diff --git a/src/core/public/workspace/workspaces_service.ts b/src/core/public/workspace/workspaces_service.ts
index 6241f9ec74d5..cb82f3c44406 100644
--- a/src/core/public/workspace/workspaces_service.ts
+++ b/src/core/public/workspace/workspaces_service.ts
@@ -7,7 +7,6 @@ import { WorkspacesClient, WorkspacesClientContract } from './workspaces_client'
 import type { WorkspaceAttribute } from '../../server/types';
 import { HttpSetup } from '../http';
 import { IUiSettingsClient } from '../ui_settings';
-import { getWorkspaceIdFromUrl } from '../utils/workspace';
 
 /**
  * @public
@@ -32,12 +31,7 @@ export class WorkspacesService implements CoreService<WorkspacesSetup, Workspace
     this.client = new WorkspacesClient(http);
 
     // If workspace was disabled while opening a workspace url, navigate to basePath
-    if (uiSettings.get('workspace:enabled') === false) {
-      const workspaceId = getWorkspaceIdFromUrl(window.location.href);
-      if (workspaceId) {
-        window.location.href = http.basePath.getBasePath();
-      }
-    } else {
+    if (uiSettings.get('workspace:enabled') === true) {
       this.client.init();
     }
 
diff --git a/src/core/server/server.ts b/src/core/server/server.ts
index f80b90ba6baa..dbaee6c12400 100644
--- a/src/core/server/server.ts
+++ b/src/core/server/server.ts
@@ -263,6 +263,7 @@ export class Server {
     });
     await this.workspaces.start({
       savedObjects: savedObjectsStart,
+      uiSettings: uiSettingsStart,
     });
 
     this.coreStart = {
diff --git a/src/core/server/workspaces/workspaces_service.ts b/src/core/server/workspaces/workspaces_service.ts
index 7aa01db34beb..c7a42516e72f 100644
--- a/src/core/server/workspaces/workspaces_service.ts
+++ b/src/core/server/workspaces/workspaces_service.ts
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ import {
 } from '../saved_objects';
 import { IWorkspaceDBImpl } from './types';
 import { WorkspacesClientWithSavedObject } from './workspaces_client';
+import { UiSettingsServiceStart } from '../ui_settings/types';
 
 export interface WorkspacesServiceSetup {
   client: IWorkspaceDBImpl;
@@ -34,12 +35,14 @@ export type InternalWorkspacesServiceStart = WorkspacesServiceStart;
 /** @internal */
 export interface WorkspacesStartDeps {
   savedObjects: InternalSavedObjectsServiceStart;
+  uiSettings: UiSettingsServiceStart;
 }
 
 export class WorkspacesService
   implements CoreService<WorkspacesServiceSetup, WorkspacesServiceStart> {
   private logger: Logger;
   private client?: IWorkspaceDBImpl;
+  private startDeps?: WorkspacesStartDeps;
   constructor(coreContext: CoreContext) {
     this.logger = coreContext.logger.get('workspaces-service');
   }
@@ -47,15 +50,29 @@ export class WorkspacesService
   private proxyWorkspaceTrafficToRealHandler(setupDeps: WorkspacesSetupDeps) {
     /**
      * Proxy all {basePath}/w/{workspaceId}{osdPath*} paths to
-     * {basePath}{osdPath*}
+     * {basePath}{osdPath*} when workspace is enabled
+     *
+     * Return HTTP 404 if accessing {basePath}/w/{workspaceId} when workspace is disabled
      */
-    setupDeps.http.registerOnPreRouting((request, response, toolkit) => {
+    setupDeps.http.registerOnPreRouting(async (request, response, toolkit) => {
       const regexp = /\/w\/([^\/]*)/;
       const matchedResult = request.url.pathname.match(regexp);
+
       if (matchedResult) {
-        const requestUrl = new URL(request.url.toString());
-        requestUrl.pathname = requestUrl.pathname.replace(regexp, '');
-        return toolkit.rewriteUrl(requestUrl.toString());
+        if (this.startDeps) {
+          const savedObjectsClient = this.startDeps.savedObjects.getScopedClient(request);
+          const uiSettingsClient = this.startDeps.uiSettings.asScopedToClient(savedObjectsClient);
+          const workspacesEnabled = await uiSettingsClient.get<boolean>('workspace:enabled');
+
+          if (workspacesEnabled) {
+            const requestUrl = new URL(request.url.toString());
+            requestUrl.pathname = requestUrl.pathname.replace(regexp, '');
+            return toolkit.rewriteUrl(requestUrl.toString());
+          } else {
+            // If workspace was disable, return HTTP 404
+            return response.notFound();
+          }
+        }
       }
       return toolkit.next();
     });
@@ -80,6 +97,7 @@ export class WorkspacesService
   }
 
   public async start(deps: WorkspacesStartDeps): Promise<InternalWorkspacesServiceStart> {
+    this.startDeps = deps;
     this.logger.debug('Starting SavedObjects service');
 
     return {