diff --git a/metric/system/cgroup/reader.go b/metric/system/cgroup/reader.go
index 1debc009b9..f9bb6bb86c 100644
--- a/metric/system/cgroup/reader.go
+++ b/metric/system/cgroup/reader.go
@@ -23,6 +23,8 @@ import (
 	"path/filepath"
 	"strconv"
 	"strings"
+	"sync"
+	"time"
 
 	"github.com/elastic/elastic-agent-libs/logp"
 	"github.com/elastic/elastic-agent-system-metrics/metric/system/cgroup/cgv1"
@@ -68,7 +70,7 @@ const (
 	memoryStat  = "memory"
 )
 
-//nolint: deadcode,structcheck,unused // needed by other platforms
+// nolint: deadcode,structcheck,unused // needed by other platforms
 type mount struct {
 	subsystem  string // Subsystem name (e.g. cpuacct).
 	mountpoint string // Mountpoint of the subsystem (e.g. /cgroup/cpuacct).
@@ -77,6 +79,17 @@ type mount struct {
 	fullPath   string // Absolute path to the cgroup. It's the mountpoint joined with the path.
 }
 
+// pathListWithTime combines PathList with a timestamp.
+type pathListWithTime struct {
+	added    time.Time
+	pathList PathList
+}
+
+type pathCache struct {
+	sync.RWMutex
+	cache map[string]pathListWithTime
+}
+
 // Reader reads cgroup metrics and limits.
 type Reader struct {
 	// Mountpoint of the root filesystem. Defaults to / if not set. This can be
@@ -85,6 +98,9 @@ type Reader struct {
 	ignoreRootCgroups        bool // Ignore a cgroup when its path is "/".
 	cgroupsHierarchyOverride string
 	cgroupMountpoints        Mountpoints // Mountpoints for each subsystem (e.g. cpu, cpuacct, memory, blkio).
+
+	// Cache to map known v2 cgroup controllerPaths to pathListWithTime.
+	v2ControllerPathCache pathCache
 }
 
 // ReaderOptions holds options for NewReaderOptions.
@@ -135,6 +151,7 @@ func NewReaderOptions(opts ReaderOptions) (*Reader, error) {
 		ignoreRootCgroups:        opts.IgnoreRootCgroups,
 		cgroupsHierarchyOverride: opts.CgroupsHierarchyOverride,
 		cgroupMountpoints:        mountpoints,
+		v2ControllerPathCache:    pathCache{cache: make(map[string]pathListWithTime)},
 	}, nil
 }
 
diff --git a/metric/system/cgroup/util.go b/metric/system/cgroup/util.go
index bf43828a2d..95942b7a83 100644
--- a/metric/system/cgroup/util.go
+++ b/metric/system/cgroup/util.go
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ import (
 	"path/filepath"
 	"strconv"
 	"strings"
+	"time"
 
 	"github.com/elastic/elastic-agent-libs/logp"
 	"github.com/elastic/elastic-agent-system-metrics/metric/system/resolve"
@@ -67,7 +68,7 @@ type PathList struct {
 
 // Flatten combines the V1 and V2 cgroups in cases where we don't need a map with keys
 func (pl PathList) Flatten() []ControllerPath {
-	list := []ControllerPath{}
+	list := make([]ControllerPath, 0, len(pl.V1)+len(pl.V2))
 	for _, v1 := range pl.V1 {
 		list = append(list, v1)
 	}
@@ -255,6 +256,7 @@ func (r Reader) ProcessCgroupPaths(pid int) (PathList, error) {
 		if r.cgroupsHierarchyOverride != "" {
 			path = r.cgroupsHierarchyOverride
 		}
+
 		// cgroup V2
 		// cgroup v2 controllers will always start with this string
 		if strings.Contains(line, "0::/") {
@@ -275,6 +277,23 @@ the container as /sys/fs/cgroup/unified and start the system module with the hos
 				controllerPath = r.rootfsMountpoint.ResolveHostFS(filepath.Join("/sys/fs/cgroup/unified", path))
 			}
 
