diff --git a/prometheus-metrics-core/src/main/java/io/prometheus/metrics/core/metrics/Buffer.java b/prometheus-metrics-core/src/main/java/io/prometheus/metrics/core/metrics/Buffer.java
index d4ff33a37..f5d85aa10 100644
--- a/prometheus-metrics-core/src/main/java/io/prometheus/metrics/core/metrics/Buffer.java
+++ b/prometheus-metrics-core/src/main/java/io/prometheus/metrics/core/metrics/Buffer.java
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@
 class Buffer {
 
   private static final long bufferActiveBit = 1L << 63;
-  private final AtomicLong observationCount = new AtomicLong(0);
+  private final AtomicLong[] stripedObservationCounts;
   private double[] observationBuffer = new double[0];
   private int bufferPos = 0;
   private boolean reset = false;
@@ -27,8 +27,18 @@ class Buffer {
   ReentrantLock runLock = new ReentrantLock();
   Condition bufferFilled = appendLock.newCondition();
 
+  Buffer() {
+    stripedObservationCounts = new AtomicLong[Runtime.getRuntime().availableProcessors()];
+    for (int i = 0; i < stripedObservationCounts.length; i++) {
+      stripedObservationCounts[i] = new AtomicLong(0);
+    }
+  }
+
   boolean append(double value) {
-    long count = observationCount.incrementAndGet();
+    AtomicLong observationCountForThread =
+        stripedObservationCounts[
+            ((int) Thread.currentThread().getId()) % stripedObservationCounts.length];
+    long count = observationCountForThread.incrementAndGet();
     if ((count & bufferActiveBit) == 0) {
       return false; // sign bit not set -> buffer not active.
     } else {
@@ -69,7 +79,10 @@ <T extends DataPointSnapshot> T run(
     runLock.lock();
     try {
       // Signal that the buffer is active.
-      Long expectedCount = observationCount.getAndAdd(bufferActiveBit);
+      Long expectedCount = 0L;
+      for (AtomicLong observationCount : stripedObservationCounts) {
+        expectedCount += observationCount.getAndAdd(bufferActiveBit);
+      }
 
       while (!complete.apply(expectedCount)) {
         // Wait until all in-flight threads have added their observations to the histogram /
@@ -81,14 +94,18 @@ <T extends DataPointSnapshot> T run(
       result = createResult.get();
 
       // Signal that the buffer is inactive.
-      int expectedBufferSize;
+      long expectedBufferSize = 0;
       if (reset) {
-        expectedBufferSize =
-            (int) ((observationCount.getAndSet(0) & ~bufferActiveBit) - expectedCount);
+        for (AtomicLong observationCount : stripedObservationCounts) {
+          expectedBufferSize += (int) (observationCount.getAndSet(0) & ~bufferActiveBit);
+        }
         reset = false;
       } else {
-        expectedBufferSize = (int) (observationCount.addAndGet(bufferActiveBit) - expectedCount);
+        for (AtomicLong observationCount : stripedObservationCounts) {
+          expectedBufferSize += (int) observationCount.addAndGet(bufferActiveBit);
+        }
       }
+      expectedBufferSize -= expectedCount;
 
       appendLock.lock();
       try {