diff --git a/pkg/github/fields_telemetry.go b/pkg/github/fields_telemetry.go
index 4e06d9f42b..41e79179c0 100644
--- a/pkg/github/fields_telemetry.go
+++ b/pkg/github/fields_telemetry.go
@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@ import (
 	"context"
 	"encoding/json"
 	"strconv"
+
+	"github.com/github/github-mcp-server/v2/pkg/observability/metrics"
 )
 
 // Metric names for the optional `fields` response-filtering feature. They let a
@@ -40,6 +42,10 @@ func recordFieldsUsage(ctx context.Context, deps ToolDependencies, tool string,
 		return
 	}
 
+	recordFieldsUsageWithMetrics(m, tool, filtered, fullBytes, sentBytes)
+}
+
+func recordFieldsUsageWithMetrics(m metrics.Metrics, tool string, filtered bool, fullBytes, sentBytes int) {
 	m.Increment(metricFieldsToolCall, map[string]string{
 		"tool":     tool,
 		"filtered": strconv.FormatBool(filtered),
@@ -61,11 +67,19 @@ func recordFieldsUsage(ctx context.Context, deps ToolDependencies, tool string,
 // measured; full should be the complete, unfiltered payload. It centralizes the
 // full-size computation shared by every fields-enabled tool.
 func recordFieldsUsageFor(ctx context.Context, deps ToolDependencies, tool string, full any, filtered bool, sentBytes int) {
+	m := deps.Metrics(ctx)
+	if m == nil {
+		return
+	}
+	if _, ok := m.(*metrics.NoopMetrics); ok {
+		return
+	}
+
 	fullBytes := sentBytes
 	if filtered {
 		if data, err := json.Marshal(full); err == nil {
 			fullBytes = len(data)
 		}
 	}
-	recordFieldsUsage(ctx, deps, tool, filtered, fullBytes, sentBytes)
+	recordFieldsUsageWithMetrics(m, tool, filtered, fullBytes, sentBytes)
 }
diff --git a/pkg/github/fields_telemetry_test.go b/pkg/github/fields_telemetry_test.go
index 63e4da9326..5209f7700b 100644
--- a/pkg/github/fields_telemetry_test.go
+++ b/pkg/github/fields_telemetry_test.go
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ package github
 
 import (
 	"context"
+	"encoding/json"
 	"log/slog"
 	"sync"
 	"testing"
@@ -121,3 +122,35 @@ func Test_recordFieldsUsage_NilExporterDoesNotPanic(t *testing.T) {
 		recordFieldsUsage(context.Background(), BaseDeps{}, "search_code", true, 100, 30)
 	})
 }
+
+type countingMarshaler struct {
+	calls int
+}
+
+func (m *countingMarshaler) MarshalJSON() ([]byte, error) {
+	m.calls++
+	return json.Marshal(map[string]string{"full": "payload"})
+}
+
+func Test_recordFieldsUsageFor_NoopMetricsSkipsFullPayloadSerialization(t *testing.T) {
+	full := &countingMarshaler{}
+
+	recordFieldsUsageFor(context.Background(), BaseDeps{}, "search_code", full, true, 10)
+
+	assert.Zero(t, full.calls)
+}
+
+func Test_recordFieldsUsageFor_RecordingMetricsMeasuresFullPayload(t *testing.T) {
+	deps, rec := depsWithRecordingMetrics(t, BaseDeps{})
+	full := &countingMarshaler{}
+
+	recordFieldsUsageFor(context.Background(), deps, "search_code", full, true, 10)
+
+	require.Equal(t, 1, full.calls)
+	fullBytes, ok := rec.counter(metricFieldsBytesFull)
+	require.True(t, ok)
+	assert.Equal(t, int64(len(`{"full":"payload"}`)), fullBytes.value)
+	sentBytes, ok := rec.counter(metricFieldsBytesSent)
+	require.True(t, ok)
+	assert.Equal(t, int64(10), sentBytes.value)
+}