diff --git a/inference/core/cache/air_gapped.py b/inference/core/cache/air_gapped.py
index 4ddb280996..e535630af8 100644
--- a/inference/core/cache/air_gapped.py
+++ b/inference/core/cache/air_gapped.py
@@ -4,13 +4,15 @@
 offline workflow construction.
 """
 
-import hashlib
 import json
 import logging
 import os
-import re
 from typing import Any, Dict, List, Optional
 
+from inference.core.cache.model_artifacts import (
+    get_cache_dir,
+    slugify_model_id_to_cache_key,
+)
 from inference.core.env import MODEL_CACHE_DIR, USE_INFERENCE_MODELS
 from inference.core.roboflow_api import MODEL_TYPE_KEY, PROJECT_TASK_TYPE_KEY
 
@@ -26,14 +28,7 @@ def _slugify_model_id(model_id: str) -> str:
     Must stay in sync with
     ``inference_models.models.auto_loaders.core.slugify_model_id_to_os_safe_format``.
     """
-    slug = re.sub(r"[^A-Za-z0-9_-]+", "-", model_id)
-    slug = re.sub(r"[_-]{2,}", "-", slug)
-    if not slug:
-        slug = "special-char-only-model-id"
-    if len(slug) > 48:
-        slug = slug[:48]
-    digest = hashlib.blake2s(model_id.encode("utf-8"), digest_size=4).hexdigest()
-    return f"{slug}-{digest}"
+    return slugify_model_id_to_cache_key(model_id=model_id)
 
 
 def _has_non_hidden_children(path: str) -> bool:
@@ -65,14 +60,16 @@ def is_model_cached(model_id: str) -> bool:
     """
     if not USE_INFERENCE_MODELS:
         # Only check the traditional layout when inference-models is disabled.
-        traditional_path = os.path.join(MODEL_CACHE_DIR, model_id)
+        traditional_path = get_cache_dir(
+            model_id=model_id, cache_dir_root=MODEL_CACHE_DIR
+        )
         return os.path.isdir(traditional_path) and _has_non_hidden_children(
             traditional_path
         )
 
     # When inference-models is enabled, check both layouts — models cached
     # before the migration still sit in the traditional tree.
-    traditional_path = os.path.join(MODEL_CACHE_DIR, model_id)
+    traditional_path = get_cache_dir(model_id=model_id, cache_dir_root=MODEL_CACHE_DIR)
     if os.path.isdir(traditional_path) and _has_non_hidden_children(traditional_path):
         return True
 
diff --git a/inference/core/cache/model_artifacts.py b/inference/core/cache/model_artifacts.py
index ebf06f3ce9..621f11ee37 100644
--- a/inference/core/cache/model_artifacts.py
+++ b/inference/core/cache/model_artifacts.py
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import errno
+import hashlib
 import json
 import os.path
 import re
@@ -18,10 +19,15 @@
     dump_json_atomic,
     dump_text_lines,
     dump_text_lines_atomic,
+    path_fits_os_limits,
     read_json,
     read_text_file,
 )
 
+MODEL_ID_CACHE_SLUG_PREFIX_LENGTH = 48
+MODEL_ID_CACHE_SLUG_HASH_BYTES = 4
+SPECIAL_CHAR_ONLY_MODEL_ID_SLUG = "special-char-only-model-id"
+
 
 def initialise_cache(model_id: Optional[str] = None) -> None:
     cache_dir = get_cache_dir(model_id=model_id)
@@ -232,7 +238,44 @@ def clear_cache(model_id: Optional[str] = None, delete_from_disk: bool = True) -
         )
 
 
-def get_cache_dir(model_id: Optional[str] = None) -> str:
+def get_cache_dir(
+    model_id: Optional[str] = None, cache_dir_root: Optional[str] = None
+) -> str:
+    cache_dir_root = cache_dir_root if cache_dir_root is not None else MODEL_CACHE_DIR
     if model_id is not None:
-        return os.path.join(MODEL_CACHE_DIR, model_id)
-    return MODEL_CACHE_DIR
+        model_cache_path = get_model_id_cache_path(
+            model_id=model_id, cache_dir_root=cache_dir_root
+        )
+        return os.path.join(cache_dir_root, model_cache_path)
+    return cache_dir_root
+
+
+def get_model_id_cache_path(model_id: str, cache_dir_root: str) -> str:
+    legacy_cache_path = os.path.join(cache_dir_root, model_id)
+    if cache_path_is_within_root(
+        path=legacy_cache_path, cache_dir_root=cache_dir_root
+    ) and path_fits_os_limits(path=legacy_cache_path):
+        return model_id
+    return slugify_model_id_to_cache_key(model_id=model_id)
+
+
+def cache_path_is_within_root(path: str, cache_dir_root: str) -> bool:
+    try:
+        root = os.path.abspath(cache_dir_root)
+        candidate = os.path.abspath(path)
+        return os.path.commonpath([root, candidate]) == root
+    except ValueError:
+        return False
+
+
+def slugify_model_id_to_cache_key(model_id: str) -> str:
+    model_id_slug = re.sub(r"[^A-Za-z0-9_-]+", "-", model_id)
+    model_id_slug = re.sub(r"[_-]{2,}", "-", model_id_slug)
+    if not model_id_slug:
+        model_id_slug = SPECIAL_CHAR_ONLY_MODEL_ID_SLUG
+    if len(model_id_slug) > MODEL_ID_CACHE_SLUG_PREFIX_LENGTH:
+        model_id_slug = model_id_slug[:MODEL_ID_CACHE_SLUG_PREFIX_LENGTH]
+    digest = hashlib.blake2s(
+        model_id.encode("utf-8"), digest_size=MODEL_ID_CACHE_SLUG_HASH_BYTES
+    ).hexdigest()
+    return f"{model_id_slug}-{digest}"
diff --git a/inference/core/models/roboflow.py b/inference/core/models/roboflow.py
index f3f23ea972..a6f865f0c7 100644
--- a/inference/core/models/roboflow.py
+++ b/inference/core/models/roboflow.py
@@ -138,7 +138,9 @@ def __init__(
         self.dataset_id, self.version_id = get_model_id_chunks(model_id=model_id)
         self.endpoint = model_id
         self.device_id = GLOBAL_DEVICE_ID
-        self.cache_dir = os.path.join(cache_dir_root, self.endpoint)
+        self.cache_dir = get_cache_dir(
+            model_id=self.endpoint, cache_dir_root=cache