diff --git a/libdd-profiling-heap-sampler/include/datadog/heap/probes.h b/libdd-profiling-heap-sampler/include/datadog/heap/probes.h
index a67066ecc0..28913194bc 100644
--- a/libdd-profiling-heap-sampler/include/datadog/heap/probes.h
+++ b/libdd-profiling-heap-sampler/include/datadog/heap/probes.h
@@ -34,6 +34,11 @@ void dd_probe_alloc(void *user, uint64_t size, uint64_t weight);
 /*
  * Emits the `ddheap:free` USDT.
  *   ptr - user-visible pointer being freed
+ *
+ * The symbol always exists, but the USDT is only emitted when compiled
+ * with live-heap tracking. The absence of the `ddheap:free` note in
+ * .note.stapsdt signals to external profilers that this binary does not
+ * support live-heap correlation.
  */
 void dd_probe_free(void *ptr);
 
diff --git a/libdd-profiling-heap-sampler/src/allocation_freed.c b/libdd-profiling-heap-sampler/src/allocation_freed.c
index bf50e83bd3..a4bebbf96e 100644
--- a/libdd-profiling-heap-sampler/src/allocation_freed.c
+++ b/libdd-profiling-heap-sampler/src/allocation_freed.c
@@ -12,7 +12,8 @@
  * dd_sample_flag_check confirmed that ptr carries the sample flag,
  * meaning this allocation was previously sampled.
  *
- * Fires the ddheap:free USDT with the user-visible pointer, then returns
+ * Fires the ddheap:free USDT (when live-heap tracking is enabled) with the
+ * user-visible pointer, then returns
  * the raw pointer and adjusted size that the caller must forward to the
  * real deallocator. On x86-64 the size grows by DD_HEADER_BYTES to cover
  * the header that was reserved at allocation time; on arm64 the size is
@@ -21,7 +22,9 @@
 dd_alloc_freed_t dd_allocation_freed_slow(void *ptr, void *raw, size_t size,
                                           size_t alignment) {
     /* Fire with the user-visible pointer, matching what was reported at alloc
-     * time, so the profiler can correlate the two events by address. */
+     * time, so the profiler can correlate the two events by address. Safe to
+     * call unconditionally: dd_probe_free is a no-op USDT-wise when live-heap
+     * tracking is off. */
     dd_probe_free(ptr);
 
     dd_alloc_freed_t out = {
diff --git a/libdd-profiling-heap-sampler/src/lib.rs b/libdd-profiling-heap-sampler/src/lib.rs
index d5380de1ce..1984b636cf 100644
--- a/libdd-profiling-heap-sampler/src/lib.rs
+++ b/libdd-profiling-heap-sampler/src/lib.rs
@@ -210,6 +210,38 @@ mod tests {
         }
     }
 
+    // With live-heap tracking compiled out, dd_allocation_freed is a
+    // straight passthrough: it never inspects the sample-flag header and
+    // never fires ddheap:free. Verify this even when the underlying
+    // memory happens to contain the magic pattern that *would* trigger
+    // the slow path if live-heap were enabled.
+    #[cfg(not(feature = "live-heap"))]
+    #[test]
+    fn freed_is_passthrough_when_live_heap_disabled() {
+        const MAGIC: u64 = 0xfab1eddec0dedca7;
+        const HEADER_BYTES: usize = 16;
+
+        // Set up a buffer with the magic header so that, if the flag-check
+        // were compiled in, it would consider this allocation sampled.
+        let mut buf = vec![0u8; 128];
+        let base = buf.as_mut_ptr() as usize;
+        let user_addr = base + HEADER_BYTES;
+
+        // Stamp magic at ptr - HEADER_BYTES
+        buf[0..8].copy_from_slice(&MAGIC.to_ne_bytes());
+        // Stamp a plausible offset
+        buf[8..16].copy_from_slice(&(HEADER_BYTES as u64).to_ne_bytes());
+
+        let ptr = user_addr as *mut c_void;
+        unsafe {
+            let freed = dd_allocation_freed(ptr, 64, 8);
+            // Without live-heap the pointer is returned unchanged (no
+            // flag-check, no raw-pointer recovery).
+            assert_eq!(freed.ptr, ptr);
+            assert_eq!(freed.size, 64);
+        }
+    }
+
     #[test]
     fn zero_sampling_interval_disables_sampling() {
         let mut tl = dd_tl_state_t {
diff --git a/libdd-profiling-heap-sampler/src/probes.c b/libdd-profiling-heap-sampler/src/probes.c
index bdc6362013..98cac75b80 100644
--- a/libdd-profiling-heap-sampler/src/probes.c
+++ b/libdd-profiling-heap-sampler/src/probes.c
@@ -18,11 +18,16 @@
  */
 
 #include <datadog/heap/probes.h>
+#include <datadog/heap/sample_flag.h>
 
 void dd_probe_alloc(void *user, uint64_t size, uint64_t weight) {
     USDT(ddheap, alloc, user, size, weight);
 }
 
 void dd_probe_free(void *ptr) {
+#if DD_HEAP_LIVE_TRACKING
     USDT(ddheap, free, ptr);
+#else
+    (void)ptr;
+#endif
 }
\ No newline at end of file