diff --git a/internal/desktop/client.go b/internal/desktop/client.go
index 9d99040bff..77836e227e 100644
--- a/internal/desktop/client.go
+++ b/internal/desktop/client.go
@@ -123,6 +123,37 @@ func (c *Client) FeatureFlags(ctx context.Context) (FeatureFlagResponse, error)
 	return ret, nil
 }
 
+type GetFileSharesConfigResponse struct {
+	Active  bool `json:"active"`
+	Compose struct {
+		ManageBindMounts bool `json:"manageBindMounts"`
+	}
+}
+
+func (c *Client) GetFileSharesConfig(ctx context.Context) (*GetFileSharesConfigResponse, error) {
+	req, err := http.NewRequestWithContext(ctx, http.MethodGet, backendURL("/mutagen/file-shares/config"), http.NoBody)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	resp, err := c.client.Do(req)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	defer func() {
+		_ = resp.Body.Close()
+	}()
+
+	if resp.StatusCode != http.StatusOK {
+		return nil, newHTTPStatusCodeError(resp)
+	}
+
+	var ret GetFileSharesConfigResponse
+	if err := json.NewDecoder(resp.Body).Decode(&ret); err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	return &ret, nil
+}
+
 type CreateFileShareRequest struct {
 	HostPath string            `json:"hostPath"`
 	Labels   map[string]string `json:"labels,omitempty"`
diff --git a/pkg/compose/create.go b/pkg/compose/create.go
index b35c9814f3..7dc3b115b8 100644
--- a/pkg/compose/create.go
+++ b/pkg/compose/create.go
@@ -152,7 +152,7 @@ func (s *composeService) ensureProjectVolumes(ctx context.Context, project *type
 	}
 
 	err := func() error {
-		if s.experiments.AutoFileShares() && s.isDesktopIntegrationActive() {
+		if s.manageDesktopFileSharesEnabled(ctx) {
 			// collect all the bind mount paths and try to set up file shares in
 			// Docker Desktop for them
 			var paths []string
diff --git a/pkg/compose/desktop.go b/pkg/compose/desktop.go
index a50566aed2..5e7fb8fea2 100644
--- a/pkg/compose/desktop.go
+++ b/pkg/compose/desktop.go
@@ -17,8 +17,11 @@
 package compose
 
 import (
+	"context"
+
 	"github.com/docker/compose/v2/internal/desktop"
 	"github.com/docker/compose/v2/internal/experimental"
+	"github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
 )
 
 func (s *composeService) SetDesktopClient(cli *desktop.Client) {
@@ -28,3 +31,18 @@ func (s *composeService) SetDesktopClient(cli *desktop.Client) {
 func (s *composeService) SetExperiments(experiments *experimental.State) {
 	s.experiments = experiments
 }
+
+func (s *composeService) manageDesktopFileSharesEnabled(ctx context.Context) bool {
+	// there's some slightly redundancy here to avoid fetching the config if
+	// we can already tell the feature state - in practice, we
+	if !s.isDesktopIntegrationActive() || !s.experiments.AutoFileShares() {
+		return false
+	}
+
+	fileSharesConfig, err := s.desktopCli.GetFileSharesConfig(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		logrus.Debugf("Failed to retrieve file shares config: %v", err)
+		return false
+	}
+	return fileSharesConfig.Active && fileSharesConfig.Compose.ManageBindMounts
+}
diff --git a/pkg/compose/down.go b/pkg/compose/down.go
index ca1f58fe9c..b7887c5a0a 100644
--- a/pkg/compose/down.go
+++ b/pkg/compose/down.go
@@ -145,7 +145,7 @@ func (s *composeService) ensureVolumesDown(ctx context.Context, project *types.P
 		})
 	}
 
-	if s.experiments.AutoFileShares() && s.isDesktopIntegrationActive() {
+	if s.manageDesktopFileSharesEnabled(ctx) {
 		ops = append(ops, func() error {
 			desktop.RemoveFileSharesForProject(ctx, s.desktopCli, project.Name)
 			return nil