diff --git a/tracing-subscriber/src/filter/env/directive.rs b/tracing-subscriber/src/filter/env/directive.rs
index 29cc959d5e..e9d4a3f4b6 100644
--- a/tracing-subscriber/src/filter/env/directive.rs
+++ b/tracing-subscriber/src/filter/env/directive.rs
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ pub(crate) type Statics = DirectiveSet<StaticDirective>;
 #[derive(Debug, PartialEq)]
 pub(crate) struct DirectiveSet<T> {
     directives: Vec<T>,
-    max_level: LevelFilter,
+    pub(crate) max_level: LevelFilter,
 }
 
 pub(crate) type CallsiteMatcher = MatchSet<field::CallsiteMatch>;
@@ -406,6 +406,7 @@ impl<T: Match + Ord> DirectiveSet<T> {
         self.directives
             .iter()
             .filter(move |d| d.cares_about(metadata))
+            .rev()
     }
 
     pub(crate) fn add(&mut self, directive: T) {
@@ -482,7 +483,10 @@ impl Dynamics {
 impl Statics {
     pub(crate) fn enabled(&self, meta: &Metadata<'_>) -> bool {
         let level = meta.level();
-        self.directives_for(meta).any(|d| d.level >= *level)
+        match self.directives_for(meta).next() {
+            Some(d) => d.level >= *level,
+            None => false,
+        }
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/tracing-subscriber/src/filter/env/mod.rs b/tracing-subscriber/src/filter/env/mod.rs
index bcce17ec52..1da676efb8 100644
--- a/tracing-subscriber/src/filter/env/mod.rs
+++ b/tracing-subscriber/src/filter/env/mod.rs
@@ -96,7 +96,7 @@ use tracing_core::{
 pub struct EnvFilter {
     statics: directive::Statics,
     dynamics: directive::Dynamics,
-
+    has_dynamics: bool,
     by_id: RwLock<HashMap<span::Id, directive::SpanMatcher>>,
     by_cs: RwLock<HashMap<callsite::Identifier, directive::CallsiteMatcher>>,
 }
@@ -219,6 +219,7 @@ impl EnvFilter {
         if let Some(stat) = directive.to_static() {
             self.statics.add(stat)
         } else {
+            self.has_dynamics = true;
             self.dynamics.add(directive);
         }
         self
@@ -226,14 +227,16 @@ impl EnvFilter {
 
     fn from_directives(directives: impl IntoIterator<Item = Directive>) -> Self {
         let (dynamics, mut statics) = Directive::make_tables(directives);
+        let has_dynamics = !dynamics.is_empty();
 
-        if statics.is_empty() && dynamics.is_empty() {
+        if statics.is_empty() && !has_dynamics {
             statics.add(directive::StaticDirective::default());
         }
 
         Self {
             statics,
             dynamics,
+            has_dynamics,
             by_id: RwLock::new(HashMap::new()),
             by_cs: RwLock::new(HashMap::new()),
         }
@@ -245,17 +248,17 @@ impl EnvFilter {
     }
 
     fn base_interest(&self) -> Interest {
-        if self.dynamics.is_empty() {
-            Interest::never()
-        } else {
+        if self.has_dynamics {
             Interest::sometimes()
+        } else {
+            Interest::never()
         }
     }
 }
 
 impl<S: Subscriber> Layer<S> for EnvFilter {
     fn register_callsite(&self, metadata: &'static Metadata<'static>) -> Interest {
-        if metadata.is_span() {
+        if self.has_dynamics && metadata.is_span() {
             // If this metadata describes a span, first, check if there is a
             // dynamic filter that should be constructed for it. If so, it
             // should always be enabled, since it influences filtering.
@@ -276,20 +279,35 @@ impl<S: Subscriber> Layer<S> for EnvFilter {
 
     fn enabled(&self, metadata: &Metadata<'_>, _: Context<'_, S>) -> bool {
         let level = metadata.level();
-        SCOPE.with(|scope| {
-            for filter in scope.borrow().iter() {
-                if filter >= level {
-                    return true;
+
+        // is it possible for a dynamic filter directive to enable this event?
+        // if not, we can avoid the thread local access + iterating over the
+        // spans in the current scope.
+        if self.has_dynamics && self.dynamics.max_level >= *level {
+            let enabled_by_scope = SCOPE.with(|scope| {
+                for filter in scope.borrow().iter() {
+                    if filter >= level {
+                        return true;
+                    }
                 }
+                false
+            });
+            if enabled_by_scope {
+                return true;
             }
+        }
 
+        // is it possible for a static filter directive to enable this event?
+        if self.statics.max_level >= *level {
             // Otherwise, fall back to checking if the callsite is
             // statically enabled.
             // TODO(eliza): we *might* want to check this only if the `log`
             // feature is enabled, since if this is a `tracing` event with a
             // real callsite, it would already have been statically enabled...
-            self.statics.enabled(metadata)
-        })
+            return self.statics.enabled(metadata);
+        }
+
+        false
     }
 
     fn new_span(&self, attrs: &span::Attributes<'_>, id: &span::Id, _: Context<'_, S>) {