diff --git a/apisix/plugins/datadog.lua b/apisix/plugins/datadog.lua
index c720f4216cf5..b39f5718c8cd 100644
--- a/apisix/plugins/datadog.lua
+++ b/apisix/plugins/datadog.lua
@@ -142,17 +142,8 @@ local function generate_tag(entry, const_tags)
 end
 
 
-local function send_metric_over_udp(entry, metadata)
-    local err_msg
-    local sock = udp()
-    local host, port = metadata.value.host, metadata.value.port
-
-    local ok, err = sock:setpeername(host, port)
-    if not ok then
-        return false, "failed to connect to UDP server: host[" .. host
-                      .. "] port[" .. tostring(port) .. "] err: " .. err
-    end
-
+-- Build all DogStatsD metrics for one entry as a single newline-delimited packet.
+local function build_metrics(entry, metadata)
     -- Generate prefix & suffix according dogstatsd udp data format.
     local suffix = generate_tag(entry, metadata.value.constant_tags)
     local prefix = metadata.value.namespace
@@ -160,72 +151,24 @@ local function send_metric_over_udp(entry, metadata)
         prefix = prefix .. "."
     end
 
-    -- request counter
-    ok, err = sock:send(format("%s:%s|%s%s", prefix .. "request.counter", 1, "c", suffix))
-    if not ok then
-        err_msg = "error sending request.counter: " .. err
-        core.log.error("failed to report request count to dogstatsd server: host[" .. host
-                       .. "] port[" .. tostring(port) .. "] err: " .. err)
-    end
-
-    -- request latency histogram
-    ok, err = sock:send(format("%s:%s|%s%s", prefix .. "request.latency",
-                               entry.latency, "h", suffix))
-    if not ok then
-        err_msg = "error sending request.latency: " .. err
-        core.log.error("failed to report request latency to dogstatsd server: host["
-                       .. host .. "] port[" .. tostring(port) .. "] err: " .. err)
-    end
+    local metrics = {
+        format("%s:%s|%s%s", prefix .. "request.counter", 1, "c", suffix),
+        format("%s:%s|%s%s", prefix .. "request.latency", entry.latency, "h", suffix),
+    }
 
-    -- upstream latency
     if entry.upstream_latency then
-        ok, err = sock:send(format("%s:%s|%s%s", prefix .. "upstream.latency",
-                                   entry.upstream_latency, "h", suffix))
-        if not ok then
-            err_msg = "error sending upstream.latency: " .. err
-            core.log.error("failed to report upstream latency to dogstatsd server: host["
-                           .. host .. "] port[" .. tostring(port) .. "] err: " .. err)
-        end
-    end
-
-    -- apisix_latency
-    ok, err = sock:send(format("%s:%s|%s%s", prefix .. "apisix.latency",
-                               entry.apisix_latency, "h", suffix))
-    if not ok then
-        err_msg = "error sending apisix.latency: " .. err
-        core.log.error("failed to report apisix latency to dogstatsd server: host[" .. host
-                       .. "] port[" .. tostring(port) .. "] err: " .. err)
+        core.table.insert(metrics, format("%s:%s|%s%s", prefix .. "upstream.latency",
+                                           entry.upstream_latency, "h", suffix))
     end
 
-    -- request body size timer
-    ok, err = sock:send(format("%s:%s|%s%s", prefix .. "ingress.size",
-                               entry.request.size, "ms", suffix))
-    if not ok then
-        err_msg = "error sending ingress.size: " .. err
-        core.log.error("failed to report req body size to dogstatsd server: host[" .. host
-                       .. "] port[" .. tostring(port) .. "] err: " .. err)
-    end
-
-    -- response body size timer
-    ok, err = sock:send(format("%s:%s|%s%s", prefix .. "egress.size",
-                               entry.response.size, "ms", suffix))
-    if not ok then
-        err_msg = "error sending egress.size: " .. err
-        core.log.error("failed to report response body size to dogstatsd server: host["
-                       .. host .. "] port[" .. tostring(port) .. "] err: " .. err)
-    end
+    core.table.insert(metrics, format("%s:%s|%s%s", prefix .. "apisix.latency",
+                                      entry.apisix_latency, "h", suffix))
+    core.table.insert(metrics, format("%s:%s|%s%s", prefix .. "ingress.size",
+                                      entry.request.size, "ms", suffix))
+    core.table.insert(metrics, format("%s:%s|%s%s", prefix .. "egress.size",
+                                      entry.response.size, "ms", suffix))
 
-    ok, err = sock:close()
-    if not ok then
-        core.log.error("failed to close the UDP connection, host[",
-                       host, "] port[", port, "] ", err)
-    end
-
-    if not err_msg then
-        return true
-    end
-
-    return false, err_msg
+    return concat(metrics, "\n")
 end
 
 
@@ -240,16 +183,40 @@ local function push_metrics(entries)
         metadata = {}
         metadata.value = defaults
     end
-    core.log.info("sending batch metrics to dogstatsd: ", metadata.value.host,
-                  ":", metadata.value.port)
 
+    local host, port = metadata.value.host, metadata.value.port
+    core.log.info("sending batch metrics to dogstatsd: ", host, ":", port)
+
+    -- reuse a single socket for the whole batch instead of one per entry
+    local sock = udp()
+    local ok, err = sock:setpeername(host, port)
+    if not ok then
+        return false, "failed to connect to UDP server: host[" .. host
+                      .. "] port[" .. tostring(port) .. "] err: " .. err
+    end
+
+    local err_msg, first_fail
     for i = 1, #entries do
-        local ok, err = send_metric_over_udp(entries[i], metadata)
-        if not ok then
-            return false, err, i
+        -- coalesce the per-request metrics into one datagram
+        local send_ok, send_err = sock:send(build_metrics(entries[i], metadata))
+        if not send_ok then
+            err_msg = "failed to send metrics to dogstatsd server: host[" .. host
+                      .. "] port[" .. tostring(port) .. "] err: " .. send_err
+            first_fail = i
+            break
         end
     end
 
+    ok, err = sock:close()
+    if not ok then
+        core.log.error("failed to close the UDP connection, host[",
+                       host, "] port[", port, "] ", err)
+    end
+
+    if err_msg then
+        return false, err_msg, first_fail
+    end
+
     return true
 end
 
diff --git a/t/lib/mock_layer4.lua b/t/lib/mock_layer4.lua
index cc15bb04fcb9..b4d4e1031871 100644
--- a/t/lib/mock_layer4.lua
+++ b/t/lib/mock_layer4.lua
@@ -38,7 +38,11 @@ function _M.dogstatsd()
             end
             return
         end
-        core.log.warn("message received: ", data)
+
+        -- a datagram may carry several newline-delimited metrics
+        for line in data:gmatch("[^\n]+") do
+            core.log.warn("message received: ", line)
+        end
     end
 end