diff --git a/airbyte-container-orchestrator/src/main/java/io/airbyte/container_orchestrator/orchestrator/ReplicationJobOrchestrator.java b/airbyte-container-orchestrator/src/main/java/io/airbyte/container_orchestrator/orchestrator/ReplicationJobOrchestrator.java
index 9ea81363c7af2..fadbeaad52072 100644
--- a/airbyte-container-orchestrator/src/main/java/io/airbyte/container_orchestrator/orchestrator/ReplicationJobOrchestrator.java
+++ b/airbyte-container-orchestrator/src/main/java/io/airbyte/container_orchestrator/orchestrator/ReplicationJobOrchestrator.java
@@ -24,6 +24,8 @@
 import io.airbyte.config.ReplicationOutput;
 import io.airbyte.config.StandardSyncInput;
 import io.airbyte.featureflag.FeatureFlagClient;
+import io.airbyte.featureflag.FieldSelectionEnabled;
+import io.airbyte.featureflag.Workspace;
 import io.airbyte.metrics.lib.ApmTraceUtils;
 import io.airbyte.metrics.lib.MetricClientFactory;
 import io.airbyte.metrics.lib.MetricEmittingApps;
@@ -53,6 +55,7 @@
 import java.nio.file.Path;
 import java.util.Map;
 import java.util.Optional;
+import java.util.UUID;
 import org.slf4j.Logger;
 import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
 
@@ -158,6 +161,13 @@ public Optional<String> runJob() throws Exception {
         sourceLauncherConfig.getDockerImage());
 
     log.info("Setting up replication worker...");
+    final UUID workspaceId = syncInput.getWorkspaceId();
+    // NOTE: we apply field selection if the feature flag client says so (recommended) or the old
+    // environment-variable flags say so (deprecated).
+    // The latter FeatureFlagHelper will be removed once the flag client is fully deployed.
+    final boolean fieldSelectionEnabled = workspaceId != null &&
+        (featureFlagClient.enabled(FieldSelectionEnabled.INSTANCE, new Workspace(workspaceId))
+            || FeatureFlagHelper.isFieldSelectionEnabledForWorkspace(featureFlags, workspaceId));
     final var replicationWorker = new DefaultReplicationWorker(
         jobRunConfig.getJobId(),
         Math.toIntExact(jobRunConfig.getAttemptId()),
@@ -173,7 +183,7 @@ public Optional<String> runJob() throws Exception {
         new RecordSchemaValidator(featureFlagClient, syncInput.getWorkspaceId(), WorkerUtils.mapStreamNamesToSchemas(syncInput)),
         metricReporter,
         new ConnectorConfigUpdater(sourceApi, destinationApi),
-        FeatureFlagHelper.isFieldSelectionEnabledForWorkspace(featureFlags, syncInput.getWorkspaceId()));
+        fieldSelectionEnabled);
 
     log.info("Running replication worker...");
     final var jobRoot = TemporalUtils.getJobRoot(configs.getWorkspaceRoot(),
diff --git a/airbyte-featureflag/src/main/kotlin/Flags.kt b/airbyte-featureflag/src/main/kotlin/Flags.kt
index aed1ec2bb7638..cf40fc097f469 100644
--- a/airbyte-featureflag/src/main/kotlin/Flags.kt
+++ b/airbyte-featureflag/src/main/kotlin/Flags.kt
@@ -14,10 +14,14 @@ object LogConnectorMessages : EnvVar(envVar = "LOG_CONNECTOR_MESSAGES")
 object StreamCapableState : EnvVar(envVar = "USE_STREAM_CAPABLE_STATE")
 object AutoDetectSchema : EnvVar(envVar = "AUTO_DETECT_SCHEMA")
 object NeedStateValidation : EnvVar(envVar = "NEED_STATE_VALIDATION")
+// NOTE: this is deprecated in favor of FieldSelectionEnabled and will be removed once that flag is fully deployed.
 object ApplyFieldSelection : EnvVar(envVar = "APPLY_FIELD_SELECTION")
 
 object PerfBackgroundJsonValidation : Temporary(key = "performance.backgroundJsonSchemaValidation")
 
+object FieldSelectionEnabled : Temporary(key="connection.columnSelection")
+
+// NOTE: this is deprecated in favor of FieldSelectionEnabled and will be removed once that flag is fully deployed.
 object FieldSelectionWorkspaces : EnvVar(envVar = "FIELD_SELECTION_WORKSPACES") {
     override fun enabled(ctx: Context): Boolean {
         val enabledWorkspaceIds: List<String> = fetcher(key)
diff --git a/airbyte-workers/src/main/java/io/airbyte/workers/temporal/sync/ReplicationActivityImpl.java b/airbyte-workers/src/main/java/io/airbyte/workers/temporal/sync/ReplicationActivityImpl.java
index 739fd8ae58478..4a5a1224c8b58 100644
--- a/airbyte-workers/src/main/java/io/airbyte/workers/temporal/sync/ReplicationActivityImpl.java
+++ b/airbyte-workers/src/main/java/io/airbyte/workers/temporal/sync/ReplicationActivityImpl.java
@@ -39,6 +39,8 @@
 import io.airbyte.config.helpers.LogConfigs;
 import io.airbyte.config.persistence.split_secrets.SecretsHydrator;
 import io.airbyte.featureflag.FeatureFlagClient;
+import io.airbyte.featureflag.FieldSelectionEnabled;
+import io.airbyte.featureflag.Workspace;
 import io.airbyte.metrics.lib.ApmTraceUtils;
 import io.airbyte.metrics.lib.MetricAttribute;
 import io.airbyte.metrics.lib.MetricClient;
@@ -313,6 +315,14 @@ private CheckedSupplier<Worker<StandardSyncInput, ReplicationOutput>, Exception>
       final MetricClient metricClient = MetricClientFactory.getMetricClient();
       final WorkerMetricReporter metricReporter = new WorkerMetricReporter(metricClient, sourceLauncherConfig.getDockerImage());
 
+      final UUID workspaceId = syncInput.getWorkspaceId();
+      // NOTE: we apply field selection if the feature flag client says so (recommended) or the old
+      // environment-variable flags say so (deprecated).
+      // The latter FeatureFlagHelper will be removed once the flag client is fully deployed.
+      final boolean fieldSelectionEnabled = workspaceId != null &&
+          (featureFlagClient.enabled(FieldSelectionEnabled.INSTANCE, new Workspace(workspaceId))
+              || FeatureFlagHelper.isFieldSelectionEnabledForWorkspace(featureFlags, workspaceId));
+
       return new DefaultReplicationWorker(
           jobRunConfig.getJobId(),
           Math.toIntExact(jobRunConfig.getAttemptId()),
@@ -329,7 +339,7 @@ private CheckedSupplier<Worker<StandardSyncInput, ReplicationOutput>, Exception>
           new RecordSchemaValidator(featureFlagClient, syncInput.getWorkspaceId(), WorkerUtils.mapStreamNamesToSchemas(syncInput)),
           metricReporter,
           new ConnectorConfigUpdater(airbyteApiClient.getSourceApi(), airbyteApiClient.getDestinationApi()),
-          FeatureFlagHelper.isFieldSelectionEnabledForWorkspace(featureFlags, syncInput.getWorkspaceId()));
+          fieldSelectionEnabled);
     };
   }