diff --git a/agent/agent-tooling/src/main/java/com/microsoft/applicationinsights/agent/internal/init/AiConfigCustomizer.java b/agent/agent-tooling/src/main/java/com/microsoft/applicationinsights/agent/internal/init/AiConfigCustomizer.java
index 5d17bb98b6..f70017b64a 100644
--- a/agent/agent-tooling/src/main/java/com/microsoft/applicationinsights/agent/internal/init/AiConfigCustomizer.java
+++ b/agent/agent-tooling/src/main/java/com/microsoft/applicationinsights/agent/internal/init/AiConfigCustomizer.java
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 
 import static java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit.SECONDS;
 
+import com.azure.monitor.opentelemetry.autoconfigure.implementation.AzureMonitorExporterProviderKeys;
 import com.microsoft.applicationinsights.agent.internal.configuration.Configuration;
 import com.microsoft.applicationinsights.agent.internal.legacyheaders.DelegatingPropagatorProvider;
 import io.opentelemetry.sdk.autoconfigure.spi.ConfigProperties;
@@ -115,9 +116,25 @@ public Map<String, String> apply(ConfigProperties otelConfig) {
     }
 
     String metricsExporter = otelConfig.getString("otel.metrics.exporter");
-    if (metricsExporter == null) {
-      // this overrides the default "otlp" so the exporter can be configured later
-      properties.put("otel.metrics.exporter", "none");
+    String azureMonitorName = AzureMonitorExporterProviderKeys.EXPORTER_NAME;
+    boolean metricsToLogAnalyticsEnabled =
+        otelConfig.getBoolean("applicationinsights.metrics.to.loganalytics.enabled", false);
+
+    if (metricsToLogAnalyticsEnabled) {
+      if (metricsExporter == null
+          || metricsExporter.isEmpty()
+          || metricsExporter.equalsIgnoreCase("none")) {
+        // enable Azure Monitor metrics exporter by default when flag is enabled
+        properties.put("otel.metrics.exporter", azureMonitorName);
+      } else if (!metricsExporter.contains(azureMonitorName)) {
+        // ensure Azure Monitor exporter is included when flag is enabled
+        properties.put("otel.metrics.exporter", metricsExporter + "," + azureMonitorName);
+      }
+    } else {
+      if (metricsExporter == null) {
+        // preserve previous behavior: override default "otlp" so exporter can be configured later
+        properties.put("otel.metrics.exporter", "none");
+      }
     }
 
     String logsExporter = otelConfig.getString("otel.logs.exporter");
diff --git a/smoke-tests/framework/src/main/java/com/microsoft/applicationinsights/smoketest/SmokeTestExtension.java b/smoke-tests/framework/src/main/java/com/microsoft/applicationinsights/smoketest/SmokeTestExtension.java
index ad7245cf5a..d02cedd041 100644
--- a/smoke-tests/framework/src/main/java/com/microsoft/applicationinsights/smoketest/SmokeTestExtension.java
+++ b/smoke-tests/framework/src/main/java/com/microsoft/applicationinsights/smoketest/SmokeTestExtension.java
@@ -116,7 +116,13 @@ public class SmokeTestExtension
   private final boolean useOtlpEndpoint;
 
   public static SmokeTestExtension create() {
-    return builder().build();
+    SmokeTestExtensionBuilder b = builder();
+    String metricsToLogAnalytics =
+        System.getenv("APPLICATIONINSIGHTS_METRICS_TO_LOGANALYTICS_ENABLED");
+    if (metricsToLogAnalytics != null && metricsToLogAnalytics.equalsIgnoreCase("true")) {
+      b.setEnvVar("APPLICATIONINSIGHTS_METRICS_TO_LOGANALYTICS_ENABLED", "true");
+    }
+    return b.build();
   }
 
   public static SmokeTestExtensionBuilder builder() {