diff --git a/sql-plugin/src/main/scala/com/nvidia/spark/rapids/GpuExec.scala b/sql-plugin/src/main/scala/com/nvidia/spark/rapids/GpuExec.scala
index a3fc1bff0c9..1fb2ff6f415 100644
--- a/sql-plugin/src/main/scala/com/nvidia/spark/rapids/GpuExec.scala
+++ b/sql-plugin/src/main/scala/com/nvidia/spark/rapids/GpuExec.scala
@@ -158,12 +158,34 @@ sealed abstract class GpuMetric extends Serializable {
   def +=(v: Long): Unit
   def add(v: Long): Unit
 
+  private var isTimerActive = false
+
+  final def tryActivateTimer(): Boolean = {
+    if (!isTimerActive) {
+      isTimerActive = true
+      true
+    } else {
+      false
+    }
+  }
+
+  final def deactivateTimer(duration: Long): Unit = {
+    if (isTimerActive) {
+      isTimerActive = false
+      add(duration)
+    }
+  }
+
   final def ns[T](f: => T): T = {
-    val start = System.nanoTime()
-    try {
+    if (tryActivateTimer()) {
+      val start = System.nanoTime()
+      try {
+        f
+      } finally {
+        deactivateTimer(System.nanoTime() - start)
+      }
+    } else {
       f
-    } finally {
-      add(System.nanoTime() - start)
     }
   }
 }
diff --git a/sql-plugin/src/main/scala/com/nvidia/spark/rapids/NvtxWithMetrics.scala b/sql-plugin/src/main/scala/com/nvidia/spark/rapids/NvtxWithMetrics.scala
index 92a11f56123..538f117e50f 100644
--- a/sql-plugin/src/main/scala/com/nvidia/spark/rapids/NvtxWithMetrics.scala
+++ b/sql-plugin/src/main/scala/com/nvidia/spark/rapids/NvtxWithMetrics.scala
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright (c) 2019-2021, NVIDIA CORPORATION.
+ * Copyright (c) 2019-2024, NVIDIA CORPORATION.
  *
  * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
  * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -32,26 +32,32 @@ object NvtxWithMetrics {
  *  by the amount of time spent in the range
  */
 class NvtxWithMetrics(name: String, color: NvtxColor, val metrics: GpuMetric*)
-    extends NvtxRange(name, color) {
+  extends NvtxRange(name, color) {
 
+  val needTracks = metrics.map(_.tryActivateTimer())
   private val start = System.nanoTime()
 
   override def close(): Unit = {
     val time = System.nanoTime() - start
-    metrics.foreach { metric =>
-      metric += time
+    metrics.toSeq.zip(needTracks).foreach { pair =>
+      if (pair._2) {
+        pair._1.deactivateTimer(time)
+      }
     }
     super.close()
   }
 }
 
 class MetricRange(val metrics: GpuMetric*) extends AutoCloseable {
+  val needTracks = metrics.map(_.tryActivateTimer())
   private val start = System.nanoTime()
 
   override def close(): Unit = {
     val time = System.nanoTime() - start
-    metrics.foreach { metric =>
-      metric += time
+    metrics.toSeq.zip(needTracks).foreach { pair =>
+      if (pair._2) {
+        pair._1.deactivateTimer(time)
+      }
     }
   }
 }
diff --git a/tests/src/test/scala/com/nvidia/spark/rapids/MetricsSuite.scala b/tests/src/test/scala/com/nvidia/spark/rapids/MetricsSuite.scala
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..580c5a2ed55
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/src/test/scala/com/nvidia/spark/rapids/MetricsSuite.scala
@@ -0,0 +1,68 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (c) 2024, NVIDIA CORPORATION.
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+package com.nvidia.spark.rapids
+
+import ai.rapids.cudf.NvtxColor
+import com.nvidia.spark.rapids.Arm.withResource
+import org.scalatest.funsuite.AnyFunSuite
+
+class MetricsSuite extends AnyFunSuite {
+
+  test("GpuMetric.ns: duplicate timing on the same metrics") {
+    val m1 = new LocalGpuMetric()
+    m1.ns(
+      m1.ns(
+        Thread.sleep(100)
+      )
+    )
+    // if the timing is duplicated, the value should be around 200,000,000
+    assert(m1.value < 100000000 * 1.5)
+    assert(m1.value > 100000000 * 0.5)
+  }
+
+  test("MetricRange: duplicate timing on the same metrics") {
+    val m1 = new LocalGpuMetric()
+    val m2 = new LocalGpuMetric()
+    withResource(new MetricRange(m1, m2)) { _ =>
+      withResource(new MetricRange(m2, m1)) { _ =>
+        Thread.sleep(100)
+      }
+    }
+
+    // if the timing is duplicated, the value should be around 200,000,000
+    assert(m1.value < 100000000 * 1.5)
+    assert(m1.value > 100000000 * 0.5)
+    assert(m2.value < 100000000 * 1.5)
+    assert(m2.value > 100000000 * 0.5)
+  }
+
+  test("NvtxWithMetrics: duplicate timing on the same metrics") {
+    val m1 = new LocalGpuMetric()
+    val m2 = new LocalGpuMetric()
+    withResource(new NvtxWithMetrics("a", NvtxColor.BLUE, m1, m2)) { _ =>
+      withResource(new NvtxWithMetrics("b", NvtxColor.BLUE, m2, m1)) { _ =>
+        Thread.sleep(100)
+      }
+    }
+
+    // if the timing is duplicated, the value should be around 200,000,000
+    assert(m1.value < 100000000 * 1.5)
+    assert(m1.value > 100000000 * 0.5)
+    assert(m2.value < 100000000 * 1.5)
+    assert(m2.value > 100000000 * 0.5)
+  }
+}