diff --git a/.changeset/tough-snakes-wink.md b/.changeset/tough-snakes-wink.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..a234bd4012
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/tough-snakes-wink.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+'@backstage/plugin-search-backend-module-elasticsearch': minor
+---
+
+When using the New Backend System, the Elasticsearch provider will only be added if the `search.elasticsearch` config section exists.
diff --git a/plugins/search-backend-module-elasticsearch/src/alpha.ts b/plugins/search-backend-module-elasticsearch/src/alpha.ts
index f5952fbc86..0af5904df0 100644
--- a/plugins/search-backend-module-elasticsearch/src/alpha.ts
+++ b/plugins/search-backend-module-elasticsearch/src/alpha.ts
@@ -68,6 +68,15 @@ export default createBackendModule({
         config: coreServices.rootConfig,
       },
       async init({ searchEngineRegistry, logger, config }) {
+        const baseKey = 'search.elasticsearch';
+        const baseConfig = config.getOptional(baseKey);
+        if (!baseConfig) {
+          logger.warn(
+            'No configuration found under "search.elasticsearch" key.  Skipping search engine inititalization.',
+          );
+          return;
+        }
+
         searchEngineRegistry.setSearchEngine(
           await ElasticSearchSearchEngine.fromConfig({
             logger,