diff --git a/app/controllers/filters/grading_periods.rb b/app/controllers/filters/grading_periods.rb
index dfe70444b26..669590aceaa 100644
--- a/app/controllers/filters/grading_periods.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/filters/grading_periods.rb
@@ -1,7 +1,11 @@
 module Filters::GradingPeriods
   def check_feature_flag
     unless multiple_grading_periods?
-      render status: 404, template: "shared/errors/404_message"
+      if api_request?
+        render json: {message: t('Page not found')}, status: :not_found
+      else
+        render status: 404, template: "shared/errors/404_message"
+      end
     end
   end
 end
diff --git a/app/models/grading_period_group.rb b/app/models/grading_period_group.rb
index 44d27279596..7465bbb8577 100644
--- a/app/models/grading_period_group.rb
+++ b/app/models/grading_period_group.rb
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ class GradingPeriodGroup < ActiveRecord::Base
     can :read
 
     given do |user, http_session|
+      return false unless (course || account).root_account.feature_enabled?(:multiple_grading_periods)
       if course
         course.grants_right?(user, http_session, :update)
       elsif account