diff --git a/pkg/server/module_server.go b/pkg/server/module_server.go
index 3954b29dac9..d88d07f2b1a 100644
--- a/pkg/server/module_server.go
+++ b/pkg/server/module_server.go
@@ -13,6 +13,9 @@ import (
 	"github.com/grafana/dskit/kv"
 	"github.com/grafana/dskit/ring"
 	ringclient "github.com/grafana/dskit/ring/client"
+	"github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/services/apiserver/options"
+	"github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/storage/unified"
+	"github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/storage/unified/resourcepb"
 	"github.com/prometheus/client_golang/prometheus"
 	"github.com/urfave/cli/v2"
 
@@ -76,6 +79,22 @@ func newModuleServer(opts Options,
 ) (*ModuleServer, error) {
 	rootCtx, shutdownFn := context.WithCancel(context.Background())
 
+	// TODO should inject this with Wire
+	apiserverCfg := cfg.SectionWithEnvOverrides("grafana-apiserver")
+	searchServerAddress := apiserverCfg.Key("search_server_address").MustString("")
+	var searchClient resourcepb.ResourceIndexClient
+	var err error
+	if searchServerAddress != "" {
+		storageOptions := options.StorageOptions{
+			SearchServerAddress: searchServerAddress,
+		}
+		searchClient, err = unified.NewSearchClient(storageOptions, features)
+		if err != nil {
+			shutdownFn()
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to create search client: %w", err)
+		}
+	}
+
 	s := &ModuleServer{
 		opts:             opts,
 		apiOpts:          apiOpts,
@@ -96,6 +115,7 @@ func newModuleServer(opts Options,
 		license:          license,
 		moduleRegisterer: moduleRegisterer,
 		storageBackend:   storageBackend,
+		searchClient:     searchClient,
 		hooksService:     hooksService,
 	}
 
@@ -119,6 +139,7 @@ type ModuleServer struct {
 	isInitialized    bool
 	mtx              sync.Mutex
 	storageBackend   resource.StorageBackend
+	searchClient     resourcepb.ResourceIndexClient
 	storageMetrics   *resource.StorageMetrics
 	indexMetrics     *resource.BleveIndexMetrics
 	license          licensing.Licensing
@@ -202,7 +223,7 @@ func (s *ModuleServer) Run() error {
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, err
 		}
-		return sql.ProvideUnifiedStorageGrpcService(s.cfg, s.features, nil, s.log, s.registerer, docBuilders, s.storageMetrics, s.indexMetrics, s.searchServerRing, s.MemberlistKVConfig, s.httpServerRouter, s.storageBackend)
+		return sql.ProvideUnifiedStorageGrpcService(s.cfg, s.features, nil, s.log, s.registerer, docBuilders, s.storageMetrics, s.indexMetrics, s.searchServerRing, s.MemberlistKVConfig, s.httpServerRouter, s.storageBackend, s.searchClient)
 	})
 
 	m.RegisterModule(modules.ZanzanaServer, func() (services.Service, error) {
diff --git a/pkg/storage/unified/client.go b/pkg/storage/unified/client.go
index 82336b3a5d1..65286cef18a 100644
--- a/pkg/storage/unified/client.go
+++ b/pkg/storage/unified/client.go
@@ -7,6 +7,8 @@ import (
 	"time"
 
 	badger "github.com/dgraph-io/badger/v4"
+	"github.com/fullstorydev/grpchan"
+	"github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/storage/unified/resourcepb"
 	otgrpc "github.com/opentracing-contrib/go-grpc"
 	"github.com/opentracing/opentracing-go"
 	"github.com/prometheus/client_golang/prometheus"
@@ -31,6 +33,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/storage/legacysql"
 	"github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/storage/unified/federated"
 	"github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/storage/unified/resource"
+	grpcUtils "github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/storage/unified/resource/grpc"
 	"github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/storage/unified/search"
 	"github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/storage/unified/sql"
 	"github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/util/scheduler"
@@ -91,6 +94,27 @@ func ProvideUnifiedStorageClient(opts *Options,
 	return client, err
 }
 
+// TODO use wire to provide to module server
+func NewSearchClient(opts options.StorageOptions, features featuremgmt.FeatureToggles) (resourcepb.ResourceIndexClient, error) {
+	if opts.SearchServerAddress == "" {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("expecting address for search server")
+	}
+
+	var (
+		conn    grpc.ClientConnInterface
+		err     error
+		metrics = newClientMetrics(prometheus.NewRegistry())
+	)
+
+	conn, err = newGrpcConn(opts.SearchServerAddress, metrics, features, opts.GrpcClientKeepaliveTime)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	cc := grpchan.InterceptClientConn(conn, grpcUtils.UnaryClientInterceptor, grpcUtils.StreamClientInterceptor)
+	return resourcepb.NewResourceIndexClient(cc), nil
+}
+
 func newClient(opts options.StorageOptions,
 	cfg *setting.Cfg,
 	features featuremgmt.FeatureToggles,
diff --git a/pkg/storage/unified/resource/server.go b/pkg/storage/unified/resource/server.go
index 2356826229e..563b827f095 100644
--- a/pkg/storage/unified/resource/server.go
+++ b/pkg/storage/unified/resource/server.go
@@ -222,6 +222,9 @@ type ResourceServerOptions struct {
 	// Search options
 	Search SearchOptions
 
+	// to be used by storage
+	SearchClient resourcepb.ResourceIndexClient
+
 	// Quota service
 	OverridesService *OverridesService
 
@@ -347,6 +350,7 @@ func NewResourceServer(opts ResourceServerOptions) (*server, error) {
 		queue:            opts.QOSQueue,
 		queueConfig:      opts.QOSConfig,
 		overridesService: opts.OverridesService,
+		searchClient:     opts.SearchClient,
 
 		artificialSuccessfulWriteDelay: opts.Search.IndexMinUpdateInterval,
 	}
@@ -386,6 +390,9 @@ type server struct {
 	indexMetrics     *BleveIndexMetrics
 	overridesService *OverridesService
 
+	// only to be used with storage server for field selector search
+	searchClient resourcepb.ResourceIndexClient
+
 	// Background watch task -- this has permissions for everything
 	ctx         context.Context
 	cancel      context.CancelFunc
@@ -1059,7 +1066,8 @@ func (s *server) List(ctx context.Context, req *resourcepb.ListRequest) (*resour
 	// TODO: What to do about RV and version_match fields?
 	// If we get here, we're doing list with selectable fields. Let's do search instead, since
 	// we index all selectable fields, and fetch resulting documents one by one.
-	if s.search != nil && req.Source == resourcepb.ListRequest_STORE && (len(req.Options.Fields) > 0) {
+
+	if (s.search != nil || s.searchClient != nil) && req.Source == resourcepb.ListRequest_STORE && (len(req.Options.Fields) > 0) {
 		if req.Options.Key.Namespace == "" {
 			return &resourcepb.ListResponse{
 				Error: NewBadRequestError("namespace must be specified for list with filter"),
@@ -1075,7 +1083,13 @@ func (s *server) List(ctx context.Context, req *resourcepb.ListRequest) (*resour
 			// Permission: 0, // Not needed, default is List
 		}
 
-		searchResp, err := s.search.Search(ctx, srq)
+		var searchResp *resourcepb.ResourceSearchResponse
+		var err error
+		if s.searchClient != nil {
+			searchResp, err = s.searchClient.Search(ctx, srq)
+		} else {
+			searchResp, err = s.search.Search(ctx, srq)
+		}
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, err
 		}
diff --git a/pkg/storage/unified/sql/server.go b/pkg/storage/unified/sql/server.go
index 6723a58dd29..ce2ccb661b6 100644
--- a/pkg/storage/unified/sql/server.go
+++ b/pkg/storage/unified/sql/server.go
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import (
 	"os"
 	"strings"
 
+	"github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/storage/unified/resourcepb"
 	"github.com/prometheus/client_golang/prometheus"
 	"go.opentelemetry.io/otel/trace"
 
@@ -37,6 +38,7 @@ type ServerOptions struct {
 	Tracer           trace.Tracer
 	Reg              prometheus.Registerer
 	AccessClient     types.AccessClient
+	SearchClient     resourcepb.ResourceIndexClient
 	SearchOptions    resource.SearchOptions
 	StorageMetrics   *resource.StorageMetrics
 	IndexMetrics     *resource.BleveIndexMetrics
@@ -115,6 +117,10 @@ func NewResourceServer(opts ServerOptions) (resource.ResourceServer, error) {
 		serverOptions.Lifecycle = backend
 	}
 
+	// use the search client when search isnt initialized. Dont need both.
+	if opts.SearchOptions.Resources == nil {
+		serverOptions.SearchClient = opts.SearchClient
+	}
 	serverOptions.Search = opts.SearchOptions
 	serverOptions.IndexMetrics = opts.IndexMetrics
 	serverOptions.QOSQueue = opts.QOSQueue
diff --git a/pkg/storage/unified/sql/service.go b/pkg/storage/unified/sql/service.go
index 75b3e80fcb0..4e272055a55 100644
--- a/pkg/storage/unified/sql/service.go
+++ b/pkg/storage/unified/sql/service.go
@@ -59,12 +59,13 @@ type service struct {
 	subservicesWatcher *services.FailureWatcher
 	hasSubservices     bool
 
-	backend   resource.StorageBackend
-	cfg       *setting.Cfg
-	features  featuremgmt.FeatureToggles
-	db        infraDB.DB
-	stopCh    chan struct{}
-	stoppedCh chan error
+	backend      resource.StorageBackend
+	searchClient resourcepb.ResourceIndexClient
+	cfg          *setting.Cfg
+	features     featuremgmt.FeatureToggles
+	db           infraDB.DB
+	stopCh       chan struct{}
+	stoppedCh    chan error
 
 	handler grpcserver.Provider
 
@@ -99,6 +100,7 @@ func ProvideUnifiedStorageGrpcService(
 	memberlistKVConfig kv.Config,
 	httpServerRouter *mux.Router,
 	backend resource.StorageBackend,
+	searchClient resourcepb.ResourceIndexClient,
 ) (UnifiedStorageGrpcService, error) {
 	var err error
 	tracer := otel.Tracer("unified-storage")
@@ -112,6 +114,7 @@ func ProvideUnifiedStorageGrpcService(
 
 	s := &service{
 		backend:            backend,
+		searchClient:       searchClient,
 		cfg:                cfg,
 		features:           features,
 		stopCh:             make(chan struct{}),
@@ -272,6 +275,7 @@ func (s *service) starting(ctx context.Context) error {
 		Tracer:         s.tracing,
 		Reg:            s.reg,
 		AccessClient:   authzClient,
+		SearchClient:   s.searchClient,
 		SearchOptions:  searchOptions,
 		StorageMetrics: s.storageMetrics,
 		IndexMetrics:   s.indexMetrics,