diff --git a/litellm/proxy/_lazy_features.py b/litellm/proxy/_lazy_features.py
index 7299f32bbaa..9f034575222 100644
--- a/litellm/proxy/_lazy_features.py
+++ b/litellm/proxy/_lazy_features.py
@@ -257,6 +257,13 @@ class LazyFeatureMiddleware:
         self.app = app
         self._fastapi_app = fastapi_app
         self._features = features
+        # SERVER_ROOT_PATH is a process-startup env var, cache the normalized
+        # form once instead of recomputing per request. Lazy import to avoid
+        # pulling proxy.utils into this module's import graph at startup
+        # (proxy_server imports both).
+        from litellm.proxy.utils import get_server_root_path
+
+        self._root_path = get_server_root_path().rstrip("/")
         # Loaded set / per-feature locks live on app.state so the warm endpoint
         # and the middleware share them — preventing duplicate registrations
         # when both paths fire for the same feature.
@@ -273,10 +280,6 @@ class LazyFeatureMiddleware:
         if scope["type"] in ("http", "websocket") and len(self._loaded) < len(
             self._features
         ):
-            # Lazy import to avoid pulling proxy.utils into this module's
-            # import graph (proxy_server imports both).
-            from litellm.proxy.utils import get_server_root_path
-
             path = scope.get("path", "")
             # Strip SERVER_ROOT_PATH so prefix matching works under a server
             # root path. Without this, requests like /api/v1/policies/... never
@@ -285,9 +288,8 @@ class LazyFeatureMiddleware:
             # `+ "/"` boundary prevents false-positive matches (e.g. /apiv2
             # against root /api). If the path doesn't start with the prefix
             # (e.g. a reverse proxy already stripped it), we leave it alone.
-            root_path = get_server_root_path().rstrip("/")
-            if root_path and path.startswith(root_path + "/"):
-                path = path[len(root_path) :]
+            if self._root_path and path.startswith(self._root_path + "/"):
+                path = path[len(self._root_path) :]
             for feat in self._features:
                 if feat.module_path in self._loaded:
                     continue