diff --git a/dd-trace-core/src/main/java/datadog/trace/common/writer/ddagent/TraceMapperV0_4.java b/dd-trace-core/src/main/java/datadog/trace/common/writer/ddagent/TraceMapperV0_4.java
index a44ecc6aab1..cbe9e54ee38 100644
--- a/dd-trace-core/src/main/java/datadog/trace/common/writer/ddagent/TraceMapperV0_4.java
+++ b/dd-trace-core/src/main/java/datadog/trace/common/writer/ddagent/TraceMapperV0_4.java
@@ -36,6 +36,26 @@ public final class TraceMapperV0_4 implements TraceMapper {
           ? new GenerationalUtf8Cache(Config.get().getTagValueUtf8CacheSize())
           : null;
 
+  // Controls how often the UTF8 caches are recalibrated. The caches adapt to shifts in tag-value
+  // cardinality over a timescale much longer than a single span, so recalibrating periodically
+  // rather than per-span preserves their effectiveness without paying recalibrate()'s O(cacheSize)
+  // cost on every span. Must be a power of two (see the mask in shouldRecalibrate).
+  static final long RECALIBRATE_SPAN_INTERVAL = 512;
+
+  // True when at least one cache exists. static-final so the JIT can fold the whole recalibrate
+  // block away when both caches are off.
+  private static final boolean RECALIBRATE = (TAG_CACHE != null || VALUE_CACHE != null);
+
+  // Advanced by the single serializer thread. The value is a recalibration cadence, not an exact
+  // count, so a plain counter suffices -- no atomic/volatile needed; a benign race would at most
+  // nudge when recalibrate fires.
+  private static long spanCounter;
+
+  /** True once every {@link #RECALIBRATE_SPAN_INTERVAL} spans; advances the span counter. */
+  static boolean shouldRecalibrate() {
+    return RECALIBRATE && (++spanCounter & (RECALIBRATE_SPAN_INTERVAL - 1)) == 0;
+  }
+
   private final int size;
   private boolean firstSpanWritten;
 
@@ -68,8 +88,10 @@ MetaWriter forSpan(boolean firstInTrace, boolean lastInTrace, boolean firstInPay
 
     @Override
     public void accept(Metadata metadata) {
-      if (TAG_CACHE != null) TAG_CACHE.recalibrate();
-      if (VALUE_CACHE != null) VALUE_CACHE.recalibrate();
+      if (shouldRecalibrate()) {
+        if (TAG_CACHE != null) TAG_CACHE.recalibrate();
+        if (VALUE_CACHE != null) VALUE_CACHE.recalibrate();
+      }
 
       TagMap tags = metadata.getTags();
 
diff --git a/dd-trace-core/src/test/java/datadog/trace/common/writer/ddagent/TraceMapperV0_4RecalibrateTest.java b/dd-trace-core/src/test/java/datadog/trace/common/writer/ddagent/TraceMapperV0_4RecalibrateTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..770b7422210
--- /dev/null
+++ b/dd-trace-core/src/test/java/datadog/trace/common/writer/ddagent/TraceMapperV0_4RecalibrateTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+package datadog.trace.common.writer.ddagent;
+
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertEquals;
+
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+
+class TraceMapperV0_4RecalibrateTest {
+
+  @Test
+  void recalibratesOncePerInterval() {
+    final long interval = TraceMapperV0_4.RECALIBRATE_SPAN_INTERVAL;
+
+    // shouldRecalibrate() advances a shared counter, so assert a property that holds regardless of
+    // the starting value: any window of 2*interval consecutive spans crosses exactly two interval
+    // boundaries.
+    int recalibrations = 0;
+    for (long i = 0; i < 2 * interval; i++) {
+      if (TraceMapperV0_4.shouldRecalibrate()) {
+        recalibrations++;
+      }
+    }
+    assertEquals(2, recalibrations);
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  void intervalIsAPowerOfTwo() {
+    // shouldRecalibrate uses a bit mask, which is only correct for a power-of-two interval.
+    final long interval = TraceMapperV0_4.RECALIBRATE_SPAN_INTERVAL;
+    assertEquals(0, interval & (interval - 1), "RECALIBRATE_SPAN_INTERVAL must be a power of two");
+  }
+}