diff --git a/changelog/@unreleased/pr-1706.v2.yml b/changelog/@unreleased/pr-1706.v2.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..821617c0a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog/@unreleased/pr-1706.v2.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+type: improvement
+improvement:
+  description: Hybrid (G1) GC uses the defeault 200ms MaxGCPauseMillis on JDK-21+
+  links:
+  - https://github.com/palantir/sls-packaging/pull/1706
diff --git a/gradle-sls-packaging/src/main/java/com/palantir/gradle/dist/service/gc/GcProfile.java b/gradle-sls-packaging/src/main/java/com/palantir/gradle/dist/service/gc/GcProfile.java
index f4dd24f93..b958d9625 100644
--- a/gradle-sls-packaging/src/main/java/com/palantir/gradle/dist/service/gc/GcProfile.java
+++ b/gradle-sls-packaging/src/main/java/com/palantir/gradle/dist/service/gc/GcProfile.java
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@
 import java.io.Serializable;
 import java.util.Collections;
 import java.util.List;
+import java.util.OptionalInt;
 import org.gradle.api.JavaVersion;
 
 public interface GcProfile extends Serializable {
@@ -102,21 +103,42 @@ public final void newRatio(int newerRatio) {
     // Match the MaxGCPauseMillis case
     @SuppressWarnings("AbbreviationAsWordInName")
     class Hybrid implements GcProfile {
-        // We use 500ms by default, up from the JDK default value of 200ms. Using G1, eden space is dynamically
-        // chosen based on the amount of memory which can be collected within the pause time target.
-        // Higher pause target values allow for more eden space, resulting in more stable old generation
-        // in high-garbage or low-gc-thread scenarios. In the happy case, increasing the pause target increases
-        // both throughput and latency. In degenerate cases, a low target can cause the garbage collector to
-        // thrash and reduce throughput while increasing latency.
-        private int maxGCPauseMillis = 500;
+        // For Java versions older than 21 we use 500ms by default, up from the JDK default value of 200ms for
+        // historical reasons. Java 21 builds seem to interact poorly with this value, causing frequent full
+        // GC cycles. The 500ms value was chosen at a time when GC thread counts were based on cpu shares
+        // rather than the underlying physical cores (prior to https://bugs.openjdk.org/browse/JDK-8281181),
+        // so services tended to thrash in GC to meet the 200ms threshold, promoting data too quickly to old gen.
+        // This is no longer the case, however we are leaving the Java 17 values where they've been, and making
+        // changes targeting Java 21 and beyond where we've observed significant improvements.
+        private static final int LEGACY_MAX_GC_PAUSE_MILLIS = 500;
+
+        private OptionalInt maxGCPauseMillis = OptionalInt.empty();
 
         @Override
-        public final List<String> gcJvmOpts(JavaVersion _javaVersion) {
-            return ImmutableList.of("-XX:+UseG1GC", "-XX:+UseNUMA", "-XX:MaxGCPauseMillis=" + maxGCPauseMillis);
+        public final List<String> gcJvmOpts(JavaVersion javaVersion) {
+            ImmutableList.Builder<String> builder = ImmutableList.<String>builderWithExpectedSize(3)
+                    .add("-XX:+UseG1GC")
+                    .add("-XX:+UseNUMA");
+            OptionalInt maxGCPauseMillisValue = getMaxGCPauseMillis(javaVersion);
+            if (maxGCPauseMillisValue.isPresent()) {
+                builder.add("-XX:MaxGCPauseMillis=" + maxGCPauseMillisValue.getAsInt());
+            }
+            return builder.build();
+        }
+
+        private OptionalInt getMaxGCPauseMillis(JavaVersion javaVersion) {
+            if (maxGCPauseMillis.isPresent()) {
+                return maxGCPauseMillis;
+            }
+            if (javaVersion.compareTo(JavaVersion.toVersion("21")) >= 0) {
+                return OptionalInt.empty();
+            } else {
+                return OptionalInt.of(LEGACY_MAX_GC_PAUSE_MILLIS);
+            }
         }
 
         public final void maxGCPauseMillis(int value) {
-            this.maxGCPauseMillis = value;
+            this.maxGCPauseMillis = OptionalInt.of(value);
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/gradle-sls-packaging/src/test/groovy/com/palantir/gradle/dist/service/JavaServiceDistributionPluginTests.groovy b/gradle-sls-packaging/src/test/groovy/com/palantir/gradle/dist/service/JavaServiceDistributionPluginTests.groovy
index 0af2d8ca3..a933400f5 100644
--- a/gradle-sls-packaging/src/test/groovy/com/palantir/gradle/dist/service/JavaServiceDistributionPluginTests.groovy
+++ b/gradle-sls-packaging/src/test/groovy/com/palantir/gradle/dist/service/JavaServiceDistributionPluginTests.groovy
@@ -1285,6 +1285,7 @@ class JavaServiceDistributionPluginTests extends GradleIntegrationSpec {
             distribution {
                 serviceName 'service-name'
                 mainClass 'test.Test'
+                javaVersion 17
                 gc 'hybrid'
             }
         '''.stripIndent()
@@ -1300,6 +1301,76 @@ class JavaServiceDistributionPluginTests extends GradleIntegrationSpec {
         actualStaticConfig.jvmOpts.containsAll(['-XX:+UseG1GC', '-XX:+UseNUMA', "-XX:MaxGCPauseMillis=500"])
     }
 
+    def 'adds maxGCPauseMillis gc profile jvm settings on java 21'() {
+        given:
+        buildFile << '''
+            plugins {
+                id 'java'
+                id 'com.palantir.sls-java-service-distribution'
+            }
+
+            repositories {
+                mavenCentral()
+            }
+
+            version '0.0.1'
+
+            distribution {
+                serviceName 'service-name'
+                mainClass 'test.Test'
+                javaVersion 21
+                gc 'hybrid', {
+                    maxGCPauseMillis 1234
+                }
+            }
+        '''.stripIndent()
+
+        createUntarTask(buildFile)
+
+        when:
+        runTasks(':untar')
+
+        then:
+        def actualStaticConfig = OBJECT_MAPPER.readValue(
+                new File(projectDir, 'dist/service-name-0.0.1/service/bin/launcher-static.yml'), LaunchConfig.LaunchConfigInfo)
+        actualStaticConfig.jvmOpts.containsAll(['-XX:+UseG1GC', '-XX:+UseNUMA', '-XX:MaxGCPauseMillis=1234'])
+    }
+
+    def 'gc profile null configuration closure on java 21'() {
+        // We do not declare MaxGCPauseMillis in JDK-21 unless a value is explicitly configured.
+        given:
+        buildFile << '''
+            plugins {
+                id 'java'
+                id 'com.palantir.sls-java-service-distribution'
+            }
+
+            repositories {
+                mavenCentral()
+            }
+
+            version '0.0.1'
+
+            distribution {
+                serviceName 'service-name'
+                mainClass 'test.Test'
+                javaVersion 21
+                gc 'hybrid'
+            }
+        '''.stripIndent()
+
+        createUntarTask(buildFile)
+
+        when:
+        runTasks(':untar')
+
+        then:
+        def actualStaticConfig = OBJECT_MAPPER.readValue(
+                new File(projectDir, 'dist/service-name-0.0.1/service/bin/launcher-static.yml'), LaunchConfig.LaunchConfigInfo)
+        actualStaticConfig.jvmOpts.containsAll(['-XX:+UseG1GC', '-XX:+UseNUMA'])
+        actualStaticConfig.jvmOpts().stream().noneMatch { it.contains("MaxGCPauseMillis") }
+    }
+
     def 'applies java agents'() {
         createUntarBuildFile(buildFile)
         buildFile << """