+			// Check if there is an entry for controllerPath already cached.
+			r.v2ControllerPathCache.Lock()
+			cacheEntry, ok := r.v2ControllerPathCache.cache[controllerPath]
+			if ok {
+				// If the cached entry for controllerPath is not older than 5 minutes,
+				// return the cached entry.
+				if time.Since(cacheEntry.added) < 5*time.Minute {
+					cPaths.V2 = cacheEntry.pathList.V2
+					r.v2ControllerPathCache.Unlock()
+					continue
+				}
+			}
+			// Consider the existing entry for controllerPath invalid, as it is
+			// older than 5 minutes.
+			delete(r.v2ControllerPathCache.cache, controllerPath)
+			r.v2ControllerPathCache.Unlock()
+
 			cgpaths, err := os.ReadDir(controllerPath)
 			if err != nil {
 				return cPaths, fmt.Errorf("error fetching cgroupV2 controllers for cgroup location '%s' and path line '%s': %w", r.cgroupMountpoints.V2Loc, line, err)
@@ -287,6 +306,12 @@ the container as /sys/fs/cgroup/unified and start the system module with the hos
 					cPaths.V2[controllerName] = ControllerPath{ControllerPath: path, FullPath: controllerPath, IsV2: true}
 				}
 			}
+			r.v2ControllerPathCache.Lock()
+			r.v2ControllerPathCache.cache[controllerPath] = pathListWithTime{
+				added:    time.Now(),
+				pathList: cPaths,
+			}
+			r.v2ControllerPathCache.Unlock()
 			// cgroup v1
 		} else {
 			subsystems := strings.Split(fields[1], ",")
diff --git a/metric/system/process/process_darwin.go b/metric/system/process/process_darwin.go
index 950d9734b6..a68b854b89 100644
--- a/metric/system/process/process_darwin.go
+++ b/metric/system/process/process_darwin.go
@@ -64,8 +64,8 @@ func (procStats *Stats) FetchPids() (ProcsMap, []ProcState, error) {
 
 	bbuf := bytes.NewBuffer(buf)
 
-	procMap := make(ProcsMap, 0)
-	var plist []ProcState
+	procMap := make(ProcsMap, len(names))
+	plist := make([]ProcState, 0, len(names))
 
 	for i := 0; i < num; i++ {
 		if err := binary.Read(bbuf, binary.LittleEndian, &pid); err != nil {
diff --git a/metric/system/process/process_linux_common.go b/metric/system/process/process_linux_common.go
index 38427a85c8..026cf45699 100644
--- a/metric/system/process/process_linux_common.go
+++ b/metric/system/process/process_linux_common.go
@@ -58,8 +58,8 @@ func (procStats *Stats) FetchPids() (ProcsMap, []ProcState, error) {
 		return nil, nil, fmt.Errorf("error reading directory names: %w", err)
 	}
 
-	procMap := make(ProcsMap)
-	var plist []ProcState
+	procMap := make(ProcsMap, len(names))
+	plist := make([]ProcState, 0, len(names))
 
 	// Iterate over the directory, fetch just enough info so we can filter based on user input.
 	logger := logp.L()
diff --git a/metric/system/process/process_windows.go b/metric/system/process/process_windows.go
index 61882d6ece..30a677fcb1 100644
--- a/metric/system/process/process_windows.go
+++ b/metric/system/process/process_windows.go
@@ -38,8 +38,9 @@ func (procStats *Stats) FetchPids() (ProcsMap, []ProcState, error) {
 		return nil, nil, fmt.Errorf("EnumProcesses failed: %w", err)
 	}
 
-	procMap := make(ProcsMap, 0)
-	var plist []ProcState
+	procMap := make(ProcsMap, len(names))
+	plist := make([]ProcState, 0, len(names))
+
 	// This is probably the only implementation that doesn't benefit from our
 	// little fillPid callback system. We'll need to iterate over everything
 	// manually.