diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index e8bafe43f6..df83398ed8 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -12,6 +12,10 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 
 ## Unreleased
 
+- `opentelemetry-sdk`: Fix memory leak in `TracerProvider.get_tracer()` where a new
+  `TracerMetrics` instance was created on every call, causing `ProxyMeterProvider` to
+  accumulate proxy meters indefinitely when no SDK `MeterProvider` was configured.
+  ([#5016](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-python/issues/5016))
 - `opentelemetry-sdk`: Add `service` resource detector support to declarative file configuration via `detection_development.detectors[].service`
   ([#5003](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-python/pull/5003))
 
diff --git a/opentelemetry-sdk/src/opentelemetry/sdk/trace/__init__.py b/opentelemetry-sdk/src/opentelemetry/sdk/trace/__init__.py
index 18fced7061..0a613988bf 100644
--- a/opentelemetry-sdk/src/opentelemetry/sdk/trace/__init__.py
+++ b/opentelemetry-sdk/src/opentelemetry/sdk/trace/__init__.py
@@ -1125,6 +1125,8 @@ def __init__(
         instrumentation_scope: InstrumentationScope,
         *,
         meter_provider: Optional[metrics_api.MeterProvider] = None,
+        tracer_metrics: Optional["TracerMetrics"] = None,
+        _tracer_provider: Optional["TracerProvider"] = None,
         _tracer_config: Optional[_TracerConfig] = None,
     ) -> None:
         self.sampler = sampler
@@ -1134,6 +1136,12 @@ def __init__(
         self.instrumentation_info = instrumentation_info
         self._span_limits = span_limits
         self._instrumentation_scope = instrumentation_scope
+        self._tracer_provider = _tracer_provider
+        if tracer_metrics is not None:
+            self._tracer_metrics = tracer_metrics
+        else:
+            meter_provider = meter_provider or metrics_api.get_meter_provider()
+            self._tracer_metrics = TracerMetrics(meter_provider)
         self._tracer_config = _tracer_config or _TracerConfig.default()
 
         meter_provider = meter_provider or metrics_api.get_meter_provider()
@@ -1333,6 +1341,8 @@ def __init__(
         self._tracer_configurator = (
             _tracer_configurator or _default_tracer_configurator
         )
+        self._tracer_metrics: Optional[TracerMetrics] = None
+        self._tracer_metrics_lock = threading.Lock()
         self._tracers_lock = threading.Lock()
         self._tracers: dict[InstrumentationScope, Tracer] = {}
 
@@ -1357,6 +1367,23 @@ def _set_tracer_configurator(
     def resource(self) -> Resource:
         return self._resource
 
+    def _get_tracer_metrics(self) -> TracerMetrics:
+        """Return a single cached TracerMetrics instance for this provider.
+
+        Creating a new TracerMetrics on every get_tracer() call causes
+        ProxyMeterProvider to accumulate proxy meters indefinitely when no
+        SDK MeterProvider is configured, leading to unbounded memory growth.
+
+        See: https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-python/issues/5016
+        """
+        if self._tracer_metrics is None:
+            with self._tracer_metrics_lock:
+                if self._tracer_metrics is None:
+                    self._tracer_metrics = TracerMetrics(
+                        self._meter_provider
+                        or metrics_api.get_meter_provider()
+                    )
+        return self._tracer_metrics
     def _apply_tracer_configurator(
         self, instrumentation_scope: InstrumentationScope
     ):
@@ -1399,6 +1426,21 @@ def get_tracer(
             schema_url,
         )
 
+        tracer = Tracer(
+            self.sampler,
+            self.resource,
+            self._active_span_processor,
+            self.id_generator,
+            instrumentation_info,
+            self._span_limits,
+            InstrumentationScope(
+                instrumenting_module_name,
+                instrumenting_library_version,
+                schema_url,
+                attributes,
+            ),
+            tracer_metrics=self._get_tracer_metrics(),
+            _tracer_provider=self,
         instrumentation_scope = InstrumentationScope(
             instrumenting_module_name,
             instrumenting_library_version,