diff --git a/app/src/main/java/org/mozilla/focus/Components.kt b/app/src/main/java/org/mozilla/focus/Components.kt
index 608a85d81f7..ea7793af345 100644
--- a/app/src/main/java/org/mozilla/focus/Components.kt
+++ b/app/src/main/java/org/mozilla/focus/Components.kt
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ import mozilla.components.feature.tabs.CustomTabsUseCases
 import mozilla.components.feature.tabs.TabsUseCases
 import org.mozilla.focus.components.EngineProvider
 import org.mozilla.focus.downloads.DownloadService
+import org.mozilla.focus.engine.ClientWrapper
 import org.mozilla.focus.engine.LocalizedContentInterceptor
 import org.mozilla.focus.engine.SanityCheckMiddleware
 import org.mozilla.focus.notification.PrivateNotificationMiddleware
@@ -62,8 +63,8 @@ class Components(
         }
     }
 
-    val client: Client by lazy {
-        clientOverride ?: EngineProvider.createClient(context)
+    val client: ClientWrapper by lazy {
+        ClientWrapper(clientOverride ?: EngineProvider.createClient(context))
     }
 
     val trackingProtectionUseCases by lazy { TrackingProtectionUseCases(store, engine) }
diff --git a/app/src/main/java/org/mozilla/focus/engine/ClientWrapper.kt b/app/src/main/java/org/mozilla/focus/engine/ClientWrapper.kt
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..fbdb92837ba
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/src/main/java/org/mozilla/focus/engine/ClientWrapper.kt
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+/* This Source Code Form is subject to the terms of the Mozilla Public
+ * License, v. 2.0. If a copy of the MPL was not distributed with this
+ * file, You can obtain one at http://mozilla.org/MPL/2.0/. */
+
+package org.mozilla.focus.engine
+
+import mozilla.components.concept.fetch.Client
+import mozilla.components.concept.fetch.Request
+import mozilla.components.concept.fetch.Response
+
+/**
+ * A wrapper around [Client] preventing [Request]s without the private flag set.
+ */
+class ClientWrapper(
+    private val actual: Client
+) : Client() {
+    override fun fetch(request: Request): Response {
+        if (!request.private) {
+            throw IllegalStateException("Non-private request")
+        }
+
+        return actual.fetch(request)
+    }
+
+    @Deprecated("Non-private Client usage should be prevented")
+    fun unwrap(): Client {
+        return actual
+    }
+}
diff --git a/app/src/main/java/org/mozilla/focus/searchsuggestions/SearchSuggestionsFetcher.kt b/app/src/main/java/org/mozilla/focus/searchsuggestions/SearchSuggestionsFetcher.kt
index d74b7962c97..a0b1a9448fd 100644
--- a/app/src/main/java/org/mozilla/focus/searchsuggestions/SearchSuggestionsFetcher.kt
+++ b/app/src/main/java/org/mozilla/focus/searchsuggestions/SearchSuggestionsFetcher.kt
@@ -81,7 +81,8 @@ class SearchSuggestionsFetcher(
         val request = FetchRequest(
             url = url.sanitizeURL(),
             readTimeout = Pair(READ_TIMEOUT_IN_MS, TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS),
-            connectTimeout = Pair(CONNECT_TIMEOUT_IN_MS, TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS)
+            connectTimeout = Pair(CONNECT_TIMEOUT_IN_MS, TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS),
+            private = true
         )
         return fetchClient.fetch(request).body.string()
     }
diff --git a/app/src/main/java/org/mozilla/focus/settings/ManualAddSearchEngineSettingsFragment.kt b/app/src/main/java/org/mozilla/focus/settings/ManualAddSearchEngineSettingsFragment.kt
index 6d8141ffd71..032d6eb41b2 100644
--- a/app/src/main/java/org/mozilla/focus/settings/ManualAddSearchEngineSettingsFragment.kt
+++ b/app/src/main/java/org/mozilla/focus/settings/ManualAddSearchEngineSettingsFragment.kt
@@ -196,7 +196,8 @@ class ManualAddSearchEngineSettingsFragment : BaseSettingsFragment() {
                 url = searchURLStr,
                 connectTimeout = SEARCH_QUERY_VALIDATION_TIMEOUT_MILLIS.toLong() to TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS,
                 readTimeout = SEARCH_QUERY_VALIDATION_TIMEOUT_MILLIS.toLong() to TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS,
-                redirect = FOLLOW
+                redirect = FOLLOW,
+                private = true
             )
 
             return try {
diff --git a/app/src/main/java/org/mozilla/focus/telemetry/TelemetryWrapper.kt b/app/src/main/java/org/mozilla/focus/telemetry/TelemetryWrapper.kt
index 8c25b199ffa..7589d03d026 100644
--- a/app/src/main/java/org/mozilla/focus/telemetry/TelemetryWrapper.kt
+++ b/app/src/main/java/org/mozilla/focus/telemetry/TelemetryWrapper.kt
@@ -264,7 +264,7 @@ object TelemetryWrapper {
 
             val serializer = JSONPingSerializer()
             val storage = FileTelemetryStorage(configuration, serializer)
-            val client = TelemetryClient(context.components.client)
+            val client = TelemetryClient(context.components.client.unwrap())
             val scheduler = JobSchedulerTelemetryScheduler()
 
             TelemetryHolder.set(Telemetry(configuration, storage, client, scheduler)
diff --git a/app/src/test/java/org/mozilla/focus/settings/SearchEngineValidationTest.kt b/app/src/test/java/org/mozilla/focus/settings/SearchEngineValidationTest.kt
index 784b0b5441c..90ab7c40103 100644
--- a/app/src/test/java/org/mozilla/focus/settings/SearchEngineValidationTest.kt
+++ b/app/src/test/java/org/mozilla/focus/settings/SearchEngineValidationTest.kt
@@ -5,6 +5,8 @@
 package org.mozilla.focus.settings
 
 import mozilla.components.concept.fetch.Client
+import mozilla.components.concept.fetch.Request
+import mozilla.components.concept.fetch.Response
 import mozilla.components.lib.fetch.okhttp.OkHttpClient
 import okhttp3.mockwebserver.MockResponse
 import okhttp3.mockwebserver.MockWebServer
@@ -25,7 +27,7 @@ class SearchEngineValidationTest {
 
     @Before
     fun setup() {
-        client = OkHttpClient()
+        client = OkHttpWrapper()
     }
 
     @Test
@@ -78,4 +80,15 @@ private fun MockWebServer.rootUrl(): String = url("/").toString()
 private fun responseWithStatus(status: Int) =
         MockResponse()
                 .setResponseCode(status)
-                .setBody("")
\ No newline at end of file
+                .setBody("")
+
+private class OkHttpWrapper: Client() {
+    private val actual = OkHttpClient()
+
+    override fun fetch(request: Request): Response {
+        // OkHttpClient does not support private requests. Therefore we make them non-private for
+        // testing purposes
+        val nonPrivate = request.copy(private = false)
+        return actual.fetch(nonPrivate)
+    }
+}
\ No newline at end of file