diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index cbe9d81770..4302473b10 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -53,6 +53,7 @@
 
 ### Fixes
 
+- App start time span no longer created if too long ([#3299](https://github.com/getsentry/sentry-react-native/pull/3299))
 - Change log output to show what paths are considered when collecting modules ([#3316](https://github.com/getsentry/sentry-react-native/pull/3316))
 
 ### Dependencies
diff --git a/src/js/tracing/reactnativetracing.ts b/src/js/tracing/reactnativetracing.ts
index e05efe5dbe..6b65a51150 100644
--- a/src/js/tracing/reactnativetracing.ts
+++ b/src/js/tracing/reactnativetracing.ts
@@ -328,6 +328,17 @@ export class ReactNativeTracing implements Integration {
     return this._inflightInteractionTransaction;
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Returns the App Start Duration in Milliseconds. Also returns undefined if not able do
+   * define the duration.
+   */
+  private _getAppStartDurationMilliseconds(appStart: NativeAppStartResponse): number | undefined {
+    if (!this._appStartFinishTimestamp) {
+      return undefined;
+    }
+    return this._appStartFinishTimestamp * 1000 - appStart.appStartTime;
+  }
+
   /**
    * Instruments the app start measurements on the first route transaction.
    * Starts a route transaction if there isn't routing instrumentation.
@@ -350,12 +361,9 @@ export class ReactNativeTracing implements Integration {
     if (this.options.routingInstrumentation) {
       this._awaitingAppStartData = appStart;
     } else {
-      const appStartTimeSeconds = appStart.appStartTime / 1000;
-
       const idleTransaction = this._createRouteTransaction({
         name: 'App Start',
         op: UI_LOAD,
-        startTimestamp: appStartTimeSeconds,
       });
 
       if (idleTransaction) {
@@ -368,13 +376,23 @@ export class ReactNativeTracing implements Integration {
    * Adds app start measurements and starts a child span on a transaction.
    */
   private _addAppStartData(transaction: IdleTransaction, appStart: NativeAppStartResponse): void {
-    if (!this._appStartFinishTimestamp) {
+    const appStartDurationMilliseconds = this._getAppStartDurationMilliseconds(appStart);
+    if (!appStartDurationMilliseconds) {
       logger.warn('App start was never finished.');
       return;
     }
 
+    // we filter out app start more than 60s.
+    // this could be due to many different reasons.
+    // we've seen app starts with hours, days and even months.
+    if (appStartDurationMilliseconds >= ReactNativeTracing._maxAppStart) {
+      return;
+    }
+
     const appStartTimeSeconds = appStart.appStartTime / 1000;
 
+    transaction.startTimestamp = appStartTimeSeconds;
+
     const op = appStart.isColdStart ? APP_START_COLD_OP : APP_START_WARM_OP;
     transaction.startChild({
       description: appStart.isColdStart ? 'Cold App Start' : 'Warm App Start',
@@ -383,15 +401,6 @@ export class ReactNativeTracing implements Integration {
       endTimestamp: this._appStartFinishTimestamp,
     });
 
-    const appStartDurationMilliseconds = this._appStartFinishTimestamp * 1000 - appStart.appStartTime;
-
-    // we filter out app start more than 60s.
-    // this could be due to many different reasons.
-    // we've seen app starts with hours, days and even months.
-    if (appStartDurationMilliseconds >= ReactNativeTracing._maxAppStart) {
-      return;
-    }
-
     const measurement = appStart.isColdStart ? APP_START_COLD : APP_START_WARM;
     transaction.setMeasurement(measurement, appStartDurationMilliseconds, 'millisecond');
   }
@@ -462,9 +471,7 @@ export class ReactNativeTracing implements Integration {
 
     idleTransaction.registerBeforeFinishCallback(transaction => {
       if (this.options.enableAppStartTracking && this._awaitingAppStartData) {
-        transaction.startTimestamp = this._awaitingAppStartData.appStartTime / 1000;
-        transaction.op = 'ui.load';
-
+        transaction.op = UI_LOAD;
         this._addAppStartData(transaction, this._awaitingAppStartData);
 
         this._awaitingAppStartData = undefined;
diff --git a/test/tracing/reactnativetracing.test.ts b/test/tracing/reactnativetracing.test.ts
index 47fa0e8e6f..f7572353d0 100644
--- a/test/tracing/reactnativetracing.test.ts
+++ b/test/tracing/reactnativetracing.test.ts
@@ -93,6 +93,7 @@ import {
   APP_START_WARM as APP_START_WARM_OP,
   UI_LOAD,
 } from '../../src/js/tracing';
+import { APP_START_WARM as APP_SPAN_START_WARM } from '../../src/js/tracing/ops';
 import { ReactNativeTracing } from '../../src/js/tracing/reactnativetracing';
 import { getTimeOriginMilliseconds } from '../../src/js/tracing/utils';
 import { NATIVE } from '../../src/js/wrapper';
@@ -233,6 +234,43 @@ describe('ReactNativeTracing', () => {
         }
       });
 
+      it('Does not add app start span if more than 60s', async () => {
+        const integration = new ReactNativeTracing();
+
+        const timeOriginMilliseconds = Date.now();
+        const appStartTimeMilliseconds = timeOriginMilliseconds - 65000;
+        const mockAppStartResponse: NativeAppStartResponse = {
+          isColdStart: false,
+          appStartTime: appStartTimeMilliseconds,
+          didFetchAppStart: false,
+        };
+
+        mockFunction(getTimeOriginMilliseconds).mockReturnValue(timeOriginMilliseconds);
+        mockFunction(NATIVE.fetchNativeAppStart).mockResolvedValue(mockAppStartResponse);
+
+        const mockHub = getMockHub();
+        integration.setupOnce(addGlobalEventProcessor, () => mockHub);
+
+        await jest.advanceTimersByTimeAsync(500);
+
+        const transaction = mockHub.getScope()?.getTransaction();
+
+        expect(transaction).toBeDefined();
+
+        if (transaction) {
+          expect(
+            // @ts-expect-error access private for test
+            transaction.spanRecorder,
+          ).toBeDefined();
+
+          expect(
+            // @ts-expect-error access private for test
+            transaction.spanRecorder.spans.some(span => span.op == APP_SPAN_START_WARM),
+          ).toBe(false);
+          expect(transaction.startTimestamp).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(timeOriginMilliseconds / 1000);
+        }
+      });
+
       it('Does not create app start transaction if didFetchAppStart == true', async () => {
         const integration = new ReactNativeTracing();