diff --git a/pkg/kv/kvserver/replica_eval_context.go b/pkg/kv/kvserver/replica_eval_context.go
index cf1597645707..207b54966cc0 100644
--- a/pkg/kv/kvserver/replica_eval_context.go
+++ b/pkg/kv/kvserver/replica_eval_context.go
@@ -32,18 +32,34 @@ var todoSpanSet = &spanset.SpanSet{}
 // evalContextImpl implements the batcheval.EvalContext interface.
 type evalContextImpl struct {
 	*Replica
-	closedTS hlc.Timestamp
+	// NB: We cannot use the emptiness of `closedTS` to determine whether the
+	// closed timestamp was elided during the creation of this eval context, so we
+	// track it separately.
+	closedTSElided bool
+	closedTS       hlc.Timestamp
 }
 
-func newEvalContextImpl(r *Replica) *evalContextImpl {
+func newEvalContextImpl(r *Replica, requireClosedTS bool) *evalContextImpl {
+	var closedTS hlc.Timestamp
+	if requireClosedTS {
+		// We elide this call to get the replica's current closed timestamp unless
+		// the request requires it, in order to avoid redundant mutex contention.
+		closedTS = r.GetCurrentClosedTimestamp(context.Background())
+	}
+
 	return &evalContextImpl{
-		Replica:  r,
-		closedTS: r.GetCurrentClosedTimestamp(context.TODO()),
+		Replica:        r,
+		closedTSElided: !requireClosedTS,
+		closedTS:       closedTS,
 	}
 }
 
 // GetClosedTimestamp implements the EvalContext interface.
-func (ec *evalContextImpl) GetClosedTimestamp(_ context.Context) hlc.Timestamp {
+func (ec *evalContextImpl) GetClosedTimestamp() hlc.Timestamp {
+	if ec.closedTSElided {
+		panic("closed timestamp was elided during eval context creation; does the" +
+			" request set the requiresClosedTimestamp flag?")
+	}
 	return ec.closedTS
 }
 
@@ -53,12 +69,14 @@ var _ batcheval.EvalContext = &evalContextImpl{}
 // evaluation. The supplied SpanSet will be ignored except for race builds, in
 // which case state access is asserted against it. A SpanSet must always be
 // passed.
-func NewReplicaEvalContext(r *Replica, ss *spanset.SpanSet) batcheval.EvalContext {
+func NewReplicaEvalContext(
+	r *Replica, ss *spanset.SpanSet, requireClosedTS bool,
+) batcheval.EvalContext {
 	if ss == nil {
 		log.Fatalf(r.AnnotateCtx(context.Background()), "can't create a ReplicaEvalContext with assertions but no SpanSet")
 	}
 
-	ec := newEvalContextImpl(r)
+	ec := newEvalContextImpl(r, requireClosedTS)
 	if util.RaceEnabled {
 		return &SpanSetReplicaEvalContext{
 			i:  ec,
diff --git a/pkg/kv/kvserver/replica_gossip.go b/pkg/kv/kvserver/replica_gossip.go
index f22a76ced01f..1c21f9111cd4 100644
--- a/pkg/kv/kvserver/replica_gossip.go
+++ b/pkg/kv/kvserver/replica_gossip.go
@@ -174,7 +174,7 @@ func (r *Replica) MaybeGossipNodeLivenessRaftMuLocked(
 	ba.Timestamp = r.store.Clock().Now()
 	ba.Add(&roachpb.ScanRequest{RequestHeader: roachpb.RequestHeaderFromSpan(span)})
 	// Call evaluateBatch instead of Send to avoid reacquiring latches.
-	rec := NewReplicaEvalContext(r, todoSpanSet)
+	rec := NewReplicaEvalContext(r, todoSpanSet, false /* requireClosedTS */)
 	rw := r.Engine().NewReadOnly(storage.StandardDurability)
 	defer rw.Close()
 
