diff --git a/x-pack/plugins/maps/public/connected_components/mb_map/mb_map.tsx b/x-pack/plugins/maps/public/connected_components/mb_map/mb_map.tsx
index 639c8fe5a20db..ab98b69a79f0b 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugins/maps/public/connected_components/mb_map/mb_map.tsx
+++ b/x-pack/plugins/maps/public/connected_components/mb_map/mb_map.tsx
@@ -155,12 +155,13 @@ export class MbMap extends Component<Props, State> {
 
   async _createMbMapInstance(initialView: MapCenterAndZoom | null): Promise<MapboxMap> {
     this._reportUsage();
+    const glyphsUrlTemplate = await getGlyphUrl();
     return new Promise((resolve) => {
       const mbStyle = {
         version: 8 as 8,
         sources: {},
         layers: [],
-        glyphs: getGlyphUrl(),
+        glyphs: glyphsUrlTemplate,
       };
 
       const options: MapOptions = {
diff --git a/x-pack/plugins/maps/public/util.test.js b/x-pack/plugins/maps/public/util.test.js
index 7fc88578b378a..48498f87fe7c0 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugins/maps/public/util.test.js
+++ b/x-pack/plugins/maps/public/util.test.js
@@ -5,60 +5,88 @@
  * 2.0.
  */
 
-import { getGlyphUrl, makePublicExecutionContext } from './util';
-
-const MOCK_EMS_SETTINGS = {
-  isEMSEnabled: () => true,
-};
+import {
+  getGlyphUrl,
+  makePublicExecutionContext,
+  testOnlyClearCanAccessEmsFontsPromise,
+} from './util';
 
 describe('getGlyphUrl', () => {
   describe('EMS enabled', () => {
-    beforeAll(() => {
+    beforeEach(() => {
       require('./kibana_services').getHttp = () => ({
         basePath: {
-          prepend: (url) => url, // No need to actually prepend a dev basepath for test
+          prepend: (path) => `abc${path}`,
         },
       });
+      testOnlyClearCanAccessEmsFontsPromise();
     });
 
-    describe('EMS proxy disabled', () => {
+    describe('offline', () => {
       beforeAll(() => {
         require('./kibana_services').getEMSSettings = () => {
           return {
             getEMSFontLibraryUrl() {
-              return 'foobar';
+              return 'https://tiles.maps.elastic.co/fonts/{fontstack}/{range}.pbf';
             },
             isEMSEnabled() {
               return true;
             },
           };
         };
+        require('node-fetch').default = () => {
+          throw new Error('Simulated offline environment with no EMS access');
+        };
       });
 
-      test('should return EMS fonts URL', async () => {
-        expect(getGlyphUrl()).toBe('foobar');
+      test('should return kibana fonts template URL', async () => {
+        expect(await getGlyphUrl()).toBe('abc/api/maps/fonts/{fontstack}/{range}');
+      });
+    });
+
+    describe('online', () => {
+      beforeAll(() => {
+        require('./kibana_services').getEMSSettings = () => {
+          return {
+            getEMSFontLibraryUrl() {
+              return 'https://tiles.maps.elastic.co/fonts/{fontstack}/{range}.pbf';
+            },
+            isEMSEnabled() {
+              return true;
+            },
+          };
+        };
+        require('node-fetch').default = () => {
+          return Promise.resolve({ status: 200 });
+        };
+      });
+
+      test('should return EMS fonts template URL', async () => {
+        expect(await getGlyphUrl()).toBe(
+          'https://tiles.maps.elastic.co/fonts/{fontstack}/{range}.pbf'
+        );
       });
     });
   });
 
   describe('EMS disabled', () => {
     beforeAll(() => {
-      const mockHttp = {
-        basePath: {
-          prepend: (path) => `abc${path}`,
-        },
+      require('./kibana_services').getHttp = () => {
+        return {
+          basePath: {
+            prepend: (path) => `abc${path}`,
+          },
+        };
       };
-      require('./kibana_services').getHttp = () => mockHttp;
       require('./kibana_services').getEMSSettings = () => {
         return {
-          ...MOCK_EMS_SETTINGS,
           isEMSEnabled: () => false,
         };
       };
     });
 
-    test('should return kibana fonts URL', async () => {
-      expect(getGlyphUrl()).toBe('abc/api/maps/fonts/{fontstack}/{range}');
+    test('should return kibana fonts template URL', async () => {
+      expect(await getGlyphUrl()).toBe('abc/api/maps/fonts/{fontstack}/{range}');
     });
   });
 });
diff --git a/x-pack/plugins/maps/public/util.ts b/x-pack/plugins/maps/public/util.ts
index d63072b163599..3243c8a95cf74 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugins/maps/public/util.ts
+++ b/x-pack/plugins/maps/public/util.ts
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
  * 2.0.
  */
 
+import fetch from 'node-fetch';
 import { EMSClient, FileLayer, TMSService } from '@elastic/ems-client';
 import type { KibanaExecutionContext } from '@kbn/core/public';
 import { FONTS_API_PATH } from '../common/constants';
@@ -60,9 +61,46 @@ async function getEMSClient(): Promise<EMSClient> {
   return emsClient;
 }
 
-export function getGlyphUrl(): string {
+let canAccessEmsFontsPromise: Promise<boolean> | null = null;
+async function canAccessEmsFonts(): Promise<boolean> {
+  if (!canAccessEmsFontsPromise) {
+    canAccessEmsFontsPromise = new Promise(async (resolve) => {
+      try {
+        const emsSettings = getEMSSettings();
+        if (!emsSettings!.isEMSEnabled()) {
+          resolve(false);
+        }
+        const emsFontUrlTemplate = emsSettings!.getEMSFontLibraryUrl();
+
+        const emsFontUrl = emsFontUrlTemplate
+          .replace('{fontstack}', 'Open Sans')
+          .replace('{range}', '0-255');
+        const resp = await fetch(emsFontUrl, {
+          method: 'HEAD',
+        });
+        if (resp.status >= 400) {
+          throw new Error(`status: ${resp.status}`);
+        }
+        resolve(true);
+      } catch (error) {
+        // eslint-disable-next-line no-console
+        console.warn(
+          `Unable to access fonts from Elastic Maps Service (EMS). Set kibana.yml 'map.includeElasticMapsService: false' to avoid unnecessary EMS requests.`
+        );
+        resolve(false);
+      }
+    });
+  }
+  return canAccessEmsFontsPromise;
+}
+// test only function to reset singleton for different test cases.
+export function testOnlyClearCanAccessEmsFontsPromise() {
+  canAccessEmsFontsPromise = null;
+}
+
+export async function getGlyphUrl(): Promise<string> {
   const emsSettings = getEMSSettings();
-  if (!emsSettings!.isEMSEnabled()) {
+  if (!emsSettings!.isEMSEnabled() || !(await canAccessEmsFonts())) {
     return getHttp().basePath.prepend(`/${FONTS_API_PATH}/{fontstack}/{range}`);
   }