diff --git a/dd-java-agent/agent-tooling/src/main/java/datadog/trace/agent/tooling/DDCachingPoolStrategy.java b/dd-java-agent/agent-tooling/src/main/java/datadog/trace/agent/tooling/DDCachingPoolStrategy.java
index 7e8540cd66..a598eddbee 100644
--- a/dd-java-agent/agent-tooling/src/main/java/datadog/trace/agent/tooling/DDCachingPoolStrategy.java
+++ b/dd-java-agent/agent-tooling/src/main/java/datadog/trace/agent/tooling/DDCachingPoolStrategy.java
@@ -154,6 +154,10 @@ public class DDCachingPoolStrategy implements PoolStrategy {
         return false;
       }
 
+      if (this == obj) {
+        return true;
+      }
+
       final TypeCacheKey that = (TypeCacheKey) obj;
 
       if (hashCode != that.hashCode) {