diff --git a/internal/datastore/context.go b/internal/datastore/context.go
index ef452a8417..4f082d8982 100644
--- a/internal/datastore/context.go
+++ b/internal/datastore/context.go
@@ -39,6 +39,10 @@ func NewSeparatingContextDatastoreProxy(d datastore.Datastore) datastore.StrictR
 
 type ctxProxy struct{ delegate datastore.Datastore }
 
+func (p *ctxProxy) UniqueID(ctx context.Context) (string, error) {
+	return p.delegate.UniqueID(SeparateContextWithTracing(ctx))
+}
+
 func (p *ctxProxy) ReadWriteTx(
 	ctx context.Context,
 	f datastore.TxUserFunc,
diff --git a/internal/datastore/crdb/crdb.go b/internal/datastore/crdb/crdb.go
index ad3bff7047..ad5afd5434 100644
--- a/internal/datastore/crdb/crdb.go
+++ b/internal/datastore/crdb/crdb.go
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"regexp"
 	"strconv"
+	"sync/atomic"
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/IBM/pgxpoolprometheus"
@@ -345,6 +346,8 @@ type crdbDatastore struct {
 	cancel               context.CancelFunc
 	filterMaximumIDCount uint16
 	supportsIntegrity    bool
+
+	uniqueID atomic.Pointer[string]
 }
 
 func (cds *crdbDatastore) SnapshotReader(rev datastore.Revision) datastore.Reader {
diff --git a/internal/datastore/crdb/stats.go b/internal/datastore/crdb/stats.go
index c468747b1a..dd5e66746e 100644
--- a/internal/datastore/crdb/stats.go
+++ b/internal/datastore/crdb/stats.go
@@ -20,22 +20,33 @@ const (
 	colUniqueID   = "unique_id"
 )
 
-var (
-	queryReadUniqueID = psql.Select(colUniqueID).From(tableMetadata)
-	uniqueID          string
-)
+var queryReadUniqueID = psql.Select(colUniqueID).From(tableMetadata)
 
-func (cds *crdbDatastore) Statistics(ctx context.Context) (datastore.Stats, error) {
-	if len(uniqueID) == 0 {
+func (cds *crdbDatastore) UniqueID(ctx context.Context) (string, error) {
+	if cds.uniqueID.Load() == nil {
 		sql, args, err := queryReadUniqueID.ToSql()
 		if err != nil {
-			return datastore.Stats{}, fmt.Errorf("unable to prepare unique ID sql: %w", err)
+			return "", fmt.Errorf("unable to prepare unique ID sql: %w", err)
 		}
+
+		var uniqueID string
 		if err := cds.readPool.QueryRowFunc(ctx, func(ctx context.Context, row pgx.Row) error {
 			return row.Scan(&uniqueID)
 		}, sql, args...); err != nil {
-			return datastore.Stats{}, fmt.Errorf("unable to query unique ID: %w", err)
+			return "", fmt.Errorf("unable to query unique ID: %w", err)
 		}
+
+		cds.uniqueID.Store(&uniqueID)
+		return uniqueID, nil
+	}
+
+	return *cds.uniqueID.Load(), nil
+}
+
+func (cds *crdbDatastore) Statistics(ctx context.Context) (datastore.Stats, error) {
+	uniqueID, err := cds.UniqueID(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		return datastore.Stats{}, err
 	}
 
 	var nsDefs []datastore.RevisionedNamespace
diff --git a/internal/datastore/memdb/memdb.go b/internal/datastore/memdb/memdb.go
index 796b1b2bc2..0205799dbc 100644
--- a/internal/datastore/memdb/memdb.go
+++ b/internal/datastore/memdb/memdb.go
@@ -100,6 +100,10 @@ type snapshot struct {
 	db       *memdb.MemDB
 }
 
+func (mdb *memdbDatastore) UniqueID(_ context.Context) (string, error) {
+	return mdb.uniqueID, nil
+}
+
 func (mdb *memdbDatastore) SnapshotReader(dr datastore.Revision) datastore.Reader {
 	mdb.RLock()
 	defer mdb.RUnlock()
diff --git a/internal/datastore/mysql/datastore.go b/internal/datastore/mysql/datastore.go
index 3ccd1b8327..12219c4df5 100644
--- a/internal/datastore/mysql/datastore.go
+++ b/internal/datastore/mysql/datastore.go
@@ -503,6 +503,8 @@ type Datastore struct {
 	createTxn     sq.InsertBuilder
 	createBaseTxn string
 
