diff --git a/include/grpc/impl/codegen/grpc_types.h b/include/grpc/impl/codegen/grpc_types.h
index b5353c1dea8..9097984a96b 100644
--- a/include/grpc/impl/codegen/grpc_types.h
+++ b/include/grpc/impl/codegen/grpc_types.h
@@ -342,6 +342,8 @@ typedef struct {
   "grpc.disable_client_authority_filter"
 /** If set to zero, disables use of http proxies. Enabled by default. */
 #define GRPC_ARG_ENABLE_HTTP_PROXY "grpc.enable_http_proxy"
+/** If set to non zero, surfaces the user agent string to the server. */
+#define GRPC_ARG_SURFACE_USER_AGENT "grpc.surface_user_agent"
 /** \} */
 
 /** Result of a grpc call. If the caller satisfies the prerequisites of a
diff --git a/src/core/ext/filters/http/server/http_server_filter.cc b/src/core/ext/filters/http/server/http_server_filter.cc
index a238d5f989f..53cd059aa80 100644
--- a/src/core/ext/filters/http/server/http_server_filter.cc
+++ b/src/core/ext/filters/http/server/http_server_filter.cc
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@
 #include <grpc/support/alloc.h>
 #include <grpc/support/log.h>
 #include <string.h>
+#include "src/core/lib/channel/channel_args.h"
 #include "src/core/lib/gprpp/manual_constructor.h"
 #include "src/core/lib/profiling/timers.h"
 #include "src/core/lib/slice/b64.h"
@@ -66,6 +67,10 @@ struct call_data {
   grpc_closure* original_recv_trailing_metadata_ready;
 };
 
+struct channel_data {
+  bool surface_user_agent;
+};
+
 }  // namespace
 
 static grpc_error* hs_filter_outgoing_metadata(grpc_call_element* elem,
@@ -262,7 +267,8 @@ static grpc_error* hs_filter_incoming_metadata(grpc_call_element* elem,
             GRPC_ERROR_STR_KEY, grpc_slice_from_static_string(":authority")));
   }
 
-  if (b->idx.named.user_agent != nullptr) {
+  channel_data* chand = static_cast<channel_data*>(elem->channel_data);
+  if (!chand->surface_user_agent && b->idx.named.user_agent != nullptr) {
     grpc_metadata_batch_remove(b, b->idx.named.user_agent);
   }
 
@@ -434,7 +440,12 @@ static void hs_destroy_call_elem(grpc_call_element* elem,
 /* Constructor for channel_data */
 static grpc_error* hs_init_channel_elem(grpc_channel_element* elem,
                                         grpc_channel_element_args* args) {
+  channel_data* chand = static_cast<channel_data*>(elem->channel_data);
   GPR_ASSERT(!args->is_last);
+  chand->surface_user_agent = grpc_channel_arg_get_bool(
+      grpc_channel_args_find(args->channel_args,
+                             const_cast<char*>(GRPC_ARG_SURFACE_USER_AGENT)),
+      false);
   return GRPC_ERROR_NONE;
 }
 
@@ -448,7 +459,7 @@ const grpc_channel_filter grpc_http_server_filter = {
     hs_init_call_elem,
     grpc_call_stack_ignore_set_pollset_or_pollset_set,
     hs_destroy_call_elem,
-    0,
+    sizeof(channel_data),
     hs_init_channel_elem,
     hs_destroy_channel_elem,
     grpc_channel_next_get_info,
diff --git a/test/core/end2end/tests/workaround_cronet_compression.cc b/test/core/end2end/tests/workaround_cronet_compression.cc
index f44ddca3b10..e1bce603fa7 100644
--- a/test/core/end2end/tests/workaround_cronet_compression.cc
+++ b/test/core/end2end/tests/workaround_cronet_compression.cc
@@ -149,6 +149,15 @@ static void request_with_payload_template(
     arg.value.string = user_agent_override;
     client_args = grpc_channel_args_copy_and_add(client_args_old, &arg, 1);
     grpc_channel_args_destroy(client_args_old);
+    // force grpc lib to pass the user agent back up to server.
+    grpc_channel_args* server_args_old = server_args;
+    grpc_arg server_arg;
+    server_arg.key = const_cast<char*>(GRPC_ARG_SURFACE_USER_AGENT);
+    server_arg.type = GRPC_ARG_INTEGER;
+    server_arg.value.integer = 1;
+    server_args =
+        grpc_channel_args_copy_and_add(server_args_old, &server_arg, 1);
+    grpc_channel_args_destroy(server_args_old);
   }
 
   f = begin_test(config, test_name, client_args, server_args);
diff --git a/test/cpp/end2end/end2end_test.cc b/test/cpp/end2end/end2end_test.cc
index fc07681535f..e835f557383 100644
--- a/test/cpp/end2end/end2end_test.cc
+++ b/test/cpp/end2end/end2end_test.cc
@@ -244,15 +244,17 @@ class End2endTest : public ::testing::TestWithParam<TestScenario> {
     BuildAndStartServer(processor);
   }
 
-  void RestartServer(const std::shared_ptr<AuthMetadataProcessor>& processor) {
+  void RestartServer(const std::shared_ptr<AuthMetadataProcessor>& processor,
+                     bool surface_user_agent = false) {
     if (is_server_started_) {
       server_->Shutdown();
-      BuildAndStartServer(processor);
+      BuildAndStartServer(processor, surface_user_agent);
     }
   }
 
   void BuildAndStartServer(
-      const std::shared_ptr<AuthMetadataProcessor>& processor) {
+      const std::shared_ptr<AuthMetadataProcessor>& processor,
+      bool surface_user_agent = false) {
     ServerBuilder builder;
     ConfigureServerBuilder(&builder);
     auto server_creds = GetCredentialsProvider()->GetServerCredentials(
@@ -268,6 +270,9 @@ class End2endTest : public ::testing::TestWithParam<TestScenario> {
     builder.SetSyncServerOption(ServerBuilder::SyncServerOption::NUM_CQS, 4);
     builder.SetSyncServerOption(
         ServerBuilder::SyncServerOption::CQ_TIMEOUT_MSEC, 10);
+    if (surface_user_agent) {
+      builder.AddChannelArgument(GRPC_ARG_SURFACE_USER_AGENT, 1);
+    }
 
     server_ = builder.BuildAndStart();
     is_server_started_ = true;
@@ -664,6 +669,8 @@ TEST_P(End2endTest, SimpleRpcWithCustomUserAgentPrefix) {
   }
   user_agent_prefix_ = "custom_prefix";
   ResetStub();
+  RestartServer(std::shared_ptr<AuthMetadataProcessor>(), true);
+  ResetChannel();
   EchoRequest request;
   EchoResponse response;
   request.set_message("Hello hello hello hello");