diff --git a/docs/changelog/116664.yaml b/docs/changelog/116664.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..36915fca3973
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/changelog/116664.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+pr: 116664
+summary: Hides `hugging_face_elser` service from the `GET _inference/_services API`
+area: Machine Learning
+type: bug
+issues:
+ - 116644
diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/inference/InferenceService.java b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/inference/InferenceService.java
index cd92f38e6515..f7b688ba3796 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/inference/InferenceService.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/inference/InferenceService.java
@@ -74,6 +74,14 @@ public interface InferenceService extends Closeable {
 
     InferenceServiceConfiguration getConfiguration();
 
+    /**
+     * Whether this service should be hidden from the API. Should be used for services
+     * that are not ready to be used.
+     */
+    default Boolean hideFromConfigurationApi() {
+        return Boolean.FALSE;
+    }
+
     /**
      * The task types supported by the service
      * @return Set of supported.
diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/inference/qa/inference-service-tests/src/javaRestTest/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/inference/InferenceCrudIT.java b/x-pack/plugin/inference/qa/inference-service-tests/src/javaRestTest/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/inference/InferenceCrudIT.java
index f9a1318cd974..081c83b1e706 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/inference/qa/inference-service-tests/src/javaRestTest/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/inference/InferenceCrudIT.java
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/inference/qa/inference-service-tests/src/javaRestTest/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/inference/InferenceCrudIT.java
@@ -135,9 +135,9 @@ public class InferenceCrudIT extends InferenceBaseRestTest {
     public void testGetServicesWithoutTaskType() throws IOException {
         List<Object> services = getAllServices();
         if (ElasticInferenceServiceFeature.ELASTIC_INFERENCE_SERVICE_FEATURE_FLAG.isEnabled()) {
-            assertThat(services.size(), equalTo(19));
-        } else {
             assertThat(services.size(), equalTo(18));
+        } else {
+            assertThat(services.size(), equalTo(17));
         }
 
         String[] providers = new String[services.size()];
@@ -160,7 +160,6 @@ public class InferenceCrudIT extends InferenceBaseRestTest {
                 "googleaistudio",
                 "googlevertexai",
                 "hugging_face",
-                "hugging_face_elser",
                 "mistral",
                 "openai",
                 "streaming_completion_test_service",
@@ -259,9 +258,9 @@ public class InferenceCrudIT extends InferenceBaseRestTest {
         List<Object> services = getServices(TaskType.SPARSE_EMBEDDING);
 
         if (ElasticInferenceServiceFeature.ELASTIC_INFERENCE_SERVICE_FEATURE_FLAG.isEnabled()) {
-            assertThat(services.size(), equalTo(6));
-        } else {
             assertThat(services.size(), equalTo(5));
+        } else {
+            assertThat(services.size(), equalTo(4));
         }
 
         String[] providers = new String[services.size()];
@@ -272,9 +271,7 @@ public class InferenceCrudIT extends InferenceBaseRestTest {
 
         Arrays.sort(providers);
 
-        var providerList = new ArrayList<>(
-            Arrays.asList("alibabacloud-ai-search", "elasticsearch", "hugging_face", "hugging_face_elser", "test_service")
-        );
+        var providerList = new ArrayList<>(Arrays.asList("alibabacloud-ai-search", "elasticsearch", "hugging_face", "test_service"));
         if (ElasticInferenceServiceFeature.ELASTIC_INFERENCE_SERVICE_FEATURE_FLAG.isEnabled()) {
             providerList.add(1, "elastic");
         }
diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/inference/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/inference/action/TransportGetInferenceServicesAction.java b/x-pack/plugin/inference/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/inference/action/TransportGetInferenceServicesAction.java
index a6109bfe659d..002b2b0fe93b 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/inference/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/inference/action/TransportGetInferenceServicesAction.java
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/inference/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/inference/action/TransportGetInferenceServicesAction.java
@@ -68,7 +68,10 @@ public class TransportGetInferenceServicesAction extends HandledTransportAction<
         var filteredServices = serviceRegistry.getServices()
             .entrySet()
             .stream()
-            .filter(service -> service.getValue().supportedTaskTypes().contains(requestedTaskType))
+            .filter(
+                service -> service.getValue().hideFromConfigurationApi() == false
+                    && service.getValue().supportedTaskTypes().contains(requestedTaskType)
+            )
             .collect(Collectors.toSet());
 
         getServiceConfigurationsForServices(filteredServices, listener.delegateFailureAndWrap((delegate, configurations) -> {
@@ -77,12 +80,14 @@ public class TransportGetInferenceServicesAction extends HandledTransportAction<
     }
 
     private void getAllServiceConfigurations(ActionListener<GetInferenceServicesAction.Response> listener) {
-        getServiceConfigurationsForServices(
-            serviceRegistry.getServices().entrySet(),
-            listener.delegateFailureAndWrap((delegate, configurations) -> {
-                delegate.onResponse(new GetInferenceServicesAction.Response(configurations));
-            })
-        );
+        var availableServices = serviceRegistry.getServices()
+            .entrySet()
+            .stream()
+            .filter(service -> service.getValue().hideFromConfigurationApi() == false)
+            .collect(Collectors.toSet());
+        getServiceConfigurationsForServices(availableServices, listener.delegateFailureAndWrap((delegate, configurations) -> {
+            delegate.onResponse(new GetInferenceServicesAction.Response(configurations));
+        }));
     }
 
     private void getServiceConfigurationsForServices(
diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/inference/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/inference/services/huggingface/elser/HuggingFaceElserService.java b/x-pack/plugin/inference/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/inference/services/huggingface/elser/HuggingFaceElserService.java
index e0afbf924f65..a2e22e24172c 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/inference/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/inference/services/huggingface/elser/HuggingFaceElserService.java
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/inference/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/inference/services/huggingface/elser/HuggingFaceElserService.java
@@ -125,6 +125,11 @@ public class HuggingFaceElserService extends HuggingFaceBaseService {
         return Configuration.get();
     }
 
+    @Override
+    public Boolean hideFromConfigurationApi() {
+        return Boolean.TRUE;
+    }
+
     @Override
     public EnumSet<TaskType> supportedTaskTypes() {
         return supportedTaskTypes;