diff --git a/frontend_tests/node_tests/unread.js b/frontend_tests/node_tests/unread.js
index 10816387b9..a9ed88a94a 100644
--- a/frontend_tests/node_tests/unread.js
+++ b/frontend_tests/node_tests/unread.js
@@ -18,6 +18,9 @@ var stream_data = require('js/stream_data.js');
 set_global('stream_data', stream_data);
 set_global('blueslip', {});
 set_global('page_params', {});
+set_global('feature_flags', {
+    load_server_counts: true,
+});
 
 var Dict = global.Dict;
 var muting = global.muting;
diff --git a/static/js/feature_flags.js b/static/js/feature_flags.js
index 9e9b054f42..a41abdc713 100644
--- a/static/js/feature_flags.js
+++ b/static/js/feature_flags.js
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@ var feature_flags = (function () {
 
 var exports = {};
 
+exports.load_server_counts = false;
+
 // Experimental modification to support much wider message views.
 exports.full_width = false;
 
diff --git a/static/js/unread.js b/static/js/unread.js
index 3d45f0f7c3..457769158f 100644
--- a/static/js/unread.js
+++ b/static/js/unread.js
@@ -480,7 +480,9 @@ exports.load_server_counts = function () {
 };
 
 exports.initialize = function () {
-    exports.load_server_counts();
+    if (feature_flags.load_server_counts) {
+        exports.load_server_counts();
+    }
 };
 
 return exports;