diff --git a/conan/internal/api/uploader.py b/conan/internal/api/uploader.py
index 4f46738a2dd..23b5ea40a8b 100644
--- a/conan/internal/api/uploader.py
+++ b/conan/internal/api/uploader.py
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
 from conan.internal.errors import NotFoundException
 from conan.errors import ConanException
 from conan.internal.paths import CONAN_MANIFEST, CONANFILE, CONANINFO, COMPRESSIONS, \
-    EXPORT_SOURCES_FILE_NAME, EXPORT_FILE_NAME, PACKAGE_FILE_NAME
+    EXPORT_SOURCES_FILE_NAME, EXPORT_FILE_NAME, PACKAGE_FILE_NAME, CONAN_METADATA_SUBFOLDER
 from conan.internal.util.files import (clean_dirty, is_dirty, gather_files,
                                        set_dirty_context_manager, mkdir, human_size)
 
@@ -133,6 +133,9 @@ def prepare(self, pkg_list, enabled_remotes, metadata, force=False):
             bundle.pop("upload-urls", None)
             if bundle.get("upload") or force:
                 self._prepare_recipe(recipe_layout, ref, bundle, conanfile, enabled_remotes)
+                conan_files = _conan_metadata_files(recipe_layout.metadata())
+                if conan_files:
+                    bundle.setdefault("files", {}).update(conan_files)
 
             # Package metadata files too
             if metadata != [""] and (metadata or bundle.get("upload")):
@@ -377,6 +380,21 @@ def _total_size(cache_files):
     return human_size(total_size)
 
 
+def _conan_metadata_files(metadata_folder):
+    """Collect files from metadata/.conan subfolder for automatic upload with the recipe."""
+    conan_subfolder = os.path.join(metadata_folder, CONAN_METADATA_SUBFOLDER)
+    result = {}
+    if not os.path.isdir(conan_subfolder):
+        return result
+    for root, _, files in os.walk(conan_subfolder):
+        for f in files:
+            abs_path = os.path.join(root, f)
+            relpath = os.path.relpath(abs_path, metadata_folder)
+            path = os.path.join("metadata", relpath).replace("\\", "/")
+            result[path] = abs_path
+    return result
+
+
 def _metadata_files(folder, metadata):
     result = {}
     for root, _, files in os.walk(folder):
diff --git a/conan/internal/paths.py b/conan/internal/paths.py
index adc7d0dfa6f..bca1e68704c 100644
--- a/conan/internal/paths.py
+++ b/conan/internal/paths.py
@@ -91,3 +91,4 @@ def _user_home_from_conanrc_file():
 EXPORT_SOURCES_FILE_NAME = "conan_sources.t"
 COMPRESSIONS = "gz", "xz", "zst"
 DATA_YML = "conandata.yml"
+CONAN_METADATA_SUBFOLDER = ".conan"
diff --git a/conan/internal/rest/rest_client_v2.py b/conan/internal/rest/rest_client_v2.py
index 9033e6d9189..5284fd8642a 100644
--- a/conan/internal/rest/rest_client_v2.py
+++ b/conan/internal/rest/rest_client_v2.py
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
 
 from conan.api.output import ConanOutput
 from conan.internal.paths import EXPORT_SOURCES_FILE_NAME, CONANINFO, CONAN_MANIFEST, \
-    EXPORT_FILE_NAME, PACKAGE_FILE_NAME
+    EXPORT_FILE_NAME, PACKAGE_FILE_NAME, CONAN_METADATA_SUBFOLDER
 from conan.internal.rest.caching_file_downloader import ConanInternalCacheDownloader
 from conan.internal.rest import response_to_str
 from conan.internal.rest.client_routes import ClientV2Router
@@ -212,7 +212,8 @@ def get_recipe(self, ref, dest_folder, metadata, only_metadata):
         result = {}
 
         if not only_metadata:
-            accepted_files = ["conanfile.py", CONAN_MANIFEST,  "metadata/sign"]
+            accepted_files = ["conanfile.py", CONAN_MANIFEST, "metadata/sign",
+                              f"metadata/{CONAN_METADATA_SUBFOLDER}"]
             files = [f for f in server_files if any(f.startswith(m) for m in accepted_files)]
             export_file = self._find_compressed_file(ref, server_files, EXPORT_FILE_NAME)
             if export_file is not None:
diff --git a/test/integration/metadata/test_metadata_conan_subfolder.py b/test/integration/metadata/test_metadata_conan_subfolder.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..82fb3c07838
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/integration/metadata/test_metadata_conan_subfolder.py
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+import os
+import pytest
+
+from conan.test.assets.genconanfile import GenConanfile
+from conan.test.utils.tools import TestClient
+from conan.internal.util.files import save, load
+
+
+class TestConanMetadataSubfolder:
+
+    @pytest.fixture()
+    def uploaded_pkg(self):
+        """Create and upload pkg/0.1 with metadata/.conan/info.txt, no --metadata flag."""
+        c = TestClient(default_server_user=True, light=True)
+        c.save({"conanfile.py": GenConanfile("pkg", "0.1")})
+        c.run("create .")
+        c.run("cache path pkg/0.1 --folder=metadata")
+        metadata_path = str(c.stdout).strip()
+        save(os.path.join(metadata_path, ".conan", "info.txt"), "conan metadata content")
+        c.run("upload * -c -r=default")
+        return c
+
+    def test_create_upload_install(self, uploaded_pkg):
+        """metadata/.conan is always uploaded with recipe and always downloaded on install."""
+        c2 = TestClient(servers=uploaded_pkg.servers, light=True)
+        c2.run("install --requires=pkg/0.1")
+        c2.run("cache path pkg/0.1 --folder=metadata")
+        metadata_path = str(c2.stdout).strip()
+        assert load(os.path.join(metadata_path, ".conan", "info.txt")) == "conan metadata content"
+
+    def test_download_irrespective_of_metadata_filter(self, uploaded_pkg):
+        """conan download always gets metadata/.conan regardless of --metadata filter."""
+        c2 = TestClient(servers=uploaded_pkg.servers, light=True)
+
+        # Without --metadata flag: .conan is still fetched
+        c2.run("download pkg/0.1 -r=default")
+        c2.run("cache path pkg/0.1 --folder=metadata")
+        metadata_path = str(c2.stdout).strip()
+        assert load(os.path.join(metadata_path, ".conan", "info.txt")) == "conan metadata content"
+
+        c2.run("remove * -c")
+
+        # With --metadata filtering other patterns: .conan subfolder still fetched
+        c2.run("download pkg/0.1 -r=default --metadata=other/*")
+        c2.run("cache path pkg/0.1 --folder=metadata")
+        metadata_path = str(c2.stdout).strip()
+        assert load(os.path.join(metadata_path, ".conan", "info.txt")) == "conan metadata content"