@@ -217,7 +217,7 @@ func (r *Replica) loadSystemConfig(ctx context.Context) (*config.SystemConfigEnt
 	ba.Timestamp = r.store.Clock().Now()
 	ba.Add(&roachpb.ScanRequest{RequestHeader: roachpb.RequestHeaderFromSpan(keys.SystemConfigSpan)})
 	// Call evaluateBatch instead of Send to avoid reacquiring latches.
-	rec := NewReplicaEvalContext(r, todoSpanSet)
+	rec := NewReplicaEvalContext(r, todoSpanSet, false /* requireClosedTS */)
 	rw := r.Engine().NewReadOnly(storage.StandardDurability)
 	defer rw.Close()
 
diff --git a/pkg/kv/kvserver/replica_read.go b/pkg/kv/kvserver/replica_read.go
index 985a0793e4c1..592962c7be7c 100644
--- a/pkg/kv/kvserver/replica_read.go
+++ b/pkg/kv/kvserver/replica_read.go
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ func (r *Replica) executeReadOnlyBatch(
 	ui := uncertainty.ComputeInterval(&ba.Header, st, r.Clock().MaxOffset())
 
 	// Evaluate read-only batch command.
-	rec := NewReplicaEvalContext(r, g.LatchSpans())
+	rec := NewReplicaEvalContext(r, g.LatchSpans(), ba.RequiresClosedTS())
 
 	// TODO(irfansharif): It's unfortunate that in this read-only code path,
 	// we're stuck with a ReadWriter because of the way evaluateBatch is
diff --git a/pkg/kv/kvserver/replica_test.go b/pkg/kv/kvserver/replica_test.go
index fd735f7cbd1a..2f075e55ecc9 100644
--- a/pkg/kv/kvserver/replica_test.go
+++ b/pkg/kv/kvserver/replica_test.go
@@ -945,7 +945,7 @@ func TestReplicaLease(t *testing.T) {
 	} {
 		if _, err := batcheval.RequestLease(ctx, tc.store.Engine(),
 			batcheval.CommandArgs{
-				EvalCtx: NewReplicaEvalContext(tc.repl, allSpans()),
+				EvalCtx: NewReplicaEvalContext(tc.repl, allSpans(), false /* requireClosedTS */),
 				Args: &roachpb.RequestLeaseRequest{
 					Lease: lease,
 				},
@@ -4976,7 +4976,7 @@ func TestEndTxnDirectGC(t *testing.T) {
 				var gr roachpb.GetResponse
 				if _, err := batcheval.Get(
 					ctx, tc.engine, batcheval.CommandArgs{
-						EvalCtx: NewReplicaEvalContext(tc.repl, allSpans()),
+						EvalCtx: NewReplicaEvalContext(tc.repl, allSpans(), false /* requireClosedTS */),
 						Args: &roachpb.GetRequest{RequestHeader: roachpb.RequestHeader{
 							Key: keys.TransactionKey(txn.Key, txn.ID),
 						}},
@@ -5359,7 +5359,7 @@ func TestAbortSpanError(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
 
-	rec := &SpanSetReplicaEvalContext{newEvalContextImpl(tc.repl), *allSpans()}
+	rec := &SpanSetReplicaEvalContext{newEvalContextImpl(tc.repl, false /* requireClosedTS */), *allSpans()}
 	pErr := checkIfTxnAborted(ctx, rec, tc.engine, txn)
 	if _, ok := pErr.GetDetail().(*roachpb.TransactionAbortedError); ok {
 		expected := txn.Clone()
@@ -5769,7 +5769,10 @@ func TestResolveIntentPushTxnReplyTxn(t *testing.T) {
 	// return args.PusherTxn.
 	h = roachpb.Header{Timestamp: tc.Clock().Now()}
 	var reply roachpb.PushTxnResponse
-	if _, err := batcheval.PushTxn(ctx, b, batcheval.CommandArgs{EvalCtx: newEvalContextImpl(tc.repl), Stats: &ms, Header: h, Args: &pa}, &reply); err != nil {
+	if _, err := batcheval.PushTxn(ctx, b, batcheval.CommandArgs{EvalCtx: newEvalContextImpl(
+		tc.repl,
+		false, /* requireClosedTS */
+	), Stats: &ms, Header: h, Args: &pa}, &reply); err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	} else if reply.Txn != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("expected nil response txn, but got %s", reply.Txn)
@@ -8457,7 +8460,7 @@ func TestGCWithoutThreshold(t *testing.T) {
 
 			if _, err := batcheval.GC(ctx, rw, batcheval.CommandArgs{
 				Args:    &gc,
-				EvalCtx: NewReplicaEvalContext(tc.repl, &spans),
+				EvalCtx: NewReplicaEvalContext(tc.repl, &spans, false /* requireClosedTS */),
 			}, &resp); err != nil {
 				t.Fatal(err)
 			}
diff --git a/pkg/kv/kvserver/replica_write.go b/pkg/kv/kvserver/replica_write.go
index 8b9ffc849c38..d2b070ee5060 100644
--- a/pkg/kv/kvserver/replica_write.go
+++ b/pkg/kv/kvserver/replica_write.go
@@ -424,7 +424,7 @@ func (r *Replica) evaluateWriteBatch(
 	}
 
 	ms := new(enginepb.MVCCStats)
-	rec := NewReplicaEvalContext(r, g.LatchSpans())
+	rec := NewReplicaEvalContext(r, g.LatchSpans(), ba.RequiresClosedTS())
 	batch, br, res, pErr := r.evaluateWriteBatchWithServersideRefreshes(
 		ctx, idKey, rec, ms, ba, ui, g, nil /* deadline */)
 	return batch, *ms, br, res, pErr
@@ -489,7 +489,7 @@ func (r *Replica) evaluate1PC(
 	// Is this relying on the batch being write-only?
 	ui := uncertainty.Interval{}
 
-	rec := NewReplicaEvalContext(r, g.LatchSpans())
+	rec := NewReplicaEvalContext(r, g.LatchSpans(), ba.RequiresClosedTS())
 	var br *roachpb.BatchResponse
 	var res result.Result
 	var pErr *roachpb.Error
diff --git a/pkg/roachpb/api.go b/pkg/roachpb/api.go
index 4d3c9cddfa42..7208776bee80 100644
--- a/pkg/roachpb/api.go
+++ b/pkg/roachpb/api.go
@@ -95,6 +95,7 @@ const (
 	needsRefresh                                   // commands which require refreshes to avoid serializable retries
 	canBackpressure                                // commands which deserve backpressure when a Range grows too large
 	bypassesReplicaCircuitBreaker                  // commands which bypass the replica circuit breaker, i.e. opt out of fail-fast
+	requiresClosedTimestamp                        // commands which read a replica's closed timestamp
 )
 
 // flagDependencies specifies flag dependencies, asserted by TestFlagCombinations.
@@ -1404,9 +1405,11 @@ func (r *RefreshRangeRequest) flags() flag {
 	return isRead | isTxn | isRange | updatesTSCache
 }
 
-func (*SubsumeRequest) flags() flag                { return isRead | isAlone | updatesTSCache }
+func (*SubsumeRequest) flags() flag {
+	return isRead | isAlone | updatesTSCache | requiresClosedTimestamp
+}
 func (*RangeStatsRequest) flags() flag             { return isRead }
-func (*QueryResolvedTimestampRequest) flags() flag { return isRead | isRange }
+func (*QueryResolvedTimestampRequest) flags() flag { return isRead | isRange | requiresClosedTimestamp }
 func (*ScanInterleavedIntentsRequest) flags() flag { return isRead | isRange }
 func (*BarrierRequest) flags() flag                { return isWrite | isRange }
 
diff --git a/pkg/roachpb/batch.go b/pkg/roachpb/batch.go
index 20d65e9d4049..837e682091a8 100644
--- a/pkg/roachpb/batch.go
+++ b/pkg/roachpb/batch.go
@@ -275,6 +275,12 @@ func (ba *BatchRequest) Require1PC() bool {
 	return etArg.Require1PC
 }
 
+// RequiresClosedTS returns true if the batch contains a request that needs to
+// read a replica's closed timestamp.
+func (ba *BatchRequest) RequiresClosedTS() bool {
+	return ba.hasFlag(requiresClosedTimestamp)
+}
+
 // IsSingleAbortTxnRequest returns true iff the batch contains a single request,
 // and that request is an EndTxnRequest(commit=false).
 func (ba *BatchRequest) IsSingleAbortTxnRequest() bool {