ENABLED, false);
     jmsPropagationEnabled = isPropagationEnabled(true, "jms");
     jmsPropagationDisabledTopics =
         tryMakeImmutableSet(configProvider.getList(JMS_PROPAGATION_DISABLED_TOPICS));
@@ -3045,6 +3049,10 @@ public boolean isKafkaClientBase64DecodingEnabled() {
     return kafkaClientBase64DecodingEnabled;
   }
 
+  public boolean isExperimentalKafkaEnabled() {
+    return experimentalKafkaEnabled;
+  }
+
   public boolean isRabbitPropagationEnabled() {
     return rabbitPropagationEnabled;
   }