diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 0a45ec3fe3..295904e60d 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -2,6 +2,10 @@
 
 ## Unreleased
 
+### Fixes
+
+- Prevent duplicated breadcrumbs on tombstone-merged native crash events ([#5888](https://github.com/getsentry/sentry-java/pull/5888))
+
 ### Dependencies
 
 - Bump Native SDK from v0.16.2 to v0.16.3 ([#5962](https://github.com/getsentry/sentry-java/pull/5962))
diff --git a/sentry-android-core/src/main/java/io/sentry/android/core/ApplicationExitInfoEventProcessor.java b/sentry-android-core/src/main/java/io/sentry/android/core/ApplicationExitInfoEventProcessor.java
index 3182828a02..31fe2442bf 100644
--- a/sentry-android-core/src/main/java/io/sentry/android/core/ApplicationExitInfoEventProcessor.java
+++ b/sentry-android-core/src/main/java/io/sentry/android/core/ApplicationExitInfoEventProcessor.java
@@ -349,16 +349,19 @@ private void setExtras(final @NotNull SentryBaseEvent event) {
 
   @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
   private void setBreadcrumbs(final @NotNull SentryBaseEvent event) {
+    final List<Breadcrumb> eventBreadcrumbs = event.getBreadcrumbs();
+    if (eventBreadcrumbs != null && !eventBreadcrumbs.isEmpty()) {
+      // the event already carries its own breadcrumbs (e.g. a tombstone-merged native
+      // crash event), so appending the persisted ones here would duplicate entries. Skip the
+      // disk read altogether since the result would be discarded anyway.
+      return;
+    }
     final List<Breadcrumb> breadcrumbs =
         (List<Breadcrumb>) readFromDisk(options, BREADCRUMBS_FILENAME, List.class);
     if (breadcrumbs == null) {
       return;
     }
-    if (event.getBreadcrumbs() == null) {
-      event.setBreadcrumbs(breadcrumbs);
-    } else {
-      event.getBreadcrumbs().addAll(breadcrumbs);
-    }
+    event.setBreadcrumbs(breadcrumbs);
   }
 
   @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
diff --git a/sentry-android-core/src/test/java/io/sentry/android/core/ApplicationExitInfoEventProcessorTest.kt b/sentry-android-core/src/test/java/io/sentry/android/core/ApplicationExitInfoEventProcessorTest.kt
index 176ca460eb..f484f994db 100644
--- a/sentry-android-core/src/test/java/io/sentry/android/core/ApplicationExitInfoEventProcessorTest.kt
+++ b/sentry-android-core/src/test/java/io/sentry/android/core/ApplicationExitInfoEventProcessorTest.kt
@@ -334,6 +334,21 @@ class ApplicationExitInfoEventProcessorTest {
     assertEquals("Google Chrome", processed.contexts.browser!!.name)
   }
 
+  @Test
+  fun `when backfillable event already has breadcrumbs, does not duplicate them with persisted ones`() {
+    // simulates a tombstone-merged native crash event, which already carries its own
+    // breadcrumb history captured at crash time, overlapping with what was persisted to disk
+    val hint = HintUtils.createWithTypeCheckHint(BackfillableHint())
+
+    val processed =
+      processEvent(hint, populateScopeCache = true) {
+        breadcrumbs = listOf(Breadcrumb.debug("own-crash-time-breadcrumb"))
+      }
+
+    assertEquals(1, processed.breadcrumbs!!.size)
+    assertEquals("own-crash-time-breadcrumb", processed.breadcrumbs!![0].message)
+  }
+
   @Test
   fun `when backfillable event is enrichable, does not backfill user ip`() {
     val hint = HintUtils.createWithTypeCheckHint(BackfillableHint())
@@ -670,10 +685,11 @@ class ApplicationExitInfoEventProcessorTest {
 
     assertEquals("MainActivity", processed.transaction)
     assertEquals(DEBUG, processed.level)
-    assertEquals(3, processed.breadcrumbs!!.size)
+    // breadcrumbs already set on the event are preserved as-is, not merged with the persisted
+    // ones, since the event already carries its own authoritative breadcrumb history
+    assertEquals(1, processed.breadcrumbs!!.size)
     assertEquals("debug", processed.breadcrumbs!![0].type)
-    assertEquals("debug", processed.breadcrumbs!![1].type)
-    assertEquals("navigation", processed.breadcrumbs!![2].type)
+    assertEquals("test", processed.breadcrumbs!![0].message)
 
     assertEquals("debug", processed.environment)
     assertEquals("io.sentry.samples@1.1.0+220", processed.release)
diff --git a/sentry/src/main/java/io/sentry/SentryClient.java b/sentry/src/main/java/io/sentry/SentryClient.java
index 92037f6690..d4922be5dd 100644
--- a/sentry/src/main/java/io/sentry/SentryClient.java
+++ b/sentry/src/main/java/io/sentry/SentryClient.java
@@ -1618,8 +1618,13 @@ public void captureBatchedMetricsEvents(final @NotNull SentryMetricsEvents metri
           }
         }
       }
-      if (sentryBaseEvent.getBreadcrumbs() == null) {
-        sentryBaseEvent.setBreadcrumbs(new ArrayList<>(scope.getBreadcrumbs()));
+      final List<Breadcrumb> eventBreadcrumbs = sentryBaseEvent.getBreadcrumbs();
+      if (eventBreadcrumbs == null || eventBreadcrumbs.isEmpty()) {
+        // A cached event comes from the outbox; its breadcrumbs (even if empty) belong to a
+        // past session, so the current scope's breadcrumbs are unrelated and must not be applied.
+        if (!isCached) {
+          sentryBaseEvent.setBreadcrumbs(new ArrayList<>(scope.getBreadcrumbs()));
+        }
       } else if (!isCached) {
         // A Cached event comes from the outbox and already carries its own breadcrumbs (e.g. native
         // events written by sentry-native). Appending the scope's breadcrumbs would duplicate them.