diff --git a/sentry/src/main/java/io/sentry/SentryEnvelopeItemHeader.java b/sentry/src/main/java/io/sentry/SentryEnvelopeItemHeader.java
--- a/sentry/src/main/java/io/sentry/SentryEnvelopeItemHeader.java
+++ b/sentry/src/main/java/io/sentry/SentryEnvelopeItemHeader.java
@@ -219,8 +219,9 @@
     if (itemCount != null) {
       writer.name(JsonKeys.ITEM_COUNT).value(itemCount);
     }
-    if (metaLength != null) {
-      writer.name(JsonKeys.META_LENGTH).value(metaLength);
+    final @Nullable Integer metaLengthValue = getMetaLength();
+    if (metaLengthValue != null) {
+      writer.name(JsonKeys.META_LENGTH).value(metaLengthValue);
     }
     writer.name(JsonKeys.LENGTH).value(getLength());
     if (unknown != null) {

diff --git a/sentry-android-core/src/main/java/io/sentry/android/core/AndroidOptionsInitializer.java b/sentry-android-core/src/main/java/io/sentry/android/core/AndroidOptionsInitializer.java
--- a/sentry-android-core/src/main/java/io/sentry/android/core/AndroidOptionsInitializer.java
+++ b/sentry-android-core/src/main/java/io/sentry/android/core/AndroidOptionsInitializer.java
@@ -337,6 +337,17 @@
           performanceCollector.start(chunkId.toString());
         }
       } else {
+        if (options.isUseProfilingManager()
+            && buildInfoProvider.getSdkInfoVersion() < Build.VERSION_CODES.VANILLA_ICE_CREAM) {
+          options
+              .getLogger()
+              .log(
+                  SentryLevel.INFO,
+                  "useProfilingManager is enabled, but API level is below %d. Continuous profiling is disabled.",
+                  Build.VERSION_CODES.VANILLA_ICE_CREAM);
+          options.setContinuousProfiler(NoOpContinuousProfiler.getInstance());
+          return;
+        }
         final @NotNull SentryFrameMetricsCollector frameMetricsCollector =
             Objects.requireNonNull(
                 options.getFrameMetricsCollector(), "options.getFrameMetricsCollector is required");

diff --git a/sentry-android-core/src/main/java/io/sentry/android/core/PerfettoContinuousProfiler.java b/sentry-android-core/src/main/java/io/sentry/android/core/PerfettoContinuousProfiler.java
--- a/sentry-android-core/src/main/java/io/sentry/android/core/PerfettoContinuousProfiler.java
+++ b/sentry-android-core/src/main/java/io/sentry/android/core/PerfettoContinuousProfiler.java
@@ -107,7 +107,6 @@
       final @NotNull ProfileLifecycle profileLifecycle,
       final @NotNull TracesSampler tracesSampler) {
     try (final @NotNull ISentryLifecycleToken ignored = lock.acquire()) {
-      shouldStop = false;
       if (shouldSample) {
         isSampled = tracesSampler.sampleSessionProfile(SentryRandom.current().nextDouble());
         shouldSample = false;
@@ -118,6 +117,7 @@
       }
       switch (profileLifecycle) {
         case TRACE:
+          shouldStop = false;
           activeTraceCount = Math.max(0, activeTraceCount); // safety check.
           activeTraceCount++;
           break;
@@ -128,6 +128,7 @@
                 "Unexpected call to startProfiler(MANUAL) while profiler already running. Skipping.");
             return;
           }
+          shouldStop = false;
           break;
       }
       if (!isRunning()) {

diff --git a/sentry-android-core/src/test/java/io/sentry/android/core/AndroidOptionsInitializerTest.kt b/sentry-android-core/src/test/java/io/sentry/android/core/AndroidOptionsInitializerTest.kt
--- a/sentry-android-core/src/test/java/io/sentry/android/core/AndroidOptionsInitializerTest.kt
+++ b/sentry-android-core/src/test/java/io/sentry/android/core/AndroidOptionsInitializerTest.kt
@@ -376,7 +376,16 @@
     assertTrue(fixture.sentryOptions.continuousProfiler is AndroidContinuousProfiler)
   }
 
+  @Config(sdk = [34])
   @Test
+  fun `init with profiling manager below API 35 sets no-op continuous profiler`() {
+    fixture.initSut(configureOptions = { isUseProfilingManager = true }, useRealContext = true)
+
+    assertEquals(NoOpTransactionProfiler.getInstance(), fixture.sentryOptions.transactionProfiler)
+    assertEquals(NoOpContinuousProfiler.getInstance(), fixture.sentryOptions.continuousProfiler)
+  }
+
+  @Test
   fun `init with profilesSampleRate should set Android transaction profiler`() {
     fixture.initSut(configureOptions = { profilesSampleRate = 1.0 })
 

diff --git a/sentry-android-core/src/test/java/io/sentry/android/core/PerfettoContinuousProfilerTest.kt b/sentry-android-core/src/test/java/io/sentry/android/core/PerfettoContinuousProfilerTest.kt
--- a/sentry-android-core/src/test/java/io/sentry/android/core/PerfettoContinuousProfilerTest.kt
+++ b/sentry-android-core/src/test/java/io/sentry/android/core/PerfettoContinuousProfilerTest.kt
@@ -132,4 +132,24 @@
       "Profiler should continue running after chunk restart — shouldStop must be reset on start",
     )
   }
+
+  @Test
+  fun `manual start while trace profiling is running does not cancel pending trace stop`() {
+    val profiler = fixture.getSut()
+
+    profiler.startProfiler(ProfileLifecycle.TRACE, fixture.mockTracesSampler)
+    assertTrue(profiler.isRunning)
+
+    profiler.stopProfiler(ProfileLifecycle.TRACE)
+    profiler.startProfiler(ProfileLifecycle.MANUAL, fixture.mockTracesSampler)
+
+    fixture.executor.runAll()
+
+    assertFalse(profiler.isRunning)
+    verify(fixture.mockLogger)
+      .log(
+        eq(SentryLevel.WARNING),
+        eq("Unexpected call to startProfiler(MANUAL) while profiler already running. Skipping."),
+      )
+  }
 }