diff --git a/test/plugin_functional/test_suites/core_plugins/rendering.ts b/test/plugin_functional/test_suites/core_plugins/rendering.ts
index f03af110fd866..66a2e385d3e6c 100644
--- a/test/plugin_functional/test_suites/core_plugins/rendering.ts
+++ b/test/plugin_functional/test_suites/core_plugins/rendering.ts
@@ -239,7 +239,7 @@ export default function ({ getService }: PluginFunctionalProviderContext) {
         'xpack.graph.savePolicy (alternatives)',
         'xpack.ilm.ui.enabled (boolean)',
         'xpack.index_management.ui.enabled (boolean)',
-        'xpack.index_management.enableIndexActions (boolean)',
+        'xpack.index_management.enableIndexActions (any)',
         'xpack.infra.sources.default.fields.message (array)',
         /**
          * xpack.infra.logs is conditional and will resolve to an object of properties
diff --git a/x-pack/plugins/index_management/public/application/mount_management_section.ts b/x-pack/plugins/index_management/public/application/mount_management_section.ts
index d00aa6ff1f0e6..6bb3b834ce85f 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugins/index_management/public/application/mount_management_section.ts
+++ b/x-pack/plugins/index_management/public/application/mount_management_section.ts
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ export async function mountManagementSection(
   extensionsService: ExtensionsService,
   isFleetEnabled: boolean,
   kibanaVersion: SemVer,
-  enableIndexActions: boolean
+  enableIndexActions: boolean = true
 ) {
   const { element, setBreadcrumbs, history, theme$ } = params;
   const [core, startDependencies] = await coreSetup.getStartServices();
diff --git a/x-pack/plugins/index_management/public/types.ts b/x-pack/plugins/index_management/public/types.ts
index 59954c6659494..20d2405a0fa4b 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugins/index_management/public/types.ts
+++ b/x-pack/plugins/index_management/public/types.ts
@@ -28,5 +28,5 @@ export interface ClientConfigType {
   ui: {
     enabled: boolean;
   };
-  enableIndexActions: boolean;
+  enableIndexActions?: boolean;
 }
diff --git a/x-pack/plugins/index_management/server/config.ts b/x-pack/plugins/index_management/server/config.ts
index 4fd24bf3fcdf7..c5d459486a8ef 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugins/index_management/server/config.ts
+++ b/x-pack/plugins/index_management/server/config.ts
@@ -22,7 +22,14 @@ const schemaLatest = schema.object(
     ui: schema.object({
       enabled: schema.boolean({ defaultValue: true }),
     }),
-    enableIndexActions: schema.boolean({ defaultValue: true }),
+    enableIndexActions: schema.conditional(
+      schema.contextRef('serverless'),
+      true,
+      // Index actions are disabled in serverless; refer to the serverless.yml file as the source of truth
+      // We take this approach in order to have a central place (serverless.yml) for serverless config across Kibana
+      schema.boolean({ defaultValue: true }),
+      schema.never()
+    ),
   },
   { defaultValue: undefined }
 );