+	uniqueID atomic.Pointer[string]
+
 	*QueryBuilder
 	*revisions.CachedOptimizedRevisions
 	revisions.CommonDecoder
@@ -586,7 +588,7 @@ func (mds *Datastore) isSeeded(ctx context.Context) (bool, error) {
 		return false, nil
 	}
 
-	_, err = mds.getUniqueID(ctx)
+	_, err = mds.UniqueID(ctx)
 	if err != nil {
 		return false, nil
 	}
diff --git a/internal/datastore/mysql/stats.go b/internal/datastore/mysql/stats.go
index b6841eb2d2..cb525ae734 100644
--- a/internal/datastore/mysql/stats.go
+++ b/internal/datastore/mysql/stats.go
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ func (mds *Datastore) Statistics(ctx context.Context) (datastore.Stats, error) {
 		}
 	}
 
-	uniqueID, err := mds.getUniqueID(ctx)
+	uniqueID, err := mds.UniqueID(ctx)
 	if err != nil {
 		return datastore.Stats{}, err
 	}
@@ -88,16 +88,20 @@ func (mds *Datastore) Statistics(ctx context.Context) (datastore.Stats, error) {
 	}, nil
 }
 
-func (mds *Datastore) getUniqueID(ctx context.Context) (string, error) {
-	sql, args, err := sb.Select(metadataUniqueIDColumn).From(mds.driver.Metadata()).ToSql()
-	if err != nil {
-		return "", fmt.Errorf("unable to generate query sql: %w", err)
-	}
+func (mds *Datastore) UniqueID(ctx context.Context) (string, error) {
+	if mds.uniqueID.Load() == nil {
+		sql, args, err := sb.Select(metadataUniqueIDColumn).From(mds.driver.Metadata()).ToSql()
+		if err != nil {
+			return "", fmt.Errorf("unable to generate query sql: %w", err)
+		}
 
-	var uniqueID string
-	if err := mds.db.QueryRowContext(ctx, sql, args...).Scan(&uniqueID); err != nil {
-		return "", fmt.Errorf("unable to query unique ID: %w", err)
+		var uniqueID string
+		if err := mds.db.QueryRowContext(ctx, sql, args...).Scan(&uniqueID); err != nil {
+			return "", fmt.Errorf("unable to query unique ID: %w", err)
+		}
+		mds.uniqueID.Store(&uniqueID)
+		return uniqueID, nil
 	}
 
-	return uniqueID, nil
+	return *mds.uniqueID.Load(), nil
 }
diff --git a/internal/datastore/postgres/postgres.go b/internal/datastore/postgres/postgres.go
index 8f5d66b068..95e94b5286 100644
--- a/internal/datastore/postgres/postgres.go
+++ b/internal/datastore/postgres/postgres.go
@@ -416,6 +416,7 @@ type pgDatastore struct {
 	includeQueryParametersInTraces bool
 
 	credentialsProvider datastore.CredentialsProvider
+	uniqueID            atomic.Pointer[string]
 
 	gcGroup              *errgroup.Group
 	gcCtx                context.Context
@@ -691,8 +692,9 @@ func (pgd *pgDatastore) ReadyState(ctx context.Context) (datastore.ReadyState, e
 	if !state.IsReady {
 		return state, nil
 	}
+
 	// Ensure a datastore ID is present. This ensures the tables have not been truncated.
-	uniqueID, err := pgd.datastoreUniqueID(ctx)
+	uniqueID, err := pgd.UniqueID(ctx)
 	if err != nil {
 		return datastore.ReadyState{}, fmt.Errorf("database validation failed: %w; if you have previously run `TRUNCATE`, this database is no longer valid and must be remigrated. See: https://spicedb.dev/d/truncate-unsupported", err)
 	}
diff --git a/internal/datastore/postgres/stats.go b/internal/datastore/postgres/stats.go
index 0e0bea63f6..2b0a1fa68e 100644
--- a/internal/datastore/postgres/stats.go
+++ b/internal/datastore/postgres/stats.go
@@ -28,16 +28,25 @@ var (
 				Where(sq.Eq{colRelname: tableTuple})
 )
 
-func (pgd *pgDatastore) datastoreUniqueID(ctx context.Context) (string, error) {
-	idSQL, idArgs, err := queryUniqueID.ToSql()
-	if err != nil {
-		return "", fmt.Errorf("unable to generate query sql: %w", err)
+func (pgd *pgDatastore) UniqueID(ctx context.Context) (string, error) {
+	if pgd.uniqueID.Load() == nil {
+		idSQL, idArgs, err := queryUniqueID.ToSql()
+		if err != nil {
+			return "", fmt.Errorf("unable to generate query sql: %w", err)
+		}
+
+		var uniqueID string
+		if err := pgx.BeginTxFunc(ctx, pgd.readPool, pgd.readTxOptions, func(tx pgx.Tx) error {
+			return tx.QueryRow(ctx, idSQL, idArgs...).Scan(&uniqueID)
+		}); err != nil {
+			return "", fmt.Errorf("unable to query unique ID: %w", err)
+		}
+
+		pgd.uniqueID.Store(&uniqueID)
+		return uniqueID, nil
 	}
 
-	var uniqueID string
-	return uniqueID, pgx.BeginTxFunc(ctx, pgd.readPool, pgd.readTxOptions, func(tx pgx.Tx) error {
-		return tx.QueryRow(ctx, idSQL, idArgs...).Scan(&uniqueID)
-	})
+	return *pgd.uniqueID.Load(), nil
 }
 
 func (pgd *pgDatastore) Statistics(ctx context.Context) (datastore.Stats, error) {
diff --git a/internal/datastore/proxy/observable.go b/internal/datastore/proxy/observable.go
index 3f92beb71e..86d9187326 100644
--- a/internal/datastore/proxy/observable.go
+++ b/internal/datastore/proxy/observable.go
@@ -68,6 +68,10 @@ func NewObservableDatastoreProxy(d datastore.Datastore) datastore.Datastore {
 
 type observableProxy struct{ delegate datastore.Datastore }
 
+func (p *observableProxy) UniqueID(ctx context.Context) (string, error) {
+	return p.delegate.UniqueID(ctx)
+}
+
 func (p *observableProxy) SnapshotReader(rev datastore.Revision) datastore.Reader {
 	delegateReader := p.delegate.SnapshotReader(rev)
 	return &observableReader{delegateReader}
diff --git a/internal/datastore/proxy/proxy_test/mock.go b/internal/datastore/proxy/proxy_test/mock.go
index dc59c780ff..b204fca607 100644
--- a/internal/datastore/proxy/proxy_test/mock.go
+++ b/internal/datastore/proxy/proxy_test/mock.go
@@ -17,6 +17,10 @@ type MockDatastore struct {
 	mock.Mock
 }
 
+func (dm *MockDatastore) UniqueID(_ context.Context) (string, error) {
+	return "mockds", nil
+}
+
 func (dm *MockDatastore) SnapshotReader(rev datastore.Revision) datastore.Reader {
 	args := dm.Called(rev)
 	return args.Get(0).(datastore.Reader)
diff --git a/internal/datastore/proxy/replicated_test.go b/internal/datastore/proxy/replicated_test.go
index e882998e9d..2e530416b9 100644
--- a/internal/datastore/proxy/replicated_test.go
+++ b/internal/datastore/proxy/replicated_test.go
@@ -142,6 +142,10 @@ func (f fakeDatastore) Statistics(_ context.Context) (datastore.Stats, error) {
 	return datastore.Stats{}, nil
 }
 
+func (f fakeDatastore) UniqueID(_ context.Context) (string, error) {
+	return "fake", nil
+}
+
 func (f fakeDatastore) Close() error {
 	return nil
 }
diff --git a/internal/datastore/proxy/schemacaching/watchingcache_test.go b/internal/datastore/proxy/schemacaching/watchingcache_test.go
index 8512e998ef..58f2158060 100644
--- a/internal/datastore/proxy/schemacaching/watchingcache_test.go
+++ b/internal/datastore/proxy/schemacaching/watchingcache_test.go
@@ -333,6 +333,10 @@ type fakeDatastore struct {
 	lock sync.RWMutex
 }
 
+func (fds *fakeDatastore) UniqueID(_ context.Context) (string, error) {
+	return "fakedsforwatch", nil
+}
+
 func (fds *fakeDatastore) updateNamespace(name string, def *corev1.NamespaceDefinition, revision datastore.Revision) {
 	fds.lock.Lock()
 	defer fds.lock.Unlock()
diff --git a/internal/datastore/proxy/singleflight.go b/internal/datastore/proxy/singleflight.go
index ee02f32e1d..835fe0e962 100644
--- a/internal/datastore/proxy/singleflight.go
+++ b/internal/datastore/proxy/singleflight.go
@@ -24,6 +24,10 @@ type singleflightProxy struct {
 
 var _ datastore.Datastore = (*singleflightProxy)(nil)
 
+func (p *singleflightProxy) UniqueID(ctx context.Context) (string, error) {
+	return p.delegate.UniqueID(ctx)
+}
+
 func (p *singleflightProxy) SnapshotReader(rev datastore.Revision) datastore.Reader {
 	return p.delegate.SnapshotReader(rev)
 }
diff --git a/internal/datastore/spanner/revisions.go b/internal/datastore/spanner/revisions.go
index 2f1c1abae7..b365a420c2 100644
--- a/internal/datastore/spanner/revisions.go
+++ b/internal/datastore/spanner/revisions.go
@@ -16,14 +16,27 @@ var (
 	nowStmt             = spanner.NewStatement("SELECT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP()")
 )
 
+func (sd *spannerDatastore) headRevisionInternal(ctx context.Context) (datastore.Revision, error) {
+	now, err := sd.now(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		return datastore.NoRevision, fmt.Errorf(errRevision, err)
+	}
+
+	return revisions.NewForTime(now), nil
+}
+
 func (sd *spannerDatastore) HeadRevision(ctx context.Context) (datastore.Revision, error) {
+	return sd.headRevisionInternal(ctx)
+}
+
+func (sd *spannerDatastore) now(ctx context.Context) (time.Time, error) {
 	var timestamp time.Time
 	if err := sd.client.Single().Query(ctx, nowStmt).Do(func(r *spanner.Row) error {
 		return r.Columns(&timestamp)
 	}); err != nil {
-		return datastore.NoRevision, fmt.Errorf(errRevision, err)
+		return timestamp, fmt.Errorf(errRevision, err)
 	}
-	return revisions.NewForTime(timestamp), nil
+	return timestamp, nil
 }
 
 func (sd *spannerDatastore) staleHeadRevision(ctx context.Context) (datastore.Revision, error) {
diff --git a/internal/datastore/spanner/spanner.go b/internal/datastore/spanner/spanner.go
index e894de1cee..cb9ab234fd 100644
--- a/internal/datastore/spanner/spanner.go
+++ b/internal/datastore/spanner/spanner.go
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ import (
 	"regexp"
 	"strconv"
 	"sync"
+	"sync/atomic"
 	"time"
 
 	"cloud.google.com/go/spanner"
@@ -97,6 +98,7 @@ type spannerDatastore struct {
 
 	tableSizesStatsTable string
 	filterMaximumIDCount uint16
+	uniqueID             atomic.Pointer[string]
 }
 
 // NewSpannerDatastore returns a datastore backed by cloud spanner
diff --git a/internal/datastore/spanner/stats.go b/internal/datastore/spanner/stats.go
index 6f0e420ce7..3359dd145f 100644
--- a/internal/datastore/spanner/stats.go
+++ b/internal/datastore/spanner/stats.go
@@ -28,16 +28,29 @@ var querySomeRandomRelationships = fmt.Sprintf(`SELECT %s FROM %s LIMIT 10`,
 
 const defaultEstimatedBytesPerRelationships = 20 // determined by looking at some sample clusters
 
+func (sd *spannerDatastore) UniqueID(ctx context.Context) (string, error) {
+	if sd.uniqueID.Load() == nil {
+		var uniqueID string
+		if err := sd.client.Single().Read(
+			ctx,
+			tableMetadata,
+			spanner.AllKeys(),
+			[]string{colUniqueID},
+		).Do(func(r *spanner.Row) error {
+			return r.Columns(&uniqueID)
+		}); err != nil {
+			return "", fmt.Errorf("unable to read unique ID: %w", err)
+		}
+		sd.uniqueID.Store(&uniqueID)
+		return uniqueID, nil
+	}
+
+	return *sd.uniqueID.Load(), nil
+}
+
 func (sd *spannerDatastore) Statistics(ctx context.Context) (datastore.Stats, error) {
-	var uniqueID string
-	if err := sd.client.Single().Read(
-		context.Background(),
-		tableMetadata,
-		spanner.AllKeys(),
-		[]string{colUniqueID},
-	).Do(func(r *spanner.Row) error {
-		return r.Columns(&uniqueID)
-	}); err != nil {
+	uniqueID, err := sd.UniqueID(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
 		return datastore.Stats{}, fmt.Errorf("unable to read unique ID: %w", err)
 	}
 
diff --git a/pkg/datastore/datastore.go b/pkg/datastore/datastore.go
index 6505db7bd4..aee665f3fe 100644
--- a/pkg/datastore/datastore.go
+++ b/pkg/datastore/datastore.go
@@ -628,6 +628,11 @@ func (wo WatchOptions) WithCheckpointInterval(interval time.Duration) WatchOptio
 
 // ReadOnlyDatastore is an interface for reading relationships from the datastore.
 type ReadOnlyDatastore interface {
+	// UniqueID returns a unique identifier for the datastore. This identifier
+	// must be stable across restarts of the datastore if the datastore is
+	// persistent.
+	UniqueID(context.Context) (string, error)
+
 	// SnapshotReader creates a read-only handle that reads the datastore at the specified revision.
 	// Any errors establishing the reader will be returned by subsequent calls.
 	SnapshotReader(Revision) Reader
diff --git a/pkg/datastore/datastore_test.go b/pkg/datastore/datastore_test.go
index 0dd7786643..0c2cc3fd70 100644
--- a/pkg/datastore/datastore_test.go
+++ b/pkg/datastore/datastore_test.go
@@ -582,6 +582,10 @@ type fakeDatastore struct {
 	delegate Datastore
 }
 
+func (f fakeDatastore) UniqueID(_ context.Context) (string, error) {
+	return "fake", nil
+}
+
 func (f fakeDatastore) Unwrap() Datastore {
 	return f.delegate
 }
diff --git a/pkg/datastore/test/basic.go b/pkg/datastore/test/basic.go
index 2dc5a50e04..db2e477f1e 100644
--- a/pkg/datastore/test/basic.go
+++ b/pkg/datastore/test/basic.go
@@ -73,3 +73,21 @@ func DeleteAllDataTest(t *testing.T, tester DatastoreTester) {
 		}
 	}
 }
+
+func UniqueIDTest(t *testing.T, tester DatastoreTester) {
+	require := require.New(t)
+
+	// Create the datastore.
+	ds, err := tester.New(0, veryLargeGCInterval, veryLargeGCWindow, 1)
+	require.NoError(err)
+
+	// Ensure the unique ID is not empty.
+	uniqueID, err := ds.UniqueID(context.Background())
+	require.NoError(err)
+	require.NotEmpty(uniqueID)
+
+	// Ensure the unique ID is stable.
+	uniqueID2, err := ds.UniqueID(context.Background())
+	require.NoError(err)
+	require.Equal(uniqueID, uniqueID2)
+}
diff --git a/pkg/datastore/test/datastore.go b/pkg/datastore/test/datastore.go
index 034e265a43..b46c0441d9 100644
--- a/pkg/datastore/test/datastore.go
+++ b/pkg/datastore/test/datastore.go
@@ -105,6 +105,7 @@ func AllWithExceptions(t *testing.T, tester DatastoreTester, except Categories,
 		runner = parallel
 	}
 
+	t.Run("TestUniqueID", func(t *testing.T) { UniqueIDTest(t, tester) })
 	t.Run("TestUseAfterClose", runner(tester, UseAfterCloseTest))
 
 	t.Run("TestNamespaceNotFound", runner(tester, NamespaceNotFoundTest))