diff --git a/android/Gutenberg/src/main/java/org/wordpress/gutenberg/services/EditorService.kt b/android/Gutenberg/src/main/java/org/wordpress/gutenberg/services/EditorService.kt
index 8d652b5a..759f09aa 100644
--- a/android/Gutenberg/src/main/java/org/wordpress/gutenberg/services/EditorService.kt
+++ b/android/Gutenberg/src/main/java/org/wordpress/gutenberg/services/EditorService.kt
@@ -201,7 +201,7 @@ class EditorService(
 
         return coroutineScope {
             val settingsDeferred = async { prepareEditorSettings() }
-            val assetBundleDeferred = async { prepareAssetBundle() }
+            val assetBundleDeferred = async { prepareAssetBundleIfEnabled() }
             val preloadListDeferred = async { preparePreloadList() }
 
             // Automatically clean up old asset bundles
@@ -269,6 +269,15 @@ class EditorService(
         return settings
     }
 
+    private suspend fun prepareAssetBundleIfEnabled(): EditorAssetBundle {
+        if (!configuration.plugins) {
+            incrementProgress(DependencyWeights.ASSET_BUNDLE)
+            return EditorAssetBundle.empty
+        }
+
+        return prepareAssetBundle()
+    }
+
     private suspend fun prepareAssetBundle(): EditorAssetBundle {
         val latestAssetBundle = assetLibrary.readAssetBundles().firstOrNull()
         if (latestAssetBundle != null) {
diff --git a/ios/Sources/GutenbergKit/Sources/Services/EditorService.swift b/ios/Sources/GutenbergKit/Sources/Services/EditorService.swift
index 8fd3138a..4dbe329e 100644
--- a/ios/Sources/GutenbergKit/Sources/Services/EditorService.swift
+++ b/ios/Sources/GutenbergKit/Sources/Services/EditorService.swift
@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@ public actor EditorService {
         self.progressCallback = progress
 
         async let settings = try prepareEditorSettings()
-        async let assetBundle = try self.prepareAssetBundle()
+        async let assetBundle = try self.prepareAssetBundleIfEnabled()
         async let preloadList = try preparePreloadList()
 
         // Automatically clean up old asset bundles
@@ -174,6 +174,15 @@ public actor EditorService {
         return settings
     }
 
+    private func prepareAssetBundleIfEnabled() async throws -> EditorAssetBundle {
+        guard configuration.shouldUsePlugins else {
+            await self.incrementProgress(for: .assetBundle)
+            return .empty
+        }
+
+        return try await prepareAssetBundle()
+    }
+
     private func prepareAssetBundle() async throws -> EditorAssetBundle {
         if let latestAssetBundle = try await self.assetLibrary.readAssetBundles().first {
             await self.incrementProgress(for: .assetBundle)