diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 8c46cf395c8..dd0b0d470c2 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -22,6 +22,8 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
   ([#4634](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-python/pull/4634))
 - semantic-conventions: Bump to 1.37.0
   ([#4731](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-python/pull/4731))
+- Performance: Cache `importlib_metadata.entry_points`
+  ([#4735](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-python/pull/4735))
 
 ## Version 1.36.0/0.57b0 (2025-07-29)
 
diff --git a/opentelemetry-api/src/opentelemetry/util/_importlib_metadata.py b/opentelemetry-api/src/opentelemetry/util/_importlib_metadata.py
index 2457630ba22..94b0e4db55d 100644
--- a/opentelemetry-api/src/opentelemetry/util/_importlib_metadata.py
+++ b/opentelemetry-api/src/opentelemetry/util/_importlib_metadata.py
@@ -12,7 +12,10 @@
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
 
-# FIXME: Use importlib.metadata when support for 3.11 is dropped if the rest of
+from functools import cache
+
+# FIXME: Use importlib.metadata (not importlib_metadata)
+# when support for 3.11 is dropped if the rest of
 # the supported versions at that time have the same API.
 from importlib_metadata import (  # type: ignore
     Distribution,
@@ -20,10 +23,25 @@
     EntryPoints,
     PackageNotFoundError,
     distributions,
-    entry_points,
     requires,
     version,
 )
+from importlib_metadata import (
+    entry_points as original_entry_points,
+)
+
+
+@cache
+def _original_entry_points_cached():
+    return original_entry_points()
+
+
+def entry_points(**params):
+    """Replacement for importlib_metadata.entry_points that caches getting all the entry points.
+
+    That part can be very slow, and OTel uses this function many times."""
+    return _original_entry_points_cached().select(**params)
+
 
 __all__ = [
     "entry_points",