diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 02e1a8a906e..f01d585ae0e 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 
 ### Fixes
 
+- Prevent crashes when feature flags are merged during concurrent scope updates ([#5994](https://github.com/getsentry/sentry-java/pull/5994))
 - Prevent duplicated breadcrumbs on tombstone-merged native crash events ([#5888](https://github.com/getsentry/sentry-java/pull/5888))
 - Prevent a class of Session Replay deadlocks by confining lifecycle state changes to Android's main thread ([#5965](https://github.com/getsentry/sentry-java/pull/5965))
 
diff --git a/sentry/src/main/java/io/sentry/featureflags/FeatureFlagBuffer.java b/sentry/src/main/java/io/sentry/featureflags/FeatureFlagBuffer.java
index fc696b5948f..2eccde29556 100644
--- a/sentry/src/main/java/io/sentry/featureflags/FeatureFlagBuffer.java
+++ b/sentry/src/main/java/io/sentry/featureflags/FeatureFlagBuffer.java
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@
 @ApiStatus.Internal
 public final class FeatureFlagBuffer implements IFeatureFlagBuffer {
 
-  private volatile @NotNull CopyOnWriteArrayList<FeatureFlagEntry> flags;
+  private final @NotNull CopyOnWriteArrayList<FeatureFlagEntry> flags;
   private final @NotNull AutoClosableReentrantLock lock = new AutoClosableReentrantLock();
   private int maxSize;
 
@@ -135,13 +135,15 @@ public void clear() {
       final @Nullable FeatureFlagBuffer isolationBuffer,
       final @Nullable FeatureFlagBuffer currentBuffer) {
 
-    // Capture references to avoid inconsistencies from concurrent modifications
+    // Capture structurally stable snapshots before indexed traversal. Passing a
+    // CopyOnWriteArrayList directly allows its collection constructor to reuse the immutable
+    // backing array instead of copying the elements on runtimes that support this optimization.
     final @Nullable CopyOnWriteArrayList<FeatureFlagEntry> globalFlags =
-        globalBuffer == null ? null : globalBuffer.flags;
+        globalBuffer == null ? null : new CopyOnWriteArrayList<>(globalBuffer.flags);
     final @Nullable CopyOnWriteArrayList<FeatureFlagEntry> isolationFlags =
-        isolationBuffer == null ? null : isolationBuffer.flags;
+        isolationBuffer == null ? null : new CopyOnWriteArrayList<>(isolationBuffer.flags);
     final @Nullable CopyOnWriteArrayList<FeatureFlagEntry> currentFlags =
-        currentBuffer == null ? null : currentBuffer.flags;
+        currentBuffer == null ? null : new CopyOnWriteArrayList<>(currentBuffer.flags);
 
     final int globalSize = globalFlags == null ? 0 : globalFlags.size();
     final int isolationSize = isolationFlags == null ? 0 : isolationFlags.size();
diff --git a/sentry/src/test/java/io/sentry/featureflags/FeatureFlagBufferTest.kt b/sentry/src/test/java/io/sentry/featureflags/FeatureFlagBufferTest.kt
index 8ec18ce02b8..69ccbc9841b 100644
--- a/sentry/src/test/java/io/sentry/featureflags/FeatureFlagBufferTest.kt
+++ b/sentry/src/test/java/io/sentry/featureflags/FeatureFlagBufferTest.kt
@@ -1,6 +1,12 @@
 package io.sentry.featureflags
 
+import com.google.common.truth.Truth.assertThat
 import io.sentry.SentryOptions
+import java.util.concurrent.CountDownLatch
+import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit
+import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicBoolean
+import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicInteger
+import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicReference
 import kotlin.test.Test
 import kotlin.test.assertEquals
 import kotlin.test.assertFalse
@@ -347,4 +353,48 @@ class FeatureFlagBufferTest {
     val featureFlags = buffer.featureFlags
     assertNotNull(featureFlags)
   }
+
+  @Test
+  fun `merging is safe while another thread adds flags`() {
+    val options = SentryOptions().also { it.maxFeatureFlags = 100 }
+    val globalBuffer = FeatureFlagBuffer.create(options)
+    val isolationBuffer = FeatureFlagBuffer.create(options)
+    val currentBuffer = FeatureFlagBuffer.create(options)
+
+    repeat(options.maxFeatureFlags) { globalBuffer.add("initial$it", true) }
+
+    val stop = AtomicBoolean(false)
+    val writerFailure = AtomicReference<Throwable?>(null)
+    val writerOperations = AtomicInteger()
+    val writerStarted = CountDownLatch(1)
+    val writer = Thread {
+      try {
+        var i = 0
+        while (!stop.get()) {
+          globalBuffer.add("flag${i++ % 150}", true)
+          writerOperations.incrementAndGet()
+          writerStarted.countDown()
+        }
+      } catch (e: Exception) {
+        writerFailure.set(e)
+      }
+    }
+
+    writer.start()
+    try {
+      assertThat(writerStarted.await(5, TimeUnit.SECONDS)).isTrue()
+      val writerOperationsBeforeMerging = writerOperations.get()
+
+      repeat(1_000) {
+        FeatureFlagBuffer.merged(options, globalBuffer, isolationBuffer, currentBuffer).featureFlags
+      }
+
+      assertThat(writerOperations.get()).isGreaterThan(writerOperationsBeforeMerging)
+    } finally {
+      stop.set(true)
+      writer.join()
+    }
+
+    assertThat(writerFailure.get()).isNull()
+  }
 }