diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index eecd703c..be4651f8 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file, in reverse
 
 - [#236](https://github.com/scoutapp/scout-apm-php/pull/236) Replace `doctrine/cache` with `cache/array-adapter` in tests
   - Note - this change only affects our internal tests, the `Agent` still depends on *any* PSR-16 compatible cache (including `doctrine/cache`)
+- [#237](https://github.com/scoutapp/scout-apm-php/pull/237) Made 'leaf span' recording more efficient so child spans are not recorded at all
 
 ### Deprecated
 
diff --git a/src/Events/Request/Request.php b/src/Events/Request/Request.php
index da11e5f1..22635bfc 100644
--- a/src/Events/Request/Request.php
+++ b/src/Events/Request/Request.php
@@ -49,6 +49,8 @@ class Request implements CommandWithChildren
     private $requestUriOverride;
     /** @var int */
     private $spanCount = 0;
+    /** @var int */
+    private $leafNodeDepth = 0;
     /**
      * @psalm-var ConfigKey::URI_REPORTING_*
      * @var string
@@ -270,6 +272,12 @@ public function startSpan(string $operation, ?float $overrideTimestamp = null, b
             throw SpanLimitReached::forOperation($operation, self::MAX_COMPLETE_SPANS);
         }
 
+        if ($this->currentCommand instanceof Span && $this->currentCommand->isLeaf()) {
+            $this->leafNodeDepth++;
+
+            return $this->currentCommand;
+        }
+
         $this->spanCount++;
 
         $span = new Span($this->currentCommand, $operation, $this->id, $overrideTimestamp, $leafSpan);
@@ -299,6 +307,12 @@ public function stopSpan(?float $overrideTimestamp = null): void
             return;
         }
 
+        if ($command->isLeaf() && $this->leafNodeDepth > 0) {
+            $this->leafNodeDepth--;
+
+            return;
+        }
+
         $command->stop($overrideTimestamp);
 
         $this->currentCommand = $command->parent();
diff --git a/src/Events/Span/Span.php b/src/Events/Span/Span.php
index dd8aa32e..015110c5 100644
--- a/src/Events/Span/Span.php
+++ b/src/Events/Span/Span.php
@@ -85,6 +85,11 @@ public function parent(): CommandWithChildren
         return $this->parent;
     }
 
+    public function isLeaf(): bool
+    {
+        return $this->leafSpan;
+    }
+
     /**
      * Do not call this directly - use Request#stopSpan() or Agent#stopSpan() to correctly handle bookkeeping
      *
@@ -186,10 +191,6 @@ public function jsonSerialize(): array
         ];
 
         foreach ($this->children as $child) {
-            if ($this->leafSpan && $child instanceof Span) {
-                continue;
-            }
-
             foreach ($child->jsonSerialize() as $value) {
                 $commands[] = $value;
             }
diff --git a/tests/Unit/Events/Request/RequestTest.php b/tests/Unit/Events/Request/RequestTest.php
index 5cad2c4c..e466c52e 100644
--- a/tests/Unit/Events/Request/RequestTest.php
+++ b/tests/Unit/Events/Request/RequestTest.php
@@ -11,9 +11,11 @@
 use Scoutapm\Events\Request\Request;
 use Scoutapm\Events\Request\RequestId;
 use Scoutapm\Events\Span\Span;
+use Scoutapm\UnitTests\TestHelper;
 
 use function array_key_exists;
 use function array_map;
+use function assert;
 use function json_decode;
 use function json_encode;
 use function next;
@@ -345,4 +347,31 @@ public function testRequestIsTaggedWithQueueTime(string $headerName, string $hea
 
         unset($_SERVER[$headerName]);
     }
+
+    public function testSpansAreNotRecordedBelowLeafSpans(): void
+    {
+        $request = $this->requestFromConfiguration();
+
+        $request->startSpan('Foo', null, true);
+        $request->startSpan('ShouldNotBeRecorded1');
+        $request->startSpan('ShouldNotBeRecorded2');
+        $request->startSpan('ShouldNotBeRecorded3');
+        $request->stopSpan();
+        $request->stopSpan();
+        $request->startSpan('ShouldNotBeRecorded4');
+        $request->stopSpan();
+        $request->stopSpan();
+        $request->startSpan('ShouldNotBeRecorded5');
+        $request->stopSpan();
+        $request->stopSpan();
+
+        self::assertSame(1, $request->collectedSpans());
+
+        $firstSpan = TestHelper::firstChildForCommand($request);
+        assert($firstSpan instanceof Span);
+        self::assertSame('Foo', $firstSpan->getName());
+
+        $children = TestHelper::childrenForCommand($firstSpan);
+        self::assertCount(0, $children);
+    }
 }
diff --git a/tests/Unit/Events/Span/SpanTest.php b/tests/Unit/Events/Span/SpanTest.php
index ef74928e..ff786655 100644
--- a/tests/Unit/Events/Span/SpanTest.php
+++ b/tests/Unit/Events/Span/SpanTest.php
@@ -33,6 +33,12 @@ public function testCanBeInitialized(): void
         self::assertNull($span->getStopTime());
     }
 
+    public function testThatASpanKnowsItIsALeafNode(): void
+    {
+        $span = new Span($this->mockParent, 'name', RequestId::new(), null, true);
+        self::assertTrue($span->isLeaf());
+    }
+
     /** @throws Exception */
     public function testCanBeStopped(): void
     {
diff --git a/tests/Unit/TestHelper.php b/tests/Unit/TestHelper.php
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..a48af4ea
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/Unit/TestHelper.php
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+<?php
+
+declare(strict_types=1);
+
+namespace Scoutapm\UnitTests;
+
+use InvalidArgumentException;
+use ReflectionException;
+use ReflectionProperty;
+use Scoutapm\Connector\Command;
+use Scoutapm\Connector\CommandWithChildren;
+use Webmozart\Assert\Assert;
+
+use function count;
+use function reset;
+
+final class TestHelper
+{
+    /**
+     * @return Command[]
+     *
+     * @throws InvalidArgumentException|ReflectionException
+     */
+    public static function childrenForCommand(CommandWithChildren $commandWithChildren): array
+    {
+        $childrenProperty = new ReflectionProperty($commandWithChildren, 'children');
+        $childrenProperty->setAccessible(true);
+        $children = $childrenProperty->getValue($commandWithChildren);
+
+        Assert::isArray($children);
+        Assert::allIsInstanceOf($children, Command::class);
+
+        return $children;
+    }
+
+    public static function firstChildForCommand(CommandWithChildren $commandWithChildren): Command
+    {
+        $children = self::childrenForCommand($commandWithChildren);
+
+        Assert::greaterThanEq(count($children), 1);
+
+        return reset($children);
+    }
+}