diff --git a/src/test/java/com/stripe/net/RequestTelemetryTest.java b/src/test/java/com/stripe/net/RequestTelemetryTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..5bdc14f9140
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/java/com/stripe/net/RequestTelemetryTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,220 @@
+package com.stripe.net;
+
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.*;
+
+import com.google.gson.JsonObject;
+import com.google.gson.JsonParser;
+import com.stripe.Stripe;
+import java.time.Duration;
+import java.util.Arrays;
+import java.util.Collections;
+import java.util.List;
+import java.util.Optional;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.AfterEach;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.BeforeEach;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+
+/**
+ * Unit tests for {@link RequestTelemetry}.
+ *
+ * <p>These test the class directly, verifying enqueue/poll semantics, telemetry toggle behavior,
+ * queue bounds, and JSON payload structure — without going through the HTTP layer.
+ */
+public class RequestTelemetryTest {
+  private boolean originalTelemetry;
+  private RequestTelemetry telemetry;
+
+  @BeforeEach
+  public void setUp() {
+    originalTelemetry = Stripe.enableTelemetry;
+    Stripe.enableTelemetry = true;
+    telemetry = new RequestTelemetry();
+    // Drain any leftover metrics from prior tests (shared static queue)
+    while (telemetry.pollPayload().isPresent()) {
+      // discard
+    }
+  }
+
+  @AfterEach
+  public void tearDown() {
+    Stripe.enableTelemetry = originalTelemetry;
+  }
+
+  // ---- basic enqueue / poll ----
+
+  @Test
+  public void testPollReturnsEmptyWhenNothingEnqueued() {
+    Optional<String> payload = telemetry.pollPayload();
+    assertFalse(payload.isPresent(), "Expected empty payload when no metrics enqueued");
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void testEnqueueAndPollReturnsPayload() {
+    StripeResponse response = buildResponse("req_test_1");
+    telemetry.maybeEnqueueMetrics(response, Duration.ofMillis(42), null);
+
+    Optional<String> payload = telemetry.pollPayload();
+    assertTrue(payload.isPresent(), "Expected a telemetry payload after enqueue");
+
+    JsonObject root = JsonParser.parseString(payload.get()).getAsJsonObject();
+    JsonObject metrics = root.getAsJsonObject("last_request_metrics");
+    assertEquals("req_test_1", metrics.get("request_id").getAsString());
+    assertEquals(42L, metrics.get("request_duration_ms").getAsLong());
+    assertFalse(metrics.has("usage"), "usage should be absent when null");
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void testPollDrainsQueue() {
+    StripeResponse response = buildResponse("req_drain");
+    telemetry.maybeEnqueueMetrics(response, Duration.ofMillis(10), null);
+
+    assertTrue(telemetry.pollPayload().isPresent());
+    assertFalse(telemetry.pollPayload().isPresent(), "Second poll should return empty");
+  }
+
+  // ---- usage field ----
+
+  @Test
+  public void testUsageIncludedInPayload() {
+    StripeResponse response = buildResponse("req_usage");
+    List<String> usage = Arrays.asList("llm", "streaming");
+    telemetry.maybeEnqueueMetrics(response, Duration.ofMillis(100), usage);
+
+    Optional<String> payload = telemetry.pollPayload();
+    assertTrue(payload.isPresent());
+
+    JsonObject metrics =
+        JsonParser.parseString(payload.get())
+            .getAsJsonObject()
+            .getAsJsonObject("last_request_metrics");
+    assertEquals("req_usage", metrics.get("request_id").getAsString());
+    assertTrue(metrics.has("usage"), "usage field should be present");
+    assertEquals(2, metrics.getAsJsonArray("usage").size());
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void testEmptyUsageListTreatedAsNull() {
+    StripeResponse response = buildResponse("req_empty_usage");
+    telemetry.maybeEnqueueMetrics(response, Duration.ofMillis(50), Collections.emptyList());
+
+    Optional<String> payload = telemetry.pollPayload();
+    assertTrue(payload.isPresent());
+
+    JsonObject metrics =
+        JsonParser.parseString(payload.get())
+            .getAsJsonObject()
+            .getAsJsonObject("last_request_metrics");
+    // The class normalizes empty list to null
+    assertFalse(metrics.has("usage"), "Empty usage list should be normalized to absent");
+  }
+
+  // ---- telemetry toggle ----
+
+  @Test
+  public void testEnqueueIgnoredWhenTelemetryDisabled() {
+    Stripe.enableTelemetry = false;
+    StripeResponse response = buildResponse("req_disabled");
+    telemetry.maybeEnqueueMetrics(response, Duration.ofMillis(10), null);
+
+    // Re-enable so pollPayload doesn't short-circuit
+    Stripe.enableTelemetry = true;
+    assertFalse(
+        telemetry.pollPayload().isPresent(),
+        "Nothing should be enqueued when telemetry is disabled");
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void testPollReturnsEmptyWhenTelemetryDisabledAtPollTime() {
+    // Enqueue while enabled
+    StripeResponse response = buildResponse("req_toggle");
+    telemetry.maybeEnqueueMetrics(response, Duration.ofMillis(10), null);
+
+    // Disable before polling
+    Stripe.enableTelemetry = false;
+    assertFalse(
+        telemetry.pollPayload().isPresent(),
+        "pollPayload should return empty when telemetry is disabled at poll time");
+
+    // Re-enable — the metric was consumed (polled off queue) even though it wasn't returned
+    Stripe.enableTelemetry = true;
+    assertFalse(
+        telemetry.pollPayload().isPresent(),
+        "Metric should have been consumed even when telemetry was disabled");
+  }
+
+  // ---- null request ID ----
+
+  @Test
+  public void testEnqueueIgnoredWhenRequestIdIsNull() {
+    StripeResponse response = buildResponse(null);
+    telemetry.maybeEnqueueMetrics(response, Duration.ofMillis(10), null);
+
+    assertFalse(
+        telemetry.pollPayload().isPresent(),
+        "Nothing should be enqueued when requestId is null");
+  }
+
+  // ---- queue capacity ----
+
+  @Test
+  public void testQueueBoundedAtMaxSize() {
+    // MAX_REQUEST_METRICS_QUEUE_SIZE is 100
+    for (int i = 0; i < 110; i++) {
+      StripeResponse response = buildResponse("req_" + i);
+      telemetry.maybeEnqueueMetrics(response, Duration.ofMillis(1), null);
+    }
+
+    int count = 0;
+    while (telemetry.pollPayload().isPresent()) {
+      count++;
+    }
+    assertEquals(100, count, "Queue should be bounded at 100 entries");
+  }
+
+  // ---- deprecated getHeaderValue ----
+
+  @Test
+  public void testGetHeaderValueReturnsEmptyWhenHeaderAlreadyPresent() {
+    StripeResponse response = buildResponse("req_dup_header");
+    telemetry.maybeEnqueueMetrics(response, Duration.ofMillis(10), null);
+
+    HttpHeaders headers =
+        HttpHeaders.of(
+            Collections.singletonMap(
+                RequestTelemetry.HEADER_NAME, Collections.singletonList("existing")));
+
+    @SuppressWarnings("deprecation")
+    Optional<String> result = telemetry.getHeaderValue(headers);
+    assertFalse(
+        result.isPresent(),
+        "getHeaderValue should return empty when header is already present");
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void testGetHeaderValueReturnsTelemetryWhenHeaderAbsent() {
+    StripeResponse response = buildResponse("req_no_header");
+    telemetry.maybeEnqueueMetrics(response, Duration.ofMillis(55), null);
+
+    HttpHeaders headers = HttpHeaders.of(Collections.emptyMap());
+
+    @SuppressWarnings("deprecation")
+    Optional<String> result = telemetry.getHeaderValue(headers);
+    assertTrue(result.isPresent(), "getHeaderValue should return telemetry when header is absent");
+
+    JsonObject metrics =
+        JsonParser.parseString(result.get())
+            .getAsJsonObject()
+            .getAsJsonObject("last_request_metrics");
+    assertEquals("req_no_header", metrics.get("request_id").getAsString());
+  }
+
+  // ---- helpers ----
+
+  private static StripeResponse buildResponse(String requestId) {
+    java.util.Map<String, java.util.List<String>> headerMap = new java.util.HashMap<>();
+    if (requestId != null) {
+      headerMap.put("Request-Id", Collections.singletonList(requestId));
+    }
+    return new StripeResponse(200, HttpHeaders.of(headerMap), "{}");
+  }
+}