diff --git a/datadog_lambda/api.py b/datadog_lambda/api.py
index fd3e2c17..5c6f7c52 100644
--- a/datadog_lambda/api.py
+++ b/datadog_lambda/api.py
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 import os
 import logging
 
+from datadog_lambda.aws import current_region, running_in_gov_region
+
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 KMS_ENCRYPTION_CONTEXT_KEY = "LambdaFunctionName"
 api_key = None
@@ -62,8 +64,8 @@ def get_api_key() -> str:
     DD_KMS_API_KEY = os.environ.get("DD_KMS_API_KEY", "")
     DD_API_KEY = os.environ.get("DD_API_KEY", os.environ.get("DATADOG_API_KEY", ""))
 
-    LAMBDA_REGION = os.environ.get("AWS_REGION", "")
-    is_gov_region = LAMBDA_REGION.startswith("us-gov-")
+    LAMBDA_REGION = current_region()
+    is_gov_region = running_in_gov_region()
     if is_gov_region:
         logger.debug(
             "Govcloud region detected. Using FIPs endpoints for secrets management."
diff --git a/datadog_lambda/aws.py b/datadog_lambda/aws.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..89a05580
--- /dev/null
+++ b/datadog_lambda/aws.py
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+import os
+
+
+def current_region() -> str:
+    return os.environ.get("AWS_REGION", "")
+
+
+def running_in_gov_region() -> bool:
+    return current_region().startswith("us-gov-")
diff --git a/datadog_lambda/metric.py b/datadog_lambda/metric.py
index f9c67a26..94bf93b6 100644
--- a/datadog_lambda/metric.py
+++ b/datadog_lambda/metric.py
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
 
 from datadog_lambda.extension import should_use_extension
 from datadog_lambda.tags import get_enhanced_metrics_tags, dd_lambda_layer_tag
+from datadog_lambda.aws import running_in_gov_region
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
@@ -76,6 +77,18 @@ def lambda_metric(metric_name, value, timestamp=None, tags=None, force_async=Fal
     tags.append(dd_lambda_layer_tag)
 
     if should_use_extension and timestamp is not None:
+        if running_in_gov_region():
+            # Metrics with timestamps get shipped directly to datadog instead
+            # of going to the agent. We cannot guarantee from our side that
+            # this will be done in a FIPS-compliant way, so we disable this
+            # feature for now. We may revisit it in the future.
+            logger.warning(
+                "Ignoring metric submission for metric '%s' because we cannot guarantee "
+                "FIPS-compliance for metrics submitted directly to Datadog.",
+                metric_name,
+            )
+            return
+
         # The extension does not support timestamps for distributions so we create a
         # a thread stats writer to submit metrics with timestamps to the API
         timestamp_ceiling = int(
diff --git a/tests/test_api.py b/tests/test_api.py
index c98d91eb..513ccd8f 100644
--- a/tests/test_api.py
+++ b/tests/test_api.py
@@ -22,6 +22,9 @@ def setUp(self):
         )
         self.env_patcher.start()
 
+    def tearDown(self):
+        self.env_patcher.stop()
+
     @patch("botocore.session.Session.create_client")
     def test_secrets_manager_fips_endpoint(self, mock_boto3_client):
         mock_client = MagicMock()
diff --git a/tests/test_metric.py b/tests/test_metric.py
index d10a0f0d..99dc3c87 100644
--- a/tests/test_metric.py
+++ b/tests/test_metric.py
@@ -58,6 +58,20 @@ def test_lambda_metric_timestamp_with_extension(self):
             "test_timestamp", 1, timestamp=timestamp, tags=[dd_lambda_layer_tag]
         )
 
+    @patch("os.environ", {"AWS_REGION": "us-gov-west-1"})
+    @patch("datadog_lambda.metric.should_use_extension", True)
+    def test_lambda_metric_timestamp_with_extension_in_govcloud(self):
+        patcher = patch("datadog_lambda.metric.extension_thread_stats")
+        self.mock_metric_extension_thread_stats = patcher.start()
+        self.addCleanup(patcher.stop)
+
+        delta = timedelta(minutes=1)
+        timestamp = int((datetime.now() - delta).timestamp())
+
+        lambda_metric("test_timestamp", 1, timestamp)
+        self.mock_metric_lambda_stats.distribution.assert_not_called()
+        self.mock_metric_extension_thread_stats.distribution.assert_not_called()
+
     @patch("datadog_lambda.metric.should_use_extension", True)
     def test_lambda_metric_datetime_with_extension(self):
         patcher = patch("datadog_lambda.metric.extension_thread_stats")