diff --git a/packages/core/admin/admin/src/content-manager/components/RelationInputWrapper/RelationInputWrapper.js b/packages/core/admin/admin/src/content-manager/components/RelationInputWrapper/RelationInputWrapper.js
index 58ef190dd3..e707335a0c 100644
--- a/packages/core/admin/admin/src/content-manager/components/RelationInputWrapper/RelationInputWrapper.js
+++ b/packages/core/admin/admin/src/content-manager/components/RelationInputWrapper/RelationInputWrapper.js
@@ -28,9 +28,11 @@ export const RelationInputWrapper = ({
   const { formatMessage } = useIntl();
   const { connectRelation, disconnectRelation, loadRelation, modifiedData, slug, initialData } =
     useCMEditViewDataManager();
+  const relationsCount = initialData[name]?.count ?? 0;
 
   const { relations, search, searchFor } = useRelation(`${slug}-${name}-${initialData?.id ?? ''}`, {
     relation: {
+      enabled: relationsCount > 0 && !!endpoints.relation,
       endpoint: endpoints.relation,
       onLoad(data) {
         loadRelation({ target: { name, value: data.results } });
@@ -51,15 +53,18 @@ export const RelationInputWrapper = ({
     },
   });
 
-  // TODO: we should initialize the empty connect/ disconnect
-  // arrays before adding the first relation to it instead of
-  // calling loadRelation()
   useEffect(() => {
     if (!endpoints.relation) {
       loadRelation({ target: { name, value: [] } });
     }
   }, [loadRelation, name, endpoints.relation]);
 
+  useEffect(() => {
+    if (relationsCount === 0 || !!endpoints.relation) {
+      loadRelation({ target: { name, value: [] } });
+    }
+  }, [relationsCount, endpoints.relation, loadRelation, name]);
+
   const isMorph = useMemo(() => relationType.toLowerCase().includes('morph'), [relationType]);
   const isSingleRelation = [
     'oneWay',
@@ -122,7 +127,7 @@ export const RelationInputWrapper = ({
           id: intlLabel.id,
           defaultMessage: `${intlLabel.defaultMessage} ({numberOfEntries})`,
         },
-        { numberOfEntries: initialData[name]?.count ?? 0 }
+        { numberOfEntries: relationsCount }
       )}
       labelLoadMore={
         // TODO: only display if there are more; derive from count
diff --git a/packages/core/admin/admin/src/content-manager/hooks/useRelation/tests/useRelation.test.js b/packages/core/admin/admin/src/content-manager/hooks/useRelation/tests/useRelation.test.js
index c0847be7e8..1b3b0dfbac 100644
--- a/packages/core/admin/admin/src/content-manager/hooks/useRelation/tests/useRelation.test.js
+++ b/packages/core/admin/admin/src/content-manager/hooks/useRelation/tests/useRelation.test.js
@@ -118,8 +118,8 @@ describe('useRelation', () => {
     });
   });
 
-  test('doesn not fetch relations if a relation endpoint was not passed', async () => {
-    await setup(undefined, { relation: { endpoint: undefined } });
+  test('doesn not fetch relations if it was not enabled', async () => {
+    await setup(undefined, { relation: { enabled: false } });
 
     expect(axiosInstance.get).not.toBeCalled();
   });
diff --git a/packages/core/admin/admin/src/content-manager/hooks/useRelation/useRelation.js b/packages/core/admin/admin/src/content-manager/hooks/useRelation/useRelation.js
index bc99244f74..51af9d6192 100644
--- a/packages/core/admin/admin/src/content-manager/hooks/useRelation/useRelation.js
+++ b/packages/core/admin/admin/src/content-manager/hooks/useRelation/useRelation.js
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ export const useRelation = (cacheKey, { relation, search }) => {
   };
 
   const relationsRes = useInfiniteQuery(['relation', cacheKey], fetchRelations, {
-    enabled: !!relation?.endpoint,
+    enabled: !!relation?.enabled ?? true,
     getNextPageParam(lastPage) {
       // the API may send an empty 204 response
       if (!lastPage || lastPage.pagination.page >= lastPage.pagination.pageCount) {