diff --git a/checkpoint/CHANGELOG.md b/checkpoint/CHANGELOG.md
index 0d2f69362..dcb874624 100644
--- a/checkpoint/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/checkpoint/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -15,6 +15,8 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 ### Changed
 - Allow one directory creation request per item rather than 1 per item per host.
 - Make atomicity logic configurable, and encapsulate it within a class.
+- Move all work for `_write_metadata_file` into a background thread to avoid
+O(n) computation in building metadata.
 
 ### Fixed
 - Refactor ts.Context usage to be per-operation (save/restore) rather than a
diff --git a/checkpoint/orbax/checkpoint/base_pytree_checkpoint_handler.py b/checkpoint/orbax/checkpoint/base_pytree_checkpoint_handler.py
index 07efbee08..db3b16c1c 100644
--- a/checkpoint/orbax/checkpoint/base_pytree_checkpoint_handler.py
+++ b/checkpoint/orbax/checkpoint/base_pytree_checkpoint_handler.py
@@ -21,9 +21,9 @@
 
 import asyncio
 import collections
+from concurrent import futures
 import dataclasses
 import json
-import os
 import time
 from typing import Any, Callable, List, Optional, Tuple, Union
 
@@ -380,6 +380,8 @@ def __init__(
           '/jax/orbax/pytree_checkpoint_handler/init/ocdbt'
       )
 
+    self._thread_pool = futures.ThreadPoolExecutor(max_workers=1)
+
   def get_param_names(self, item: PyTree) -> PyTree:
     """Gets parameter names for PyTree elements."""
     return get_param_names(item)
@@ -585,7 +587,7 @@ def _maybe_set_default_save_args(value, args_):
     metadata_future = None
     if utils.is_primary_host(self._primary_host):
       metadata_write_start_time = time.time()
-      metadata_future = await self._write_metadata_file(
+      metadata_future = self._write_metadata_file(
           directory, item, save_args, self._use_zarr3
       )
       jax.monitoring.record_event_duration_secs(
@@ -840,33 +842,26 @@ def _read_aggregate_file(self, directory: epath.Path) -> PyTree:
     else:
       return utils.pytree_structure(directory)
 
-  async def _write_metadata_file(
+  def _write_metadata_file(
       self,
       directory: epath.Path,
       item: PyTree,
       save_args: PyTree,
       use_zarr3: bool = False,
   ) -> future.Future:
-    tspec = type_handlers._get_tensorstore_spec(  # pylint: disable=protected-access
-        os.fspath(directory), name=METADATA_FILE, use_ocdbt=False
-    )['kvstore']
-    txn = ts.Transaction()
-    metadata_ts_context = type_handlers.get_ts_context()
-    t = await ts.KvStore.open(
-        tspec, context=metadata_ts_context
-    )
-    metadata_content = tree_metadata.TreeMetadata.build(
-        item,
-        save_args=save_args,
-        type_handler_registry=self._type_handler_registry,
-        use_zarr3=use_zarr3,
-    )
-    write_future = t.with_transaction(txn).write(
-        '', json.dumps(metadata_content.to_json())
-    )
-    await write_future
-    commit_future = txn.commit_async()
-    return commit_future
+    def _save_fn():
+      if utils.is_primary_host(self._primary_host):
+        path = directory / METADATA_FILE
+        metadata_content = tree_metadata.TreeMetadata.build(
+            item,
+            save_args=save_args,
+            type_handler_registry=self._type_handler_registry,
+            use_zarr3=use_zarr3,
+        )
+        path.write_text(json.dumps(metadata_content.to_json()))
+      return 0
+
+    return self._thread_pool.submit(_save_fn)
 
   def _read_metadata_file(
       self, directory: epath.Path