diff --git a/chromadb/api/types.py b/chromadb/api/types.py
index 9c45112809f..fa26915c0a3 100644
--- a/chromadb/api/types.py
+++ b/chromadb/api/types.py
@@ -53,6 +53,8 @@
 import struct
 import math
 
+_cached_protocol_signature = None
+
 # Re-export types from chromadb.types
 __all__ = [
     "Metadata",
@@ -1480,10 +1482,10 @@ def validate_sparse_embedding_function(
     sparse_vector_function: SparseEmbeddingFunction[Embeddable],
 ) -> None:
     """Validate that a sparse vector function conforms to the SparseEmbeddingFunction protocol."""
-    function_signature = signature(
-        sparse_vector_function.__class__.__call__
-    ).parameters.keys()
-    protocol_signature = signature(SparseEmbeddingFunction.__call__).parameters.keys()
+    function_signature = tuple(
+        signature(sparse_vector_function.__class__.__call__).parameters.keys()
+    )
+    protocol_signature = _get_protocol_signature()
 
     if not function_signature == protocol_signature:
         raise ValueError(
@@ -1492,6 +1494,15 @@ def validate_sparse_embedding_function(
         )
 
 
+def _get_protocol_signature():
+    global _cached_protocol_signature
+    if _cached_protocol_signature is None:
+        _cached_protocol_signature = tuple(
+            signature(SparseEmbeddingFunction.__call__).parameters.keys()
+        )
+    return _cached_protocol_signature
+
+
 # Index Configuration Types for Collection Schema
 class FtsIndexConfig(BaseModel):
     """Configuration for Full-Text Search index. No parameters required."""