diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 2783b9a3952..0d1082fa9d2 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -60,6 +60,10 @@ SentryAndroid.init(
 
 - Fix missing thread stacks for ANRv1 events ([#4918](https://github.com/getsentry/sentry-java/pull/4918))
 
+### Internal
+
+- Support `span` envelope item type ([#4935](https://github.com/getsentry/sentry-java/pull/4935))
+
 ## 8.27.1
 
 ### Fixes
diff --git a/sentry/api/sentry.api b/sentry/api/sentry.api
index dedb3b0e80f..bee8b9e343e 100644
--- a/sentry/api/sentry.api
+++ b/sentry/api/sentry.api
@@ -3137,6 +3137,7 @@ public final class io/sentry/SentryItemType : java/lang/Enum, io/sentry/JsonSeri
 	public static final field ReplayRecording Lio/sentry/SentryItemType;
 	public static final field ReplayVideo Lio/sentry/SentryItemType;
 	public static final field Session Lio/sentry/SentryItemType;
+	public static final field Span Lio/sentry/SentryItemType;
 	public static final field Transaction Lio/sentry/SentryItemType;
 	public static final field Unknown Lio/sentry/SentryItemType;
 	public static final field UserFeedback Lio/sentry/SentryItemType;
diff --git a/sentry/src/main/java/io/sentry/SentryItemType.java b/sentry/src/main/java/io/sentry/SentryItemType.java
index e6c25322fd2..709c2b52e5a 100644
--- a/sentry/src/main/java/io/sentry/SentryItemType.java
+++ b/sentry/src/main/java/io/sentry/SentryItemType.java
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ public enum SentryItemType implements JsonSerializable {
   CheckIn("check_in"),
   Feedback("feedback"),
   Log("log"),
+  Span("span"),
   Unknown("__unknown__"); // DataCategory.Unknown
 
   private final String itemType;
diff --git a/sentry/src/main/java/io/sentry/clientreport/ClientReportRecorder.java b/sentry/src/main/java/io/sentry/clientreport/ClientReportRecorder.java
index 8da4360dcb2..fc793a4c744 100644
--- a/sentry/src/main/java/io/sentry/clientreport/ClientReportRecorder.java
+++ b/sentry/src/main/java/io/sentry/clientreport/ClientReportRecorder.java
@@ -215,6 +215,9 @@ private DataCategory categoryFromItemType(SentryItemType itemType) {
     if (SentryItemType.Log.equals(itemType)) {
       return DataCategory.LogItem;
     }
+    if (SentryItemType.Span.equals(itemType)) {
+      return DataCategory.Span;
+    }
 
     return DataCategory.Default;
   }
diff --git a/sentry/src/main/java/io/sentry/transport/RateLimiter.java b/sentry/src/main/java/io/sentry/transport/RateLimiter.java
index fc07e59c063..3139ccb1ce5 100644
--- a/sentry/src/main/java/io/sentry/transport/RateLimiter.java
+++ b/sentry/src/main/java/io/sentry/transport/RateLimiter.java
@@ -213,6 +213,8 @@ private boolean isRetryAfter(final @NotNull String itemType) {
         return Collections.singletonList(DataCategory.Feedback);
       case "log":
         return Collections.singletonList(DataCategory.LogItem);
+      case "span":
+        return Collections.singletonList(DataCategory.Span);
       default:
         return Collections.singletonList(DataCategory.Unknown);
     }
diff --git a/sentry/src/test/java/io/sentry/protocol/SentryItemTypeSerializationTest.kt b/sentry/src/test/java/io/sentry/protocol/SentryItemTypeSerializationTest.kt
index 481c40ed81e..16eec5c5e7e 100644
--- a/sentry/src/test/java/io/sentry/protocol/SentryItemTypeSerializationTest.kt
+++ b/sentry/src/test/java/io/sentry/protocol/SentryItemTypeSerializationTest.kt
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ class SentryItemTypeSerializationTest {
     assertEquals(serialize(SentryItemType.ReplayVideo), json("replay_video"))
     assertEquals(serialize(SentryItemType.CheckIn), json("check_in"))
     assertEquals(serialize(SentryItemType.Feedback), json("feedback"))
+    assertEquals(serialize(SentryItemType.Span), json("span"))
   }
 
   @Test
@@ -49,6 +50,7 @@ class SentryItemTypeSerializationTest {
     assertEquals(deserialize(json("replay_video")), SentryItemType.ReplayVideo)
     assertEquals(deserialize(json("check_in")), SentryItemType.CheckIn)
     assertEquals(deserialize(json("feedback")), SentryItemType.Feedback)
+    assertEquals(deserialize(json("span")), SentryItemType.Span)
   }
 
   private fun json(type: String): String = "{\"type\":\"${type}\"}"
diff --git a/sentry/src/test/java/io/sentry/transport/RateLimiterTest.kt b/sentry/src/test/java/io/sentry/transport/RateLimiterTest.kt
index ab997a26f76..404e22949cb 100644
--- a/sentry/src/test/java/io/sentry/transport/RateLimiterTest.kt
+++ b/sentry/src/test/java/io/sentry/transport/RateLimiterTest.kt
@@ -4,10 +4,12 @@ import io.sentry.Attachment
 import io.sentry.CheckIn
 import io.sentry.CheckInStatus
 import io.sentry.DataCategory.Replay
+import io.sentry.EnvelopeReader
 import io.sentry.Hint
 import io.sentry.ILogger
 import io.sentry.IScopes
 import io.sentry.ISerializer
+import io.sentry.JsonSerializer
 import io.sentry.NoOpLogger
 import io.sentry.ProfileChunk
 import io.sentry.ProfilingTraceData
@@ -534,6 +536,33 @@ class RateLimiterTest {
     verifyNoMoreInteractions(fixture.clientReportRecorder)
   }
 
+  @Test
+  fun `drop span items as lost`() {
+    val rateLimiter = fixture.getSUT()
+
+    // There is no span API yet so we'll create the envelope manually using EnvelopeReader
+    // This mimics how hybrid SDKs would send span v2 envelope items
+    val spanPayload = """{"items":[]}"""
+    val spanItemHeader =
+      """{"type":"span","length":${spanPayload.length},"content_type":"application/vnd.sentry.items.span.v2+json","item_count":1}"""
+    val envelopeHeader = """{}"""
+    val rawEnvelope = "$envelopeHeader\n$spanItemHeader\n$spanPayload"
+
+    val options = SentryOptions()
+    val envelopeReader = EnvelopeReader(JsonSerializer(options))
+    val spanEnvelope = envelopeReader.read(rawEnvelope.byteInputStream())!!
+    val spanItem = spanEnvelope.items.first()
+
+    rateLimiter.updateRetryAfterLimits("60:span:key", null, 1)
+    val result = rateLimiter.filter(spanEnvelope, Hint())
+
+    assertNull(result)
+
+    verify(fixture.clientReportRecorder, times(1))
+      .recordLostEnvelopeItem(eq(DiscardReason.RATELIMIT_BACKOFF), same(spanItem))
+    verifyNoMoreInteractions(fixture.clientReportRecorder)
+  }
+
   @Test
   fun `apply rate limits notifies observers`() {
     val rateLimiter = fixture.getSUT()