diff --git a/cmd/relayproxy/controller/collect_eval_data.go b/cmd/relayproxy/controller/collect_eval_data.go
index d2117b9cf52..f09c75485f8 100644
--- a/cmd/relayproxy/controller/collect_eval_data.go
+++ b/cmd/relayproxy/controller/collect_eval_data.go
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/thomaspoignant/go-feature-flag/exporter"
 	"go.opentelemetry.io/otel"
 	"go.opentelemetry.io/otel/attribute"
+	"go.opentelemetry.io/otel/codes"
 	"go.uber.org/zap"
 )
 
@@ -54,6 +55,12 @@ func NewCollectEvalData(
 // @Failure      500 {object} modeldocs.HTTPErrorDoc "Internal server error"
 // @Router       /v1/data/collector [post]
 func (h *collectEvalData) Handler(c echo.Context) error {
+	ctx := c.Request().Context()
+
+	tracer := otel.Tracer(config.OtelTracerName)
+	ctx, span := tracer.Start(ctx, "collectEventData")
+	defer span.End()
+
 	reqBody := new(model.CollectEvalDataRequest)
 	if err := c.Bind(reqBody); err != nil {
 		return echo.NewHTTPError(
@@ -63,9 +70,7 @@ func (h *collectEvalData) Handler(c echo.Context) error {
 	if reqBody.Events == nil {
 		return echo.NewHTTPError(http.StatusBadRequest, "collectEvalData: invalid input data")
 	}
-	tracer := otel.GetTracerProvider().Tracer(config.OtelTracerName)
-	_, span := tracer.Start(c.Request().Context(), "collectEventData")
-	defer span.End()
+
 	span.SetAttributes(attribute.Int("collectEventData.eventCollectionSize", len(reqBody.Events)))
 
 	flagset, httpErr := helper.GetFlagSet(h.flagsetManager, helper.GetAPIKey(c))
@@ -75,7 +80,26 @@ func (h *collectEvalData) Handler(c echo.Context) error {
 
 	counterTracking := 0
 	counterEvaluation := 0
-	for _, event := range reqBody.Events {
+	for i, event := range reqBody.Events {
+		// Check if context is cancelled before processing each event, to avoid
+		// long delays on large payloads.
+		select {
+		case <-ctx.Done():
+			err := fmt.Errorf("context cancelled after processing %d/%d events: %w",
+				i, len(reqBody.Events), ctx.Err())
+			span.SetAttributes(
+				attribute.Int("processed_tracking", counterTracking),
+				attribute.Int("processed_evaluation", counterEvaluation),
+				attribute.Int("total_events", len(reqBody.Events)),
+			)
+			span.RecordError(err)
+			span.SetStatus(codes.Error, err.Error())
+
+			return err
+		default:
+			// all good, keep going
+		}
+
 		switch event["kind"] {
 		case "tracking":
 			e, err := convertTrackingEvent(event, h.logger)
@@ -98,11 +122,13 @@ func (h *collectEvalData) Handler(c echo.Context) error {
 			counterEvaluation++
 		}
 	}
+
 	span.SetAttributes(attribute.Int("collectEventData.trackingCollectionSize", counterTracking))
 	span.SetAttributes(
 		attribute.Int("collectEventData.evaluationCollectionSize", counterEvaluation),
 	)
 	h.metrics.IncCollectEvalData(float64(len(reqBody.Events)))
+
 	return c.JSON(http.StatusOK, model.CollectEvalDataResponse{
 		IngestedContentCount: len(reqBody.Events),
 	})
diff --git a/cmd/relayproxy/controller/collect_eval_data_test.go b/cmd/relayproxy/controller/collect_eval_data_test.go
index c802ae55ba7..bafd94669d7 100644
--- a/cmd/relayproxy/controller/collect_eval_data_test.go
+++ b/cmd/relayproxy/controller/collect_eval_data_test.go
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 package controller_test
 
 import (
+	"context"
 	"io"
 	"net/http"
 	"net/http/httptest"
@@ -322,6 +323,47 @@ func Test_collect_eval_data_Handler(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+func TestCollectEvalData_Handler_cancellation(t *testing.T) {
+	flagsetManager, err := service.NewFlagsetManager(&config.Config{
+		CommonFlagSet: config.CommonFlagSet{
+			PollingInterval: 10,
+			Retrievers:      &[]retrieverconf.RetrieverConf{{Kind: "file", Path: configFlagsLocation}},
+		},
+	}, zap.NewNop(), []notifier.Notifier{})
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	t.Cleanup(func() { flagsetManager.Close() })
+
+	ctrl := controller.NewCollectEvalData(flagsetManager, metric.Metrics{}, zap.NewNop())
+
+	// large payload with 20,000 events to ensure processing takes time
+	event := `{"kind":"feature","contextKind":"user","userKey":"u","creationDate":1680246000,"key":"f","variation":"v","value":"true","default":false,"version":"1","source":"PROVIDER_CACHE"}`
+	body := `{"events":[` + strings.Repeat(event+",", 19999) + event + `]}`
+
+	ctx, cancel := context.WithCancel(t.Context())
+	req := httptest.NewRequestWithContext(ctx, http.MethodPost, "/v1/data/collector", strings.NewReader(body))
+	req.Header.Set(echo.HeaderContentType, echo.MIMEApplicationJSON)
+
+	e := echo.New()
+	c := e.NewContext(req, httptest.NewRecorder())
+
+	// run handler in background, cancel after 10ms
+	done := make(chan error, 1)
+	go func() {
+		done <- ctrl.Handler(c)
+	}()
+
+	time.Sleep(10 * time.Millisecond)
+	cancel()
+
+	err = <-done
+
+	require.ErrorIs(t, err, context.Canceled)
+	assert.Contains(t, err.Error(), "context cancelled after processing")
+	// count will be less than the total if cancellation worked
+	assert.NotContains(t, err.Error(), "20000/20000")
+}
+
 func Test_collect_tracking_and_evaluation_events(t *testing.T) {
 	tests := []struct {
 		name   string