diff --git a/docs/installation/config.rst b/docs/installation/config.rst
index fe03fe29..c62ba443 100644
--- a/docs/installation/config.rst
+++ b/docs/installation/config.rst
@@ -128,6 +128,7 @@ Optional
 * ``SITE_DOMAIN``: Defines the primary domain where the application is hosted. Defaults to: ``(empty string)``.
 * ``SENTRY_DSN``: URL of the sentry project to send error reports to. Default empty, i.e. -> no monitoring set up. Highly recommended to configure this.
 * ``DISABLE_2FA``: Whether or not two factor authentication should be disabled. Defaults to: ``False``.
+* ``OBJECTS_ADMIN_SEARCH_DISABLED``: Indicates whether or not searching in the Objects admin should be disabled. Defaults to: ``False``.
 
 
 
diff --git a/src/objects/conf/base.py b/src/objects/conf/base.py
index 766df05d..6e29d1cc 100644
--- a/src/objects/conf/base.py
+++ b/src/objects/conf/base.py
@@ -77,6 +77,15 @@
 SITE_TITLE = "Starting point"
 SHOW_ALERT = True
 
+# TODO remove this once https://github.com/maykinmedia/objects-api/issues/621 is fixed
+OBJECTS_ADMIN_SEARCH_DISABLED = config(
+    "OBJECTS_ADMIN_SEARCH_DISABLED",
+    help_text=(
+        "Indicates whether or not searching in the Objects admin should be disabled"
+    ),
+    default=False,
+)
+
 # Default (connection timeout, read timeout) for the requests library (in seconds)
 REQUESTS_DEFAULT_TIMEOUT = (10, 30)
 
diff --git a/src/objects/core/admin.py b/src/objects/core/admin.py
index f0f025cc..1ba7977d 100644
--- a/src/objects/core/admin.py
+++ b/src/objects/core/admin.py
@@ -1,8 +1,11 @@
+from typing import Sequence
+
 from django import forms
+from django.conf import settings
 from django.contrib import admin
 from django.contrib.admin import SimpleListFilter
 from django.contrib.gis.db.models import GeometryField
-from django.http import JsonResponse
+from django.http import HttpRequest, JsonResponse
 from django.urls import path
 
 import requests
@@ -142,6 +145,15 @@ class ObjectAdmin(admin.ModelAdmin):
     inlines = (ObjectRecordInline,)
     list_filter = (ObjectTypeFilter, "created_on", "modified_on")
 
+    def get_search_fields(self, request: HttpRequest) -> Sequence[str]:
+        if settings.OBJECTS_ADMIN_SEARCH_DISABLED:
+            return ()
+
+        return (
+            "uuid",
+            "records__data",
+        )
+
     @admin.display(description="Object type UUID")
     def get_object_type_uuid(self, obj):
         return obj.object_type.uuid
diff --git a/src/objects/core/tests/test_admin.py b/src/objects/core/tests/test_admin.py
index c6b505d2..a36886cc 100644
--- a/src/objects/core/tests/test_admin.py
+++ b/src/objects/core/tests/test_admin.py
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-from django.test import tag
+from django.test import override_settings, tag
 from django.urls import reverse
 
 from django_webtest import WebTest
@@ -7,7 +7,11 @@
 from zgw_consumers.test.factories import ServiceFactory
 
 from objects.accounts.tests.factories import UserFactory
-from objects.core.tests.factories import ObjectFactory, ObjectTypeFactory
+from objects.core.tests.factories import (
+    ObjectFactory,
+    ObjectRecordFactory,
+    ObjectTypeFactory,
+)
 
 
 @disable_admin_mfa()
@@ -49,3 +53,35 @@ def test_object_changelist_filter_by_objecttype(self):
         self.assertEqual(len(rows), 1)
         self.assertIn(str(object1.uuid), response.text)
         self.assertNotIn(str(object2.uuid), response.text)
+
+    @tag("gh-621")
+    def test_object_admin_search_disabled(self):
+        list_url = reverse("admin:core_object_changelist")
+
+        ObjectRecordFactory.create(data={"foo": "bar"})
+        ObjectRecordFactory.create(data={"foo": "baz"})
+
+        def get_num_results(response) -> int:
+            result_list = response.html.find("table", {"id": "result_list"})
+            return len(result_list.find("tbody").find_all("tr"))
+
+        with self.subTest("search is enabled by default"):
+            response = self.app.get(list_url, user=self.user)
+
+            self.assertIsNotNone(response.html.find("input", {"id": "searchbar"}))
+
+            response = self.app.get(list_url, params={"q": "bar"}, user=self.user)
+
+            self.assertEqual(get_num_results(response), 1)
+
+        with self.subTest("search is disabled if OBJECTS_ADMIN_SEARCH_DISABLED=True"):
+            with override_settings(OBJECTS_ADMIN_SEARCH_DISABLED=True):
+                response = self.app.get(
+                    reverse("admin:core_object_changelist"), user=self.user
+                )
+
+                self.assertIsNone(response.html.find("input", {"id": "searchbar"}))
+
+                response = self.app.get(list_url, params={"q": "bar"}, user=self.user)
+
+                self.assertEqual(get_num_results(response), 2)