diff --git a/modules/caddyhttp/replacer.go b/modules/caddyhttp/replacer.go
index 65f9dd475..c510938c1 100644
--- a/modules/caddyhttp/replacer.go
+++ b/modules/caddyhttp/replacer.go
@@ -57,7 +57,6 @@ func NewTestReplacer(req *http.Request) *caddy.Replacer {
 
 func addHTTPVarsToReplacer(repl *caddy.Replacer, req *http.Request, w http.ResponseWriter) {
 	SetVar(req.Context(), "start_time", time.Now())
-	SetVar(req.Context(), "uuid", new(requestID))
 
 	httpVars := func(key string) (any, bool) {
 		if req != nil {
@@ -213,8 +212,14 @@ func addHTTPVarsToReplacer(repl *caddy.Replacer, req *http.Request, w http.Respo
 				return time.Since(start).Seconds() * 1e3, true // multiply seconds to preserve decimal (see #4666)
 
 			case "http.request.uuid":
-				// fetch the UUID for this request
-				id := GetVar(req.Context(), "uuid").(*requestID)
+				// fetch the UUID for this request, generating and caching it
+				// on first access so requests that never reference the UUID
+				// don't pay for the allocation
+				id, ok := GetVar(req.Context(), "uuid").(*requestID)
+				if !ok {
+					id = new(requestID)
+					SetVar(req.Context(), "uuid", id)
+				}
 
 				// set it to this request's access log
 				extra := req.Context().Value(ExtraLogFieldsCtxKey).(*ExtraLogFields)
diff --git a/modules/caddyhttp/replacer_test.go b/modules/caddyhttp/replacer_test.go
index 4f8d8f0b2..b77b599dc 100644
--- a/modules/caddyhttp/replacer_test.go
+++ b/modules/caddyhttp/replacer_test.go
@@ -296,3 +296,42 @@ func TestHTTPProtoNameNormalization(t *testing.T) {
 		}
 	}
 }
+
+// BenchmarkAddHTTPVarsToReplacer measures the per-request replacer setup, which
+// is the common path where the request UUID is never referenced.
+func BenchmarkAddHTTPVarsToReplacer(b *testing.B) {
+	req := httptest.NewRequest(http.MethodGet, "http://example.com/foo?a=b", nil)
+	req.Header.Set("User-Agent", "test-agent")
+	ctx := context.WithValue(req.Context(), VarsCtxKey, make(map[string]any))
+	ctx = context.WithValue(ctx, ExtraLogFieldsCtxKey, new(ExtraLogFields))
+	req = req.WithContext(ctx)
+
+	b.ReportAllocs()
+	for b.Loop() {
+		repl := caddy.NewReplacer()
+		addHTTPVarsToReplacer(repl, req, nil)
+	}
+}
+
+// TestHTTPVarReplacementUUID verifies the lazily-allocated request UUID is
+// generated on first access and stays stable across references.
+func TestHTTPVarReplacementUUID(t *testing.T) {
+	req := httptest.NewRequest(http.MethodGet, "http://example.com/", nil)
+	repl := caddy.NewReplacer()
+	ctx := context.WithValue(req.Context(), caddy.ReplacerCtxKey, repl)
+	ctx = context.WithValue(ctx, VarsCtxKey, make(map[string]any))
+	ctx = context.WithValue(ctx, ExtraLogFieldsCtxKey, new(ExtraLogFields))
+	req = req.WithContext(ctx)
+	addHTTPVarsToReplacer(repl, req, nil)
+
+	first, ok := repl.GetString("http.request.uuid")
+	if !ok || first == "" {
+		t.Fatalf("expected a non-empty uuid, got %q (ok=%t)", first, ok)
+	}
+
+	second, _ := repl.GetString("http.request.uuid")
+	if first != second {
+		t.Errorf("expected stable uuid across references: %q != %q", first, second)
+	}
+}
+