diff --git a/pkg/config/config.go b/pkg/config/config.go
index 005a7a015..7e86ab833 100644
--- a/pkg/config/config.go
+++ b/pkg/config/config.go
@@ -1648,6 +1648,10 @@ func NormalizeConfig(cfg *Config, cfgMetadata config_loader.YAMLMetadata) (err e
 
 	cfg.IsForwardOnly = cfg.IsForwardOnly || cfg.K8sIntegration
 
+	if cfg.IsForwardOnly {
+		cfg.ConnectEnabled = false
+	}
+
 	// For backwards compatibility FileDevicesBlacklist is deprecated.
 	if len(cfg.FileDevicesBlacklist) > 0 {
 		cfg.FileDevicesIgnored = append(cfg.FileDevicesIgnored, cfg.FileDevicesBlacklist...)
diff --git a/pkg/plugins/plugins_linux.go b/pkg/plugins/plugins_linux.go
index fc8e57e3f..b349aa027 100644
--- a/pkg/plugins/plugins_linux.go
+++ b/pkg/plugins/plugins_linux.go
@@ -35,8 +35,6 @@ func RegisterPlugins(agent *agnt.Agent) error {
 	agent.DeprecatePlugin(ids.PluginID{"services", "sysv_init"})
 	agent.DeprecatePlugin(ids.PluginID{"services", "docker"})
 
-	agent.RegisterPlugin(NewCustomAttrsPlugin(agent.Context))
-
 	if config.K8sIntegration {
 		agent.RegisterPlugin(NewK8sIntegrationsPlugin(agent.Context, agent.Plugins))
 	}
@@ -46,10 +44,11 @@ func RegisterPlugins(agent *agnt.Agent) error {
 	}
 
 	if config.IsForwardOnly {
-		registerForwarderHeartbeat(agent)
 		return nil
 	}
 
+	agent.RegisterPlugin(NewCustomAttrsPlugin(agent.Context))
+
 	// Enabling the hostinfo plugin will make the host appear in the UI
 	agent.RegisterPlugin(pluginsLinux.NewHostinfoPlugin(agent.Context, agent.GetCloudHarvester()))
 	agent.RegisterPlugin(NewHostAliasesPlugin(agent.Context, agent.GetCloudHarvester()))
diff --git a/pkg/plugins/plugins_windows.go b/pkg/plugins/plugins_windows.go
index 07630ae9e..afb1464c9 100644
--- a/pkg/plugins/plugins_windows.go
+++ b/pkg/plugins/plugins_windows.go
@@ -17,8 +17,6 @@ import (
 func RegisterPlugins(agent *agnt.Agent) error {
 	config := agent.GetContext().Config()
 
-	agent.RegisterPlugin(NewCustomAttrsPlugin(agent.Context))
-
 	if config.IsForwardOnly {
 		return nil
 	}
@@ -31,6 +29,8 @@ func RegisterPlugins(agent *agnt.Agent) error {
 		agent.RegisterPlugin(proxy.ConfigPlugin(agent.Context))
 	}
 
+	agent.RegisterPlugin(NewCustomAttrsPlugin(agent.Context))
+
 	if config.IsSecureForwardOnly {
 		// We need heartbeat samples.
 		sender := metricsSender.NewSender(agent.Context)