diff --git a/graft/coreth/plugin/evm/vm.go b/graft/coreth/plugin/evm/vm.go
index 285a54f8df41..10fb3b7e0539 100644
--- a/graft/coreth/plugin/evm/vm.go
+++ b/graft/coreth/plugin/evm/vm.go
@@ -513,12 +513,9 @@ func (vm *VM) initializeMetrics() error {
 		return err
 	}
 
-	if vm.config.MetricsExpensiveEnabled && vm.config.StateScheme == customrawdb.FirewoodScheme {
-		if err := ffi.StartMetrics(); err != nil {
-			return fmt.Errorf("failed to start firewood metrics collection: %w", err)
-		}
-		if err := vm.ctx.Metrics.Register("firewood", ffi.Gatherer{}); err != nil {
-			return fmt.Errorf("failed to register firewood metrics: %w", err)
+	if vm.config.StateScheme == customrawdb.FirewoodScheme {
+		if err := vm.ctx.Metrics.Register(customrawdb.FirewoodScheme, ffi.Gatherer{}); err != nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("registering firewood metrics: %w", err)
 		}
 	}
 	return vm.ctx.Metrics.Register(sdkMetricsPrefix, vm.sdkMetrics)
diff --git a/graft/evm/firewood/metrics.go b/graft/evm/firewood/metrics.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..b30c0c7bd66f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/graft/evm/firewood/metrics.go
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+// Copyright (C) 2019-2026, Ava Labs, Inc. All rights reserved.
+// See the file LICENSE for licensing terms.
+
+package firewood
+
+import (
+	"github.com/ava-labs/firewood-go-ethhash/ffi"
+	"github.com/ava-labs/libevm/log"
+)
+
+func init() {
+	if err := ffi.StartMetrics(); err != nil {
+		log.Crit("starting firewood metrics", "error", err)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/graft/subnet-evm/plugin/evm/vm.go b/graft/subnet-evm/plugin/evm/vm.go
index a3e347d58231..0cc24499f658 100644
--- a/graft/subnet-evm/plugin/evm/vm.go
+++ b/graft/subnet-evm/plugin/evm/vm.go
@@ -584,12 +584,9 @@ func (vm *VM) initializeMetrics() error {
 		return err
 	}
 
-	if vm.config.MetricsExpensiveEnabled && vm.config.StateScheme == customrawdb.FirewoodScheme {
-		if err := ffi.StartMetrics(); err != nil {
-			return fmt.Errorf("failed to start firewood metrics collection: %w", err)
-		}
-		if err := vm.ctx.Metrics.Register("firewood", ffi.Gatherer{}); err != nil {
-			return fmt.Errorf("failed to register firewood metrics: %w", err)
+	if vm.config.StateScheme == customrawdb.FirewoodScheme {
+		if err := vm.ctx.Metrics.Register(customrawdb.FirewoodScheme, ffi.Gatherer{}); err != nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("registering firewood metrics: %w", err)
 		}
 	}
 	return vm.ctx.Metrics.Register(sdkMetricsPrefix, vm.sdkMetrics)