diff --git a/x-pack/plugins/apm/server/lib/helpers/create_es_client/create_apm_event_client/index.ts b/x-pack/plugins/apm/server/lib/helpers/create_es_client/create_apm_event_client/index.ts
index 2bfd3c94ed34c..9020cb1b9953a 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugins/apm/server/lib/helpers/create_es_client/create_apm_event_client/index.ts
+++ b/x-pack/plugins/apm/server/lib/helpers/create_es_client/create_apm_event_client/index.ts
@@ -7,14 +7,16 @@
 import { ValuesType } from 'utility-types';
 import { APMBaseDoc } from '../../../../../typings/es_schemas/raw/apm_base_doc';
 import { APMError } from '../../../../../typings/es_schemas/ui/apm_error';
-import { KibanaRequest } from '../../../../../../../../src/core/server';
+import {
+  KibanaRequest,
+  LegacyScopedClusterClient,
+} from '../../../../../../../../src/core/server';
 import { ProcessorEvent } from '../../../../../common/processor_event';
 import {
   ESSearchRequest,
   ESSearchResponse,
 } from '../../../../../typings/elasticsearch';
 import { ApmIndicesConfig } from '../../../settings/apm_indices/get_apm_indices';
-import { APMRequestHandlerContext } from '../../../../routes/typings';
 import { addFilterToExcludeLegacyData } from './add_filter_to_exclude_legacy_data';
 import { callClientWithDebug } from '../call_client_with_debug';
 import { Transaction } from '../../../../../typings/es_schemas/ui/transaction';
@@ -51,20 +53,23 @@ type TypedSearchResponse<
 export type APMEventClient = ReturnType<typeof createApmEventClient>;
 
 export function createApmEventClient({
-  context,
+  esClient,
+  debug,
   request,
   indices,
   options: { includeFrozen } = { includeFrozen: false },
 }: {
-  context: APMRequestHandlerContext;
+  esClient: Pick<
+    LegacyScopedClusterClient,
+    'callAsInternalUser' | 'callAsCurrentUser'
+  >;
+  debug: boolean;
   request: KibanaRequest;
   indices: ApmIndicesConfig;
   options: {
     includeFrozen: boolean;
   };
 }) {
-  const client = context.core.elasticsearch.legacy.client;
-
   return {
     search<TParams extends APMEventESSearchRequest>(
       params: TParams,
@@ -77,14 +82,14 @@ export function createApmEventClient({
         : withProcessorEventFilter;
 
       return callClientWithDebug({
-        apiCaller: client.callAsCurrentUser,
+        apiCaller: esClient.callAsCurrentUser,
         operationName: 'search',
         params: {
           ...withPossibleLegacyDataFilter,
           ignore_throttled: !includeFrozen,
         },
         request,
-        debug: context.params.query._debug,
+        debug,
       });
     },
   };
diff --git a/x-pack/plugins/apm/server/lib/helpers/setup_request.ts b/x-pack/plugins/apm/server/lib/helpers/setup_request.ts
index 5e75535c678b3..363c4128137e0 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugins/apm/server/lib/helpers/setup_request.ts
+++ b/x-pack/plugins/apm/server/lib/helpers/setup_request.ts
@@ -88,7 +88,8 @@ export async function setupRequest<TParams extends SetupRequestParams>(
   const coreSetupRequest = {
     indices,
     apmEventClient: createApmEventClient({
-      context,
+      esClient: context.core.elasticsearch.legacy.client,
+      debug: context.params.query._debug,
       request,
       indices,
       options: { includeFrozen },
diff --git a/x-pack/plugins/apm/server/plugin.ts b/x-pack/plugins/apm/server/plugin.ts
index d3341b6c1b163..44269b1775953 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugins/apm/server/plugin.ts
+++ b/x-pack/plugins/apm/server/plugin.ts
@@ -10,14 +10,17 @@ import { map, take } from 'rxjs/operators';
 import {
   CoreSetup,
   CoreStart,
+  KibanaRequest,
   Logger,
   Plugin,
   PluginInitializerContext,
+  RequestHandlerContext,
 } from 'src/core/server';
 import { APMConfig, APMXPackConfig, mergeConfigs } from '.';
 import { APMOSSPluginSetup } from '../../../../src/plugins/apm_oss/server';
 import { HomeServerPluginSetup } from '../../../../src/plugins/home/server';
 import { UsageCollectionSetup } from '../../../../src/plugins/usage_collection/server';
+import { UI_SETTINGS } from '../../../../src/plugins/data/common';
 import { ActionsPlugin } from '../../actions/server';
 import { AlertingPlugin } from '../../alerts/server';
 import { CloudSetup } from '../../cloud/server';
@@ -30,6 +33,7 @@ import { TaskManagerSetupContract } from '../../task_manager/server';
 import { APM_FEATURE, registerFeaturesUsage } from './feature';
 import { registerApmAlerts } from './lib/alerts/register_apm_alerts';
 import { createApmTelemetry } from './lib/apm_telemetry';
+import { createApmEventClient } from './lib/helpers/create_es_client/create_apm_event_client';
 import { getInternalSavedObjectsClient } from './lib/helpers/get_internal_saved_objects_client';
 import { createApmAgentConfigurationIndex } from './lib/settings/agent_configuration/create_agent_config_index';
 import { getApmIndices } from './lib/settings/apm_indices/get_apm_indices';
@@ -42,6 +46,11 @@ import { uiSettings } from './ui_settings';
 export interface APMPluginSetup {
   config$: Observable<APMConfig>;
   getApmIndices: () => ReturnType<typeof getApmIndices>;
+  createApmEventClient: (params: {
+    debug?: boolean;
+    request: KibanaRequest;
+    context: RequestHandlerContext;
+  }) => Promise<ReturnType<typeof createApmEventClient>>;
 }
 
 export class APMPlugin implements Plugin<APMPluginSetup> {
@@ -141,13 +150,41 @@ export class APMPlugin implements Plugin<APMPluginSetup> {
       },
     });
 
+    const boundGetApmIndices = async () =>
+      getApmIndices({
+        savedObjectsClient: await getInternalSavedObjectsClient(core),
+        config: await mergedConfig$.pipe(take(1)).toPromise(),
+      });
+
     return {
       config$: mergedConfig$,
-      getApmIndices: async () =>
-        getApmIndices({
-          savedObjectsClient: await getInternalSavedObjectsClient(core),
-          config: await mergedConfig$.pipe(take(1)).toPromise(),
-        }),
+      getApmIndices: boundGetApmIndices,
+      createApmEventClient: async ({
+        request,
+        context,
+        debug,
+      }: {
+        debug?: boolean;
+        request: KibanaRequest;
+        context: RequestHandlerContext;
+      }) => {
+        const [indices, includeFrozen] = await Promise.all([
+          boundGetApmIndices(),
+          context.core.uiSettings.client.get(UI_SETTINGS.SEARCH_INCLUDE_FROZEN),
+        ]);
+
+        const esClient = context.core.elasticsearch.legacy.client;
+
+        return createApmEventClient({
+          debug: debug ?? false,
+          esClient,
+          request,
+          indices,
+          options: {
+            includeFrozen,
+          },
+        });
+      },
     };
   }