diff --git a/google-cloud-pubsub/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/pubsub/v1/StreamingSubscriberConnection.java b/google-cloud-pubsub/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/pubsub/v1/StreamingSubscriberConnection.java
index f4e330ef1..1587afb91 100644
--- a/google-cloud-pubsub/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/pubsub/v1/StreamingSubscriberConnection.java
+++ b/google-cloud-pubsub/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/pubsub/v1/StreamingSubscriberConnection.java
@@ -73,6 +73,7 @@ final class StreamingSubscriberConnection extends AbstractApiService implements
   private final MessageDispatcher messageDispatcher;
 
   private final FlowControlSettings flowControlSettings;
+  private final boolean useLegacyFlowControl;
 
   private final AtomicLong channelReconnectBackoffMillis =
       new AtomicLong(INITIAL_CHANNEL_RECONNECT_BACKOFF.toMillis());
@@ -98,6 +99,7 @@ public StreamingSubscriberConnection(
       SubscriberStub stub,
       int channelAffinity,
       FlowControlSettings flowControlSettings,
+      boolean useLegacyFlowControl,
       FlowController flowController,
       ScheduledExecutorService executor,
       ScheduledExecutorService systemExecutor,
@@ -119,6 +121,7 @@ public StreamingSubscriberConnection(
             systemExecutor,
             clock);
     this.flowControlSettings = flowControlSettings;
+    this.useLegacyFlowControl = useLegacyFlowControl;
   }
 
   @Override
@@ -217,9 +220,13 @@ private void initialize() {
             .setStreamAckDeadlineSeconds(60)
             .setClientId(clientId)
             .setMaxOutstandingMessages(
-                valueOrZero(flowControlSettings.getMaxOutstandingElementCount()))
+                this.useLegacyFlowControl
+                    ? 0
+                    : valueOrZero(flowControlSettings.getMaxOutstandingElementCount()))
             .setMaxOutstandingBytes(
-                valueOrZero(flowControlSettings.getMaxOutstandingRequestBytes()))
+                this.useLegacyFlowControl
+                    ? 0
+                    : valueOrZero(flowControlSettings.getMaxOutstandingRequestBytes()))
             .build());
 
     /**
diff --git a/google-cloud-pubsub/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/pubsub/v1/Subscriber.java b/google-cloud-pubsub/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/pubsub/v1/Subscriber.java
index 35c50fdb6..6d5946276 100644
--- a/google-cloud-pubsub/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/pubsub/v1/Subscriber.java
+++ b/google-cloud-pubsub/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/pubsub/v1/Subscriber.java
@@ -103,6 +103,7 @@ public class Subscriber extends AbstractApiService implements SubscriberInterfac
 
   private final String subscriptionName;
   private final FlowControlSettings flowControlSettings;
+  private final boolean useLegacyFlowControl;
   private final Duration maxAckExtensionPeriod;
   private final Duration maxDurationPerAckExtension;
   // The ExecutorProvider used to generate executors for processing messages.
@@ -126,6 +127,7 @@ public class Subscriber extends AbstractApiService implements SubscriberInterfac
   private Subscriber(Builder builder) {
     receiver = builder.receiver;
     flowControlSettings = builder.flowControlSettings;
+    useLegacyFlowControl = builder.useLegacyFlowControl;
     subscriptionName = builder.subscriptionName;
 
     maxAckExtensionPeriod = builder.maxAckExtensionPeriod;
@@ -336,6 +338,7 @@ private void startStreamingConnections() {
                 subStub,
                 i,
                 flowControlSettings,
+                useLegacyFlowControl,
                 flowController,
                 executor,
                 alarmsExecutor,
@@ -420,6 +423,7 @@ public static final class Builder {
     private Duration maxAckExtensionPeriod = DEFAULT_MAX_ACK_EXTENSION_PERIOD;
     private Duration maxDurationPerAckExtension = Duration.ofMillis(0);
 
+    private boolean useLegacyFlowControl = false;
     private FlowControlSettings flowControlSettings =
         FlowControlSettings.newBuilder()
             .setMaxOutstandingElementCount(1000L)
@@ -504,6 +508,15 @@ public Builder setFlowControlSettings(FlowControlSettings flowControlSettings) {
       return this;
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Disables enforcing flow control settings at the Cloud PubSub server and uses the less
+     * accurate method of only enforcing flow control at the client side.
+     */
+    public Builder setUseLegacyFlowControl(boolean value) {
+      this.useLegacyFlowControl = value;
+      return this;
+    }
+
     /**
      * Set the maximum period a message ack deadline will be extended. Defaults to one hour.
      *