diff --git a/packages/dd-trace/src/profiling/profiler.js b/packages/dd-trace/src/profiling/profiler.js
index e9f1ced1313..8725c06e2a0 100644
--- a/packages/dd-trace/src/profiling/profiler.js
+++ b/packages/dd-trace/src/profiling/profiler.js
@@ -9,18 +9,10 @@ const dc = require('dc-polyfill')
 const crashtracker = require('../crashtracking')
 
 const { promisify } = require('util')
-const zlib = require('zlib')
 
 const profileSubmittedChannel = dc.channel('datadog:profiling:profile-submitted')
 const spanFinishedChannel = dc.channel('dd-trace:span:finish')
 
-function maybeSourceMap (sourceMap, SourceMapper, debug) {
-  if (!sourceMap) return
-  return SourceMapper.create([
-    process.cwd()
-  ], debug)
-}
-
 function logError (logger, ...args) {
   if (logger) {
     logger.error(...args)
@@ -50,22 +42,19 @@ class Profiler extends EventEmitter {
     this._timer = undefined
     this._lastStart = undefined
     this._timeoutInterval = undefined
+    this._sourceMapsLoaded = undefined
     this.endpointCounts = new Map()
   }
 
-  start (options) {
-    return this._start(options).catch((err) => {
-      logError(options.logger, 'Error starting profiler. For troubleshooting tips, see ' +
-        '<https://dtdg.co/nodejs-profiler-troubleshooting>', err)
-      return false
-    })
-  }
-
   _logError (err) {
     logError(this._logger, err)
   }
 
-  async _start (options) {
+  sourceMapsLoaded () {
+    return this._sourceMapsLoaded
+  }
+
+  start (options) {
     if (this._enabled) return true
 
     const config = this._config = new Config(options)
@@ -77,48 +66,41 @@ class Profiler extends EventEmitter {
     // Log errors if the source map finder fails, but don't prevent the rest
     // of the profiler from running without source maps.
     let mapper
-    try {
-      const { setLogger, SourceMapper } = require('@datadog/pprof')
-      setLogger(config.logger)
-
-      mapper = await maybeSourceMap(config.sourceMap, SourceMapper, config.debugSourceMaps)
-      if (config.sourceMap && config.debugSourceMaps) {
-        this._logger.debug(() => {
-          return mapper.infoMap.size === 0
-            ? 'Found no source maps'
-            : `Found source maps for following files: [${[...mapper.infoMap.keys()].join(', ')}]`
-        })
-      }
-
-      const clevel = config.uploadCompression.level
-      switch (config.uploadCompression.method) {
-        case 'gzip':
-          this._compressionFn = promisify(zlib.gzip)
-          if (clevel !== undefined) {
-            this._compressionOptions = {
-              level: clevel
-            }
+    if (config.sourceMap) {
+      try {
+        const { setLogger, SourceMapper } = require('@datadog/pprof')
+        setLogger(config.logger)
+
+        const maybeMapperLoadingPromise = SourceMapper.create([process.cwd()], config.debugSourceMaps)
+        if (maybeMapperLoadingPromise instanceof Promise) {
+          mapper = {
+            hasMappingInfo: () => false,
+            mappingInfo: (l) => l
           }
-          break
-        case 'zstd':
-          if (typeof zlib.zstdCompress === 'function') {
-            this._compressionFn = promisify(zlib.zstdCompress)
-            if (clevel !== undefined) {
-              this._compressionOptions = {
-                params: {
-                  [zlib.constants.ZSTD_c_compressionLevel]: clevel
-                }
-              }
+          this._sourceMapsLoaded = maybeMapperLoadingPromise.then((sourceMap) => {
+            if (config.debugSourceMaps) {
+              this._logger.debug(() => {
+                return sourceMap.infoMap.size === 0
+                  ? 'Found no source maps'
+                  : `Found source maps for following files: [${[...mapper.infoMap.keys()].join(', ')}]`
+              })
             }
-          } else {
-            const zstdCompress = require('@datadog/libdatadog').load('datadog-js-zstd').zstd_compress
-            const level = clevel ?? 0 // 0 is zstd default compression level
-            this._compressionFn = (buffer) => Promise.resolve(Buffer.from(zstdCompress(buffer, level)))
-          }
-          break
+            mapper.hasMappingInfo = sourceMap.hasMappingInfo.bind(sourceMap)
+            mapper.mappingInfo = sourceMap.mappingInfo.bind(sourceMap)
+          }).catch((err) => {
+            this._logError(err)
+          })
+        } else {
+          // If the result of SourceMapper.create is not a promise, it is already loaded
+          mapper = maybeMapperLoadingPromise
+        }
+      } catch (err) {
+        this._logError(err)
       }
-    } catch (err) {
-      this._logError(err)
+    }
+
+    if (this._sourceMapsLoaded === undefined) {
+      this._sourceMapsLoaded = Promise.resolve()
     }
 
     try {
@@ -217,6 +199,45 @@ class Profiler extends EventEmitter {
     }
   }
 
+  _getCompressionFn () {
+    if (this._compressionFn === undefined) {
+      try {
+        const method = this._config.uploadCompression.method
+        if (method === 'off') {
+          return
+        }
+        const zlib = require('zlib')
+        const clevel = this._config.uploadCompression.level
+        if (method === 'gzip') {
+          this._compressionFn = promisify(zlib.gzip)
+          if (clevel !== undefined) {
+            this._compressionOptions = {
+              level: clevel
+            }
+          }
+        } else if (method === 'zstd') {
+          if (typeof zlib.zstdCompress === 'function') {
+            this._compressionFn = promisify(zlib.zstdCompress)
+            if (clevel !== undefined) {
+              this._compressionOptions = {
+                params: {
+                  [zlib.constants.ZSTD_c_compressionLevel]: clevel
+                }
+              }
+            }
+          } else {
+            const zstdCompress = require('@datadog/libdatadog').load('datadog-js-zstd').zstd_compress
+            const level = clevel ?? 0 // 0 is zstd default compression level
+            this._compressionFn = (buffer) => Promise.resolve(Buffer.from(zstdCompress(buffer, level)))
+          }
+        }
+      } catch (err) {
+        this._logError(err)
+      }
+    }
+    return this._compressionFn
+  }
+
   async _collect (snapshotKind, restart = true) {
     if (!this._enabled) return
 
@@ -252,9 +273,13 @@ class Profiler extends EventEmitter {
       await Promise.all(profiles.map(async ({ profiler, profile }) => {
         try {
           const encoded = await profiler.encode(profile)
-          const compressed = encoded instanceof Buffer && this._compressionFn !== undefined
-            ? await this._compressionFn(encoded, this._compressionOptions)
-            : encoded
+          let compressed = encoded
+          if (encoded instanceof Buffer) {
+            const compressionFn = this._getCompressionFn()
+            if (compressionFn !== undefined) {
+              compressed = await compressionFn(encoded, this._compressionOptions)
+            }
+          }
           encodedProfiles[profiler.type] = compressed
           this._logger.debug(() => {
             const profileJson = JSON.stringify(profile, (key, value) => {
diff --git a/packages/dd-trace/src/profiling/profilers/wall.js b/packages/dd-trace/src/profiling/profilers/wall.js
index c39550fc654..1758d4a0221 100644
--- a/packages/dd-trace/src/profiling/profilers/wall.js
+++ b/packages/dd-trace/src/profiling/profilers/wall.js
@@ -86,7 +86,6 @@ class NativeWallProfiler {
     // cpu profiling is enabled.
     this._withContexts = this._captureSpanData || this._timelineEnabled || this._cpuProfilingEnabled
     this._v8ProfilerBugWorkaroundEnabled = !!options.v8ProfilerBugWorkaroundEnabled
-    this._mapper = undefined
     this._pprof = undefined
 
     // Bind these to this so they can be used as callbacks
@@ -111,7 +110,6 @@ class NativeWallProfiler {
   start ({ mapper } = {}) {
     if (this._started) return
 
-    this._mapper = mapper
     this._pprof = require('@datadog/pprof')
     kSampleCount = this._pprof.time.constants.kSampleCount
 
@@ -126,7 +124,7 @@ class NativeWallProfiler {
     this._pprof.time.start({
       intervalMicros: this._samplingIntervalMicros,
       durationMillis: this._flushIntervalMillis,
-      sourceMapper: this._mapper,
+      sourceMapper: mapper,
       withContexts: this._withContexts,
       lineNumbers: false,
       workaroundV8Bug: this._v8ProfilerBugWorkaroundEnabled,
diff --git a/packages/dd-trace/src/proxy.js b/packages/dd-trace/src/proxy.js
index aa678773c53..e312867b2c1 100644
--- a/packages/dd-trace/src/proxy.js
+++ b/packages/dd-trace/src/proxy.js
@@ -159,7 +159,8 @@ class Tracer extends NoopProxy {
         ssiHeuristics.start()
         let mockProfiler = null
         if (config.profiling.enabled === 'true') {
-          this._profilerStarted = this._startProfiler(config)
+          this._startProfiler(config)
+          this._profilerStarted = Promise.resolve(true)
         } else if (ssiHeuristics.emitsTelemetry) {
           // Start a mock profiler that emits mock profile-submitted events for the telemetry.
           // It will be stopped if the real profiler is started by the heuristics.
diff --git a/packages/dd-trace/test/profiling/profiler.spec.js b/packages/dd-trace/test/profiling/profiler.spec.js
index afdfb86a85d..8810d4b8851 100644
--- a/packages/dd-trace/test/profiling/profiler.spec.js
+++ b/packages/dd-trace/test/profiling/profiler.spec.js
@@ -106,15 +106,15 @@ describe('profiler', function () {
     })
 
     it('should start the internal time profilers', async () => {
-      await profiler._start({ profilers, exporters })
+      profiler.start({ profilers, exporters })
 
       sinon.assert.calledOnce(wallProfiler.start)
       sinon.assert.calledOnce(spaceProfiler.start)
     })
 
     it('should start only once', async () => {
-      await profiler._start({ profilers, exporters })
-      await profiler._start({ profilers, exporters })
+      profiler.start({ profilers, exporters })
+      profiler.start({ profilers, exporters })
 
       sinon.assert.calledOnce(wallProfiler.start)
       sinon.assert.calledOnce(spaceProfiler.start)
@@ -127,7 +127,7 @@ describe('profiler', function () {
       ]
 
       for (const exporters of checks) {
-        await profiler._start({
+        profiler.start({
           sourceMap: false,
           exporters
         })
@@ -149,7 +149,7 @@ describe('profiler', function () {
       ].map(profilers => profilers.filter(profiler => samplingContextsAvailable || profiler !== EventsProfiler))
 
       for (const [profilers, ...expected] of checks) {
-        await profiler._start({
+        profiler.start({
           sourceMap: false,
           profilers
         })
@@ -164,7 +164,7 @@ describe('profiler', function () {
     })
 
     it('should stop the internal profilers', async () => {
-      await profiler._start({ profilers, exporters })
+      profiler.start({ profilers, exporters })
       profiler.stop()
 
       sinon.assert.calledOnce(wallProfiler.stop)
@@ -174,7 +174,7 @@ describe('profiler', function () {
     it('should stop when starting failed', async () => {
       wallProfiler.start.throws()
 
-      await profiler._start({ profilers, exporters, logger })
+      profiler.start({ profilers, exporters, logger })
 
       sinon.assert.calledOnce(wallProfiler.stop)
       sinon.assert.calledOnce(spaceProfiler.stop)
@@ -184,7 +184,7 @@ describe('profiler', function () {
     it('should stop when capturing failed', async () => {
       wallProfiler.profile.throws(new Error('boom'))
 
-      await profiler._start({ profilers, exporters, logger })
+      profiler.start({ profilers, exporters, logger })
 
       clock.tick(interval)
 
@@ -200,7 +200,7 @@ describe('profiler', function () {
       const rejected = Promise.reject(new Error('boom'))
       wallProfiler.encode.returns(rejected)
 
-      await profiler._start({ profilers, exporters, logger })
+      profiler.start({ profilers, exporters, logger })
 
       clock.tick(interval)
 
@@ -217,7 +217,7 @@ describe('profiler', function () {
       const rejected = Promise.reject(new Error('boom'))
       exporter.export.returns(rejected)
 
-      await profiler._start({ profilers, exporters, logger })
+      profiler.start({ profilers, exporters, logger })
 
       clock.tick(interval)
 
@@ -230,7 +230,7 @@ describe('profiler', function () {
     })
 
     it('should flush when the interval is reached', async () => {
-      await profiler._start({ profilers, exporters })
+      profiler.start({ profilers, exporters })
 
       clock.tick(interval)
 
@@ -240,7 +240,7 @@ describe('profiler', function () {
     })
 
     it('should flush when the profiler is stopped', async () => {
-      await profiler._start({ profilers, exporters })
+      profiler.start({ profilers, exporters })
 
       profiler.stop()
 
@@ -268,7 +268,7 @@ describe('profiler', function () {
       process.env = {
         DD_PROFILING_DEBUG_UPLOAD_COMPRESSION: compression
       }
-      await profiler._start({ profilers, exporters, tags: { foo: 'foo' } })
+      profiler.start({ profilers, exporters, tags: { foo: 'foo' } })
       process.env = env
 
       clock.tick(interval)
@@ -310,7 +310,7 @@ describe('profiler', function () {
     it('should log exporter errors', async () => {
       exporter.export.rejects(new Error('boom'))
 
-      await profiler._start({ profilers, exporters, logger })
+      profiler.start({ profilers, exporters, logger })
 
       clock.tick(interval)
 
@@ -322,7 +322,7 @@ describe('profiler', function () {
     it('should log encoded profile', async () => {
       exporter.export.rejects(new Error('boom'))
 
-      await profiler._start({ profilers, exporters, logger })
+      profiler.start({ profilers, exporters, logger })
 
       clock.tick(interval)
 
@@ -347,7 +347,7 @@ describe('profiler', function () {
     })
 
     it('should have a new start time for each capture', async () => {
-      await profiler._start({ profilers, exporters })
+      profiler.start({ profilers, exporters })
 
       clock.tick(interval)
       await waitForExport()
@@ -374,7 +374,7 @@ describe('profiler', function () {
     })
 
     it('should not pass source mapper to profilers when disabled', async () => {
-      await profiler._start({ profilers, exporters, sourceMap: false })
+      profiler.start({ profilers, exporters, sourceMap: false })
 
       const options = profilers[0].start.args[0][0]
       expect(options).to.have.property('mapper', undefined)
@@ -383,7 +383,7 @@ describe('profiler', function () {
     it('should pass source mapper to profilers when enabled', async () => {
       const mapper = {}
       sourceMapCreate.returns(mapper)
-      await profiler._start({ profilers, exporters, sourceMap: true })
+      profiler.start({ profilers, exporters, sourceMap: true })
 
       const options = profilers[0].start.args[0][0]
       expect(options).to.have.property('mapper')
@@ -393,7 +393,8 @@ describe('profiler', function () {
     it('should work with a root working dir and source maps on', async () => {
       const error = new Error('fail')
       sourceMapCreate.rejects(error)
-      await profiler._start({ profilers, exporters, logger, sourceMap: true })
+      profiler.start({ profilers, exporters, logger, sourceMap: true })
+      await profiler.sourceMapsLoaded()
       expect(consoleLogger.error.args[0][0]).to.equal(error)
       expect(profiler._enabled).to.equal(true)
     })
@@ -429,7 +430,7 @@ describe('profiler', function () {
     })
 
     it('should increment profiled intervals after one interval elapses', async () => {
-      await profiler._start({ profilers, exporters })
+      profiler.start({ profilers, exporters })
       expect(profiler._profiledIntervals).to.equal(0)
 
       clock.tick(interval)
@@ -439,7 +440,7 @@ describe('profiler', function () {
     })
 
     it('should flush when flush after intervals is reached', async () => {
-      await profiler._start({ profilers, exporters })
+      profiler.start({ profilers, exporters })
 
       // flushAfterIntervals + 1 becauses flushes after last interval
       for (let i = 0; i < flushAfterIntervals + 1; i++) {