diff --git a/plugins/catalog-backend/src/catalog/types.ts b/plugins/catalog-backend/src/catalog/types.ts
index a02c74c0c1..b3e52fb480 100644
--- a/plugins/catalog-backend/src/catalog/types.ts
+++ b/plugins/catalog-backend/src/catalog/types.ts
@@ -203,6 +203,7 @@ export interface QueryEntitiesInitialRequest {
     term: string;
     fields?: string[];
   };
+  skipTotalItems?: boolean;
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/plugins/catalog-backend/src/service/DefaultEntitiesCatalog.test.ts b/plugins/catalog-backend/src/service/DefaultEntitiesCatalog.test.ts
index 418f503739..bb2ba3d587 100644
--- a/plugins/catalog-backend/src/service/DefaultEntitiesCatalog.test.ts
+++ b/plugins/catalog-backend/src/service/DefaultEntitiesCatalog.test.ts
@@ -1478,6 +1478,52 @@ describe('DefaultEntitiesCatalog', () => {
       },
     );
 
+    it.each(databases.eachSupportedId())(
+      'can skip totalItems, %p',
+      async databaseId => {
+        await createDatabase(databaseId);
+
+        await Promise.all(
+          Array(15)
+            .fill(0)
+            .map(() =>
+              addEntityToSearch({
+                apiVersion: 'a',
+                kind: 'k',
+                metadata: { name: v4() },
+              }),
+            ),
+        );
+
+        const catalog = new DefaultEntitiesCatalog({
+          database: knex,
+          logger: mockServices.logger.mock(),
+          stitcher,
+        });
+
+        const request: QueryEntitiesInitialRequest = {
+          limit: 10,
+          credentials: mockCredentials.none(),
+          skipTotalItems: true,
+        };
+        let response = await catalog.queryEntities(request);
+        expect(response).toEqual({
+          totalItems: 0,
+          items: expect.objectContaining({ length: 10 }),
+          pageInfo: { nextCursor: expect.anything() },
+        });
+        response = await catalog.queryEntities({
+          ...request,
+          cursor: response.pageInfo.nextCursor!,
+        });
+        expect(response).toEqual({
+          totalItems: 0,
+          items: expect.objectContaining({ length: 5 }),
+          pageInfo: { prevCursor: expect.anything() },
+        });
+      },
+    );
+
     it.each(databases.eachSupportedId())(
       'should paginate results accordingly in case of clashing items, %p',
       async databaseId => {
diff --git a/plugins/catalog-backend/src/service/DefaultEntitiesCatalog.ts b/plugins/catalog-backend/src/service/DefaultEntitiesCatalog.ts
index 2540fc1725..fa43eb79d2 100644
--- a/plugins/catalog-backend/src/service/DefaultEntitiesCatalog.ts
+++ b/plugins/catalog-backend/src/service/DefaultEntitiesCatalog.ts
@@ -331,6 +331,7 @@ export class DefaultEntitiesCatalog implements EntitiesCatalog {
 
     const cursor: Omit<Cursor, 'orderFieldValues'> & {
       orderFieldValues?: (string | null)[];
+      skipTotalItems: boolean;
     } = {
       orderFields: [],
       isPrevious: false,
@@ -341,7 +342,8 @@ export class DefaultEntitiesCatalog implements EntitiesCatalog {
     // request. The result is then embedded into the cursor for subsequent
     // requests. Threfore this can be undefined here, but will then get
     // populated further down.
-    const shouldComputeTotalItems = cursor.totalItems === undefined;
+    const shouldComputeTotalItems =
+      cursor.totalItems === undefined && !cursor.skipTotalItems;
     const isFetchingBackwards = cursor.isPrevious;
 
     if (cursor.orderFields.length > 1) {
@@ -532,8 +534,16 @@ export class DefaultEntitiesCatalog implements EntitiesCatalog {
 
     const rows = shouldComputeTotalItems || limit > 0 ? await dbQuery : [];
 
-    const totalItems =
-      cursor.totalItems ?? (rows.length ? Number(rows[0].count) : 0);
+    let totalItems: number;
+    if (cursor.totalItems !== undefined) {
+      totalItems = cursor.totalItems;
+    } else if (cursor.skipTotalItems) {
+      totalItems = 0;
+    } else if (rows.length) {
+      totalItems = Number(rows[0].count);
+    } else {
+      totalItems = 0;
+    }
 
     if (isFetchingBackwards) {
       rows.reverse();
@@ -809,15 +819,26 @@ export const cursorParser: z.ZodSchema<Cursor> = z.object({
 
 function parseCursorFromRequest(
   request?: QueryEntitiesRequest,
-): Partial<Cursor> {
+): Partial<Cursor> & { skipTotalItems: boolean } {
   if (isQueryEntitiesInitialRequest(request)) {
-    const { filter, orderFields: sortFields = [], fullTextFilter } = request;
-    return { filter, orderFields: sortFields, fullTextFilter };
+    const {
+      filter,
+      orderFields: sortFields = [],
+      fullTextFilter,
+      skipTotalItems = false,
+    } = request;
+    return { filter, orderFields: sortFields, fullTextFilter, skipTotalItems };
   }
   if (isQueryEntitiesCursorRequest(request)) {
-    return request.cursor;
+    return {
+      ...request.cursor,
+      // Doesn't matter here
+      skipTotalItems: false,
+    };
   }
-  return {};
+  return {
+    skipTotalItems: false,
+  };
 }
 
 function invertOrder(order: EntityOrder['order']) {
diff --git a/plugins/catalog-backend/src/service/createRouter.test.ts b/plugins/catalog-backend/src/service/createRouter.test.ts
index 8c4414984e..0c1d16b525 100644
--- a/plugins/catalog-backend/src/service/createRouter.test.ts
+++ b/plugins/catalog-backend/src/service/createRouter.test.ts
@@ -173,6 +173,7 @@ describe('createRouter readonly disabled', () => {
         },
         limit: 10000,
         credentials: mockCredentials.user(),
+        skipTotalItems: true,
       });
     });
   });
diff --git a/plugins/catalog-backend/src/service/createRouter.ts b/plugins/catalog-backend/src/service/createRouter.ts
index 196685337c..3a6dc82586 100644
--- a/plugins/catalog-backend/src/service/createRouter.ts
+++ b/plugins/catalog-backend/src/service/createRouter.ts
@@ -192,7 +192,14 @@ export async function createRouter(
           do {
             const result = await entitiesCatalog.queryEntities(
               !cursor
-                ? { credentials, fields, limit, filter, orderFields: order }
+                ? {
+                    credentials,
+                    fields,
+                    limit,
+                    filter,
+                    orderFields: order,
+                    skipTotalItems: true,
+                  }
                 : { credentials, fields, limit, cursor },
             );