diff --git a/paxml/decode_programs.py b/paxml/decode_programs.py
index 531ef617..c5c8030a 100644
--- a/paxml/decode_programs.py
+++ b/paxml/decode_programs.py
@@ -398,6 +398,13 @@ def _run_decode_loop(
           'Finished decoding input batch %d for %s', step_num, self._name
       )
 
+      if (
+          profiler is not None
+          and step_num - self._task.decode.profiler_capture_step == 
+              profiler._capture_num_steps
+      ):
+        profiler.stop_capture_async()
+
       if jax.process_index() == 0:
         # Copy the tensor from device memory to ram, since accumulating such
         # tensor on devices may cause HBM OOM, when
diff --git a/paxml/profiling.py b/paxml/profiling.py
index 3b40b7b4..2e8f5547 100644
--- a/paxml/profiling.py
+++ b/paxml/profiling.py
@@ -16,7 +16,15 @@
 """Expose functionalities for profiling code."""
 
 from absl import logging
+from ctypes import cdll
 
+libcudart = cdll.LoadLibrary('libcudart.so')
+def cudaProfilerStart():
+    libcudart.cudaProfilerStart()
+def cudaProfilerStop():
+    libcudart.cudaProfilerStop()
+def cudaDeviceSynchronize():
+    libcudart.cudaDeviceSynchronize()
 
 class Profiler:
   """Dummy class to capture code profiles.
@@ -64,8 +72,13 @@ def capture_async(self) -> None:
 
     The duration of the trace corresponds to step_duration_estimate_sec.
     """
+    cudaProfilerStart()
     logging.info('Dummy profiler currently does not capture any trace.')
 
+  def stop_capture_async(self) -> None:
+    cudaDeviceSynchronize()
+    cudaProfilerStop()
+
   def update_step_moving_mean(self, duration_sec: float):
     """Updates the step duration moving average with a step duration estimate.
 
diff --git a/paxml/programs.py b/paxml/programs.py
index ecc88be6..b8cbc90a 100644
--- a/paxml/programs.py
+++ b/paxml/programs.py
@@ -392,6 +392,14 @@ def run(self, state: TrainState, step: int) -> TrainProgramOutput:
 
     if do_profile and step - self._initial_step < profiler_capture_step:
       self._profiler.update_step_moving_mean(train_period.elapsed)
+
+    if ( 
+        do_profile 
+        and step - self._initial_step == 
+            profiler_capture_step + self._profiler._capture_num_steps
+    ):
+      self._profiler.stop_capture_async()
+
     logging.log_first_n(
         logging.INFO, '[PAX STATUS]:  Writing summaries (attempt).', 5
     )