diff --git a/services/core/java/com/android/server/pm/PackageManagerService.java b/services/core/java/com/android/server/pm/PackageManagerService.java
index 91af0eca8707e..4a7b2f6883aef 100644
--- a/services/core/java/com/android/server/pm/PackageManagerService.java
+++ b/services/core/java/com/android/server/pm/PackageManagerService.java
@@ -15336,7 +15336,9 @@ public class PackageManagerService extends IPackageManager.Stub
             // This needs to be done before invoking dexopt so that any install-time profile
             // can be used for optimizations.
             mArtManagerService.prepareAppProfiles(
-                    pkg, resolveUserIds(reconciledPkg.installForUser.getIdentifier()));
+                    pkg,
+                    resolveUserIds(reconciledPkg.installForUser.getIdentifier()),
+                    /* updateReferenceProfileContent= */ true);
 
             // Check whether we need to dexopt the app.
             //
@@ -21184,8 +21186,18 @@ public class PackageManagerService extends IPackageManager.Stub
         //
         // We also have to cover non system users because we do not call the usual install package
         // methods for them.
+        //
+        // NOTE: in order to speed up first boot time we only create the current profile and do not
+        // update the content of the reference profile. A system image should already be configured
+        // with the right profile keys and the profiles for the speed-profile prebuilds should
+        // already be copied. That's done in #performDexOptUpgrade.
+        //
+        // TODO(calin, mathieuc): We should use .dm files for prebuilds profiles instead of
+        // manually copying them in #performDexOptUpgrade. When we do that we should have a more
+        // granular check here and only update the existing profiles.
         if (mIsUpgrade || mFirstBoot || (userId != UserHandle.USER_SYSTEM)) {
-            mArtManagerService.prepareAppProfiles(pkg, userId);
+            mArtManagerService.prepareAppProfiles(pkg, userId,
+                /* updateReferenceProfileContent= */ false);
         }
 
         if ((flags & StorageManager.FLAG_STORAGE_CE) != 0 && ceDataInode != -1) {
diff --git a/services/core/java/com/android/server/pm/dex/ArtManagerService.java b/services/core/java/com/android/server/pm/dex/ArtManagerService.java
index 21daa39e05e04..910ea738acd8e 100644
--- a/services/core/java/com/android/server/pm/dex/ArtManagerService.java
+++ b/services/core/java/com/android/server/pm/dex/ArtManagerService.java
@@ -389,7 +389,8 @@ public class ArtManagerService extends android.content.pm.dex.IArtManager.Stub {
      *   - create the current primary profile to save time at app startup time.
      *   - copy the profiles from the associated dex metadata file to the reference profile.
      */
-    public void prepareAppProfiles(PackageParser.Package pkg, @UserIdInt int user) {
+    public void prepareAppProfiles(PackageParser.Package pkg, @UserIdInt int user,
+            boolean updateReferenceProfileContent) {
         final int appId = UserHandle.getAppId(pkg.applicationInfo.uid);
         if (user < 0) {
             Slog.wtf(TAG, "Invalid user id: " + user);
@@ -404,8 +405,14 @@ public class ArtManagerService extends android.content.pm.dex.IArtManager.Stub {
             for (int i = codePathsProfileNames.size() - 1; i >= 0; i--) {
                 String codePath = codePathsProfileNames.keyAt(i);
                 String profileName = codePathsProfileNames.valueAt(i);
-                File dexMetadata = DexMetadataHelper.findDexMetadataForFile(new File(codePath));
-                String dexMetadataPath = dexMetadata == null ? null : dexMetadata.getAbsolutePath();
+                String dexMetadataPath = null;
+                // Passing the dex metadata file to the prepare method will update the reference
+                // profile content. As such, we look for the dex metadata file only if we need to
+                // perform an update.
+                if (updateReferenceProfileContent) {
+                    File dexMetadata = DexMetadataHelper.findDexMetadataForFile(new File(codePath));
+                    dexMetadataPath = dexMetadata == null ? null : dexMetadata.getAbsolutePath();
+                }
                 synchronized (mInstaller) {
                     boolean result = mInstaller.prepareAppProfile(pkg.packageName, user, appId,
                             profileName, codePath, dexMetadataPath);
@@ -423,9 +430,10 @@ public class ArtManagerService extends android.content.pm.dex.IArtManager.Stub {
     /**
      * Prepares the app profiles for a set of users. {@see ArtManagerService#prepareAppProfiles}.
      */
-    public void prepareAppProfiles(PackageParser.Package pkg, int[] user) {
+    public void prepareAppProfiles(PackageParser.Package pkg, int[] user,
+            boolean updateReferenceProfileContent) {
         for (int i = 0; i < user.length; i++) {
-            prepareAppProfiles(pkg, user[i]);
+            prepareAppProfiles(pkg, user[i], updateReferenceProfileContent);
         }
     }