diff --git a/config/config.md b/config/config.md
index c66eb44d4ed4..6d4837ae46d1 100644
--- a/config/config.md
+++ b/config/config.md
@@ -67,9 +67,10 @@
 | `wal.prefill_log_files` | Bool | `false` | Whether to pre-create log files on start up.<br/>**It's only used when the provider is `raft_engine`**. |
 | `wal.sync_period` | String | `10s` | Duration for fsyncing log files.<br/>**It's only used when the provider is `raft_engine`**. |
 | `wal.broker_endpoints` | Array | -- | The Kafka broker endpoints.<br/>**It's only used when the provider is `kafka`**. |
-| `wal.num_topics` | Integer | `64` | Number of topics to be created upon start.<br/>**It's only used when the provider is `kafka`**. |
+| `wal.auto_create_topics` | Bool | `true` | Automatically create topics for WAL.<br/>Set to `true` to automatically create topics for WAL.<br/>Otherwise, use topics named `topic_name_prefix_[0..num_topics)` |
+| `wal.num_topics` | Integer | `64` | Number of topics.<br/>**It's only used when the provider is `kafka`**. |
 | `wal.selector_type` | String | `round_robin` | Topic selector type.<br/>Available selector types:<br/>- `round_robin` (default)<br/>**It's only used when the provider is `kafka`**. |
-| `wal.topic_name_prefix` | String | `greptimedb_wal_topic` | A Kafka topic is constructed by concatenating `topic_name_prefix` and `topic_id`.<br/>**It's only used when the provider is `kafka`**. |
+| `wal.topic_name_prefix` | String | `greptimedb_wal_topic` | A Kafka topic is constructed by concatenating `topic_name_prefix` and `topic_id`.<br/>i.g., greptimedb_wal_topic_0, greptimedb_wal_topic_1.<br/>**It's only used when the provider is `kafka`**. |
 | `wal.replication_factor` | Integer | `1` | Expected number of replicas of each partition.<br/>**It's only used when the provider is `kafka`**. |
 | `wal.create_topic_timeout` | String | `30s` | Above which a topic creation operation will be cancelled.<br/>**It's only used when the provider is `kafka`**. |
 | `wal.max_batch_bytes` | String | `1MB` | The max size of a single producer batch.<br/>Warning: Kafka has a default limit of 1MB per message in a topic.<br/>**It's only used when the provider is `kafka`**. |
@@ -287,9 +288,10 @@
 | `wal` | -- | -- | -- |
 | `wal.provider` | String | `raft_engine` | -- |
 | `wal.broker_endpoints` | Array | -- | The broker endpoints of the Kafka cluster. |
-| `wal.num_topics` | Integer | `64` | Number of topics to be created upon start. |
+| `wal.auto_create_topics` | Bool | `true` | Automatically create topics for WAL.<br/>Set to `true` to automatically create topics for WAL.<br/>Otherwise, use topics named `topic_name_prefix_[0..num_topics)` |
+| `wal.num_topics` | Integer | `64` | Number of topics. |
 | `wal.selector_type` | String | `round_robin` | Topic selector type.<br/>Available selector types:<br/>- `round_robin` (default) |
-| `wal.topic_name_prefix` | String | `greptimedb_wal_topic` | A Kafka topic is constructed by concatenating `topic_name_prefix` and `topic_id`. |
+| `wal.topic_name_prefix` | String | `greptimedb_wal_topic` | A Kafka topic is constructed by concatenating `topic_name_prefix` and `topic_id`.<br/>i.g., greptimedb_wal_topic_0, greptimedb_wal_topic_1. |
 | `wal.replication_factor` | Integer | `1` | Expected number of replicas of each partition. |
 | `wal.create_topic_timeout` | String | `30s` | Above which a topic creation operation will be cancelled. |
 | `wal.backoff_init` | String | `500ms` | The initial backoff for kafka clients. |
diff --git a/config/metasrv.example.toml b/config/metasrv.example.toml
index 41e9306ebd78..57be17b52021 100644
--- a/config/metasrv.example.toml
+++ b/config/metasrv.example.toml
@@ -99,7 +99,12 @@ provider = "raft_engine"
 ## The broker endpoints of the Kafka cluster.
 broker_endpoints = ["127.0.0.1:9092"]
 
-## Number of topics to be created upon start.
+## Automatically create topics for WAL.
+## Set to `true` to automatically create topics for WAL.
+## Otherwise, use topics named `topic_name_prefix_[0..num_topics)`
+auto_create_topics = true
+
+## Number of topics.
 num_topics = 64
 
 ## Topic selector type.
@@ -108,6 +113,7 @@ num_topics = 64
 selector_type = "round_robin"
 
 ## A Kafka topic is constructed by concatenating `topic_name_prefix` and `topic_id`.
+## i.g., greptimedb_wal_topic_0, greptimedb_wal_topic_1.
 topic_name_prefix = "greptimedb_wal_topic"
 
 ## Expected number of replicas of each partition.
diff --git a/config/standalone.example.toml b/config/standalone.example.toml
index 9258397bb82d..7a9a09dc5ab4 100644
--- a/config/standalone.example.toml
+++ b/config/standalone.example.toml
@@ -171,7 +171,12 @@ sync_period = "10s"
 ## **It's only used when the provider is `kafka`**.
 broker_endpoints = ["127.0.0.1:9092"]
 
-## Number of topics to be created upon start.
+## Automatically create topics for WAL.
+## Set to `true` to automatically create topics for WAL.
+## Otherwise, use topics named `topic_name_prefix_[0..num_topics)`
+auto_create_topics = true
+
+## Number of topics.
 ## **It's only used when the provider is `kafka`**.
 num_topics = 64
 
@@ -182,6 +187,7 @@ num_topics = 64
 selector_type = "round_robin"
 
 ## A Kafka topic is constructed by concatenating `topic_name_prefix` and `topic_id`.
+## i.g., greptimedb_wal_topic_0, greptimedb_wal_topic_1.
 ## **It's only used when the provider is `kafka`**.
 topic_name_prefix = "greptimedb_wal_topic"
 
diff --git a/src/common/meta/src/wal_options_allocator/kafka/topic_manager.rs b/src/common/meta/src/wal_options_allocator/kafka/topic_manager.rs
index 060f82d8d71e..3f1ffb4c45c5 100644
--- a/src/common/meta/src/wal_options_allocator/kafka/topic_manager.rs
+++ b/src/common/meta/src/wal_options_allocator/kafka/topic_manager.rs
@@ -76,6 +76,10 @@ impl TopicManager {
     /// The initializer first tries to restore persisted topics from the kv backend.
     /// If not enough topics retrieved, the initializer will try to contact the Kafka cluster and request creating more topics.
     pub async fn start(&self) -> Result<()> {
+        // Skip creating topics.
+        if !self.config.auto_create_topics {
+            return Ok(());
+        }
         let num_topics = self.config.kafka_topic.num_topics;
         ensure!(num_topics > 0, InvalidNumTopicsSnafu { num_topics });
 
diff --git a/src/common/wal/src/config.rs b/src/common/wal/src/config.rs
index 90f3e44f9c4a..052311b5af4d 100644
--- a/src/common/wal/src/config.rs
+++ b/src/common/wal/src/config.rs
@@ -53,6 +53,7 @@ impl From<DatanodeWalConfig> for MetasrvWalConfig {
                 connection: config.connection,
                 backoff: config.backoff,
                 kafka_topic: config.kafka_topic,
+                auto_create_topics: config.auto_create_topics,
             }),
         }
     }
@@ -188,6 +189,7 @@ mod tests {
                 replication_factor: 1,
                 create_topic_timeout: Duration::from_secs(30),
             },
+            auto_create_topics: true,
         };
         assert_eq!(metasrv_wal_config, MetasrvWalConfig::Kafka(expected));
 
diff --git a/src/common/wal/src/config/kafka/common.rs b/src/common/wal/src/config/kafka/common.rs
index f68ddfa5d8b2..d12c651f23ba 100644
--- a/src/common/wal/src/config/kafka/common.rs
+++ b/src/common/wal/src/config/kafka/common.rs
@@ -187,7 +187,7 @@ impl Default for KafkaConnectionConfig {
 #[derive(Debug, Clone, Serialize, Deserialize, PartialEq, Eq)]
 #[serde(default)]
 pub struct KafkaTopicConfig {
-    /// Number of topics to be created upon start.
+    /// Number of topics.
     pub num_topics: usize,
     /// Number of partitions per topic.
     pub num_partitions: i32,
diff --git a/src/common/wal/src/config/kafka/datanode.rs b/src/common/wal/src/config/kafka/datanode.rs
index 84e9da6bccfa..27f693204014 100644
--- a/src/common/wal/src/config/kafka/datanode.rs
+++ b/src/common/wal/src/config/kafka/datanode.rs
@@ -40,6 +40,9 @@ pub struct DatanodeKafkaConfig {
     /// The kafka topic config.
     #[serde(flatten)]
     pub kafka_topic: KafkaTopicConfig,
+    // Automatically create topics for WAL.
+    pub auto_create_topics: bool,
+    // Create index for WAL.
     pub create_index: bool,
     #[serde(with = "humantime_serde")]
     pub dump_index_interval: Duration,
@@ -54,6 +57,7 @@ impl Default for DatanodeKafkaConfig {
             consumer_wait_timeout: Duration::from_millis(100),
             backoff: BackoffConfig::default(),
             kafka_topic: KafkaTopicConfig::default(),
+            auto_create_topics: true,
             create_index: true,
             dump_index_interval: Duration::from_secs(60),
         }
diff --git a/src/common/wal/src/config/kafka/metasrv.rs b/src/common/wal/src/config/kafka/metasrv.rs
index f61047315cda..abde6b74448b 100644
--- a/src/common/wal/src/config/kafka/metasrv.rs
+++ b/src/common/wal/src/config/kafka/metasrv.rs
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ use super::common::KafkaConnectionConfig;
 use crate::config::kafka::common::{backoff_prefix, BackoffConfig, KafkaTopicConfig};
 
 /// Kafka wal configurations for metasrv.
-#[derive(Clone, Debug, PartialEq, Serialize, Deserialize, Default)]
+#[derive(Clone, Debug, PartialEq, Serialize, Deserialize)]
 #[serde(default)]
 pub struct MetasrvKafkaConfig {
     /// The kafka connection config.
@@ -30,4 +30,17 @@ pub struct MetasrvKafkaConfig {
     /// The kafka config.
     #[serde(flatten)]
     pub kafka_topic: KafkaTopicConfig,
+    // Automatically create topics for WAL.
+    pub auto_create_topics: bool,
+}
+
+impl Default for MetasrvKafkaConfig {
+    fn default() -> Self {
+        Self {
+            connection: Default::default(),
+            backoff: Default::default(),
+            kafka_topic: Default::default(),
+            auto_create_topics: true,
+        }
+    }
 }