diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 41b74388723..77b364b75c3 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 
 ### Fixes
 
+- Skip encoding and capturing buffered session replay segments while rate-limited, so we don't waste resources on envelopes the transport will drop ([#5813](https://github.com/getsentry/sentry-java/pull/5813))
 - Reduce main-thread work during `Sentry.init` by resolving the shake-detector accelerometer off the main thread (~1.75ms on a Pixel 10) ([#5784](https://github.com/getsentry/sentry-java/pull/5784))
 - Backfill release, environment, distribution, tags, and app version/build—and use the matching replay-on-error sample rate—for `ApplicationExitInfo` ANR and native crash events captured before SDK initialization, without reusing options cached by a later app update ([#5762](https://github.com/getsentry/sentry-java/pull/5762))
 - `SentryTagModifierNode.isImportantForBounds` now matches the default behavior and returns `true` ([#5789](https://github.com/getsentry/sentry-java/pull/5789))
diff --git a/sentry-android-replay/src/main/java/io/sentry/android/replay/capture/BufferCaptureStrategy.kt b/sentry-android-replay/src/main/java/io/sentry/android/replay/capture/BufferCaptureStrategy.kt
index f6c6f3997ae..8d94ca01ad9 100644
--- a/sentry-android-replay/src/main/java/io/sentry/android/replay/capture/BufferCaptureStrategy.kt
+++ b/sentry-android-replay/src/main/java/io/sentry/android/replay/capture/BufferCaptureStrategy.kt
@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@ import android.annotation.SuppressLint
 import android.annotation.TargetApi
 import android.graphics.Bitmap
 import android.view.MotionEvent
+import io.sentry.DataCategory.All
+import io.sentry.DataCategory.Replay
 import io.sentry.DateUtils
 import io.sentry.IScopes
 import io.sentry.SentryLevel.DEBUG
@@ -76,6 +78,13 @@ internal class BufferCaptureStrategy(
   }
 
   override fun captureReplay(isTerminating: Boolean, onSegmentSent: (Date) -> Unit) {
+    if (isReplayRateLimited()) {
+      // the segment envelopes would be dropped by the transport anyway, so don't waste resources
+      // encoding videos that will only be discarded
+      options.logger.log(INFO, "Replay is rate-limited, not capturing for event")
+      return
+    }
+
     val sampled = random.sample(options.sessionReplay.onErrorSampleRate)
 
     if (!sampled) {
@@ -170,6 +179,11 @@ internal class BufferCaptureStrategy(
     rotateEvents(currentEvents, bufferLimit)
   }
 
+  private fun isReplayRateLimited(): Boolean =
+    scopes?.rateLimiter?.let {
+      it.isActiveForCategory(All) || it.isActiveForCategory(Replay)
+    } == true
+
   private fun deleteFile(file: File?) {
     if (file == null) {
       return
diff --git a/sentry-android-replay/src/test/java/io/sentry/android/replay/capture/BufferCaptureStrategyTest.kt b/sentry-android-replay/src/test/java/io/sentry/android/replay/capture/BufferCaptureStrategyTest.kt
index b5048e856ff..1adcc7bc4dc 100644
--- a/sentry-android-replay/src/test/java/io/sentry/android/replay/capture/BufferCaptureStrategyTest.kt
+++ b/sentry-android-replay/src/test/java/io/sentry/android/replay/capture/BufferCaptureStrategyTest.kt
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ import io.sentry.android.replay.capture.BufferCaptureStrategyTest.Fixture.Compan
 import io.sentry.protocol.SentryId
 import io.sentry.transport.CurrentDateProvider
 import io.sentry.transport.ICurrentDateProvider
+import io.sentry.transport.RateLimiter
 import io.sentry.util.Random
 import java.io.File
 import kotlin.test.Test
@@ -336,6 +337,22 @@ class BufferCaptureStrategyTest {
     assertEquals(SentryId.EMPTY_ID, fixture.scope.replayId)
   }
 
+  @Test
+  fun `captureReplay does nothing when rate-limited`() {
+    val rateLimiter = mock<RateLimiter> { on { isActiveForCategory(any()) }.thenReturn(true) }
+    whenever(fixture.scopes.rateLimiter).thenReturn(rateLimiter)
+    val strategy = fixture.getSut()
+    strategy.start()
+    strategy.onConfigurationChanged(fixture.recorderConfig)
+    strategy.pause()
+
+    strategy.captureReplay(false) {}
+
+    // neither the current nor the buffered segment should be sent while rate-limited
+    verify(fixture.scopes, never()).captureReplay(any(), any())
+    assertEquals(SentryId.EMPTY_ID, fixture.scope.replayId)
+  }
+
   @Test
   fun `captureReplay sets replayId to scope and captures buffered segments`() {
     var called = false