diff --git a/news/12156.bugfix.rst b/news/12156.bugfix.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..da0be566d91
--- /dev/null
+++ b/news/12156.bugfix.rst
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Disable PEP 658 metadata fetching with the legacy resolver.
diff --git a/src/pip/_internal/cli/req_command.py b/src/pip/_internal/cli/req_command.py
index c2f4e38bed8..86070f10c14 100644
--- a/src/pip/_internal/cli/req_command.py
+++ b/src/pip/_internal/cli/req_command.py
@@ -287,6 +287,7 @@ def make_requirement_preparer(
         """
         temp_build_dir_path = temp_build_dir.path
         assert temp_build_dir_path is not None
+        legacy_resolver = False
 
         resolver_variant = cls.determine_resolver_variant(options)
         if resolver_variant == "2020-resolver":
@@ -300,6 +301,7 @@ def make_requirement_preparer(
                     "production."
                 )
         else:
+            legacy_resolver = True
             lazy_wheel = False
             if "fast-deps" in options.features_enabled:
                 logger.warning(
@@ -320,6 +322,7 @@ def make_requirement_preparer(
             use_user_site=use_user_site,
             lazy_wheel=lazy_wheel,
             verbosity=verbosity,
+            legacy_resolver=legacy_resolver,
         )
 
     @classmethod
diff --git a/src/pip/_internal/operations/prepare.py b/src/pip/_internal/operations/prepare.py
index 49d86268a3b..cb121bcb252 100644
--- a/src/pip/_internal/operations/prepare.py
+++ b/src/pip/_internal/operations/prepare.py
@@ -226,6 +226,7 @@ def __init__(
         use_user_site: bool,
         lazy_wheel: bool,
         verbosity: int,
+        legacy_resolver: bool,
     ) -> None:
         super().__init__()
 
@@ -259,6 +260,9 @@ def __init__(
         # How verbose should underlying tooling be?
         self.verbosity = verbosity
 
+        # Are we using the legacy resolver?
+        self.legacy_resolver = legacy_resolver
+
         # Memoized downloaded files, as mapping of url: path.
         self._downloaded: Dict[str, str] = {}
 
@@ -365,6 +369,11 @@ def _fetch_metadata_only(
         self,
         req: InstallRequirement,
     ) -> Optional[BaseDistribution]:
+        if self.legacy_resolver:
+            logger.debug(
+                "Metadata-only fetching is not used in the legacy resolver",
+            )
+            return None
         if self.require_hashes:
             logger.debug(
                 "Metadata-only fetching is not used as hash checking is required",