diff --git a/packages/core/src/transports/base.ts b/packages/core/src/transports/base.ts
index 68e4522267db..ffeeb7fad396 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/transports/base.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/transports/base.ts
@@ -49,10 +49,10 @@ export function createTransport(
 
     // Drop rate limited items from envelope
     forEachEnvelopeItem(envelope, (item, type) => {
-      const envelopeItemDataCategory = envelopeItemTypeToDataCategory(type);
-      if (isRateLimited(rateLimits, envelopeItemDataCategory)) {
+      const dataCategory = envelopeItemTypeToDataCategory(type);
+      if (isRateLimited(rateLimits, dataCategory)) {
         const event: Event | undefined = getEventForEnvelopeItem(item, type);
-        options.recordDroppedEvent('ratelimit_backoff', envelopeItemDataCategory, event);
+        options.recordDroppedEvent('ratelimit_backoff', dataCategory, event);
       } else {
         filteredEnvelopeItems.push(item);
       }
diff --git a/packages/types/src/datacategory.ts b/packages/types/src/datacategory.ts
index de482bc3d7cc..bd1c0b693e4d 100644
--- a/packages/types/src/datacategory.ts
+++ b/packages/types/src/datacategory.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 // This type is used in various places like Client Reports and Rate Limit Categories
 // See:
 // - https://develop.sentry.dev/sdk/rate-limiting/#definitions
-// - https://github.com/getsentry/relay/blob/c3b339e151c1e548ede489a01c65db82472c8751/relay-common/src/constants.rs#L139-L152
+// - https://github.com/getsentry/relay/blob/ec791fed9c2260688f25ea6a6d53ab913927e9a5/relay-base-schema/src/data_category.rs#L91
 // - https://develop.sentry.dev/sdk/client-reports/#envelope-item-payload under `discarded_events`
 export type DataCategory =
   // Reserved and only used in edgecases, unlikely to be ever actually used
@@ -26,8 +26,8 @@ export type DataCategory =
   | 'monitor'
   // Feedback type event (v2)
   | 'feedback'
-  // Statsd type event for metrics
-  | 'statsd'
+  // Metrics sent via the statsd or metrics envelope items
+  | 'metric_bucket'
   // Span
   | 'span'
   // Unknown data category
diff --git a/packages/types/src/envelope.ts b/packages/types/src/envelope.ts
index 5db39eb65f3e..c7e7c128264d 100644
--- a/packages/types/src/envelope.ts
+++ b/packages/types/src/envelope.ts
@@ -30,6 +30,8 @@ export type DynamicSamplingContext = {
   sampled?: string;
 };
 
+// https://github.com/getsentry/relay/blob/311b237cd4471042352fa45e7a0824b8995f216f/relay-server/src/envelope.rs#L154
+// https://develop.sentry.dev/sdk/envelopes/#data-model
 export type EnvelopeItemType =
   | 'client_report'
   | 'user_report'
diff --git a/packages/utils/src/envelope.ts b/packages/utils/src/envelope.ts
index 8d1ec735ca02..93e38fd92280 100644
--- a/packages/utils/src/envelope.ts
+++ b/packages/utils/src/envelope.ts
@@ -210,7 +210,7 @@ const ITEM_TYPE_TO_DATA_CATEGORY_MAP: Record<EnvelopeItemType, DataCategory> = {
   check_in: 'monitor',
   feedback: 'feedback',
   span: 'span',
-  statsd: 'statsd',
+  statsd: 'metric_bucket',
 };
 
 /**
@@ -220,7 +220,7 @@ export function envelopeItemTypeToDataCategory(type: EnvelopeItemType): DataCate
   return ITEM_TYPE_TO_DATA_CATEGORY_MAP[type];
 }
 
-/** Extracts the minimal SDK info from from the metadata or an events */
+/** Extracts the minimal SDK info from the metadata or an events */
 export function getSdkMetadataForEnvelopeHeader(metadataOrEvent?: SdkMetadata | Event): SdkInfo | undefined {
   if (!metadataOrEvent || !metadataOrEvent.sdk) {
     return;
diff --git a/packages/utils/src/ratelimit.ts b/packages/utils/src/ratelimit.ts
index c3353c8034a6..eda9375a9de6 100644
--- a/packages/utils/src/ratelimit.ts
+++ b/packages/utils/src/ratelimit.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import type { TransportMakeRequestResponse } from '@sentry/types';
+import type { DataCategory, TransportMakeRequestResponse } from '@sentry/types';
 
 // Intentionally keeping the key broad, as we don't know for sure what rate limit headers get returned from backend
 export type RateLimits = Record<string, number>;
@@ -32,15 +32,15 @@ export function parseRetryAfterHeader(header: string, now: number = Date.now()):
  *
  * @return the time in ms that the category is disabled until or 0 if there's no active rate limit.
  */
-export function disabledUntil(limits: RateLimits, category: string): number {
-  return limits[category] || limits.all || 0;
+export function disabledUntil(limits: RateLimits, dataCategory: DataCategory): number {
+  return limits[dataCategory] || limits.all || 0;
 }
 
 /**
  * Checks if a category is rate limited
  */
-export function isRateLimited(limits: RateLimits, category: string, now: number = Date.now()): boolean {
-  return disabledUntil(limits, category) > now;
+export function isRateLimited(limits: RateLimits, dataCategory: DataCategory, now: number = Date.now()): boolean {
+  return disabledUntil(limits, dataCategory) > now;
 }
 
 /**
@@ -74,6 +74,8 @@ export function updateRateLimits(
      *         <category>;<category>;...
      *     <scope> is what's being limited (org, project, or key) - ignored by SDK
      *     <reason_code> is an arbitrary string like "org_quota" - ignored by SDK
+     *     <namespaces> Semicolon-separated list of metric namespace identifiers. Defines which namespace(s) will be affected.
+     *         Only present if rate limit applies to the metric_bucket data category.
      */
     for (const limit of rateLimitHeader.trim().split(',')) {
       const [retryAfter, categories] = limit.split(':', 2);