diff --git a/api/http/handler/motd/motd.go b/api/http/handler/motd/motd.go
index dd2112c16..4117de830 100644
--- a/api/http/handler/motd/motd.go
+++ b/api/http/handler/motd/motd.go
@@ -7,7 +7,9 @@ import (
 	portainer "github.com/portainer/portainer/api"
 	"github.com/portainer/portainer/api/http/client"
 	"github.com/portainer/portainer/pkg/libcrypto"
+	libclient "github.com/portainer/portainer/pkg/libhttp/client"
 	"github.com/portainer/portainer/pkg/libhttp/response"
+	"github.com/rs/zerolog/log"
 
 	"github.com/segmentio/encoding/json"
 )
@@ -37,6 +39,12 @@ type motdData struct {
 // @success 200 {object} motdResponse
 // @router /motd [get]
 func (handler *Handler) motd(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+	if err := libclient.ExternalRequestDisabled(portainer.MessageOfTheDayURL); err != nil {
+		log.Debug().Err(err).Msg("External request disabled: MOTD")
+		response.JSON(w, &motdResponse{Message: ""})
+		return
+	}
+
 	motd, err := client.Get(portainer.MessageOfTheDayURL, 0)
 	if err != nil {
 		response.JSON(w, &motdResponse{Message: ""})
diff --git a/api/http/handler/system/version.go b/api/http/handler/system/version.go
index 9d80b88a9..52af5879c 100644
--- a/api/http/handler/system/version.go
+++ b/api/http/handler/system/version.go
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/portainer/portainer/api/http/client"
 	"github.com/portainer/portainer/api/http/security"
 	"github.com/portainer/portainer/pkg/build"
+	libclient "github.com/portainer/portainer/pkg/libhttp/client"
 	httperror "github.com/portainer/portainer/pkg/libhttp/error"
 	"github.com/portainer/portainer/pkg/libhttp/response"
 
@@ -69,10 +70,14 @@ func (handler *Handler) version(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) *httperr
 }
 
 func GetLatestVersion() string {
+	if err := libclient.ExternalRequestDisabled(portainer.VersionCheckURL); err != nil {
+		log.Debug().Err(err).Msg("External request disabled: Version check")
+		return ""
+	}
+
 	motd, err := client.Get(portainer.VersionCheckURL, 5)
 	if err != nil {
 		log.Debug().Err(err).Msg("couldn't fetch latest Portainer release version")
-
 		return ""
 	}
 
diff --git a/api/http/handler/templates/utils_fetch_templates.go b/api/http/handler/templates/utils_fetch_templates.go
index 6feb9edeb..73f9bad56 100644
--- a/api/http/handler/templates/utils_fetch_templates.go
+++ b/api/http/handler/templates/utils_fetch_templates.go
@@ -4,7 +4,9 @@ import (
 	"net/http"
 
 	portainer "github.com/portainer/portainer/api"
+	libclient "github.com/portainer/portainer/pkg/libhttp/client"
 	httperror "github.com/portainer/portainer/pkg/libhttp/error"
+	"github.com/rs/zerolog/log"
 	"github.com/segmentio/encoding/json"
 )
 
@@ -24,13 +26,20 @@ func (handler *Handler) fetchTemplates() (*listResponse, *httperror.HandlerError
 		templatesURL = portainer.DefaultTemplatesURL
 	}
 
+	var body *listResponse
+	if err := libclient.ExternalRequestDisabled(templatesURL); err != nil {
+		if templatesURL == portainer.DefaultTemplatesURL {
+			log.Debug().Err(err).Msg("External request disabled: Default templates")
+			return body, nil
+		}
+	}
+
 	resp, err := http.Get(templatesURL)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, httperror.InternalServerError("Unable to retrieve templates via the network", err)
 	}
 	defer resp.Body.Close()
 
-	var body *listResponse
 	err = json.NewDecoder(resp.Body).Decode(&body)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, httperror.InternalServerError("Unable to parse template file", err)
diff --git a/api/portainer.go b/api/portainer.go
index 935def1f1..60e5c7a1f 100644
--- a/api/portainer.go
+++ b/api/portainer.go
@@ -1692,6 +1692,11 @@ const (
 	KubectlShellImageEnvVar = "KUBECTL_SHELL_IMAGE"
 	// PullLimitCheckDisabledEnvVar is the environment variable used to disable the pull limit check
 	PullLimitCheckDisabledEnvVar = "PULL_LIMIT_CHECK_DISABLED"
+	// LicenseServerBaseURL represents the base URL of the API used to validate
+	// an extension license.
+	LicenseServerBaseURL = "https://api.portainer.io"
+	// URL to validate licenses along with system metadata.
+	LicenseCheckInURL = LicenseServerBaseURL + "/licenses/checkin"
 )
 
 // List of supported features
diff --git a/pkg/libhttp/client/client.go b/pkg/libhttp/client/client.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..1e1f094a1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/libhttp/client/client.go
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+package client
+
+import (
+	"errors"
+
+	"github.com/portainer/portainer/pkg/featureflags"
+)
+
+var (
+	ErrExternalRequestsBlocked = errors.New("external requests are blocked by feature flag")
+)
+
+// DisableExternalRequest is the feature flag name for blocking outbound requests
+const DisableExternalRequests = "disable-external-requests"
+
+func ExternalRequestDisabled(url string) error {
+	if featureflags.IsEnabled(DisableExternalRequests) {
+		return ErrExternalRequestsBlocked
+	}
+
+	return nil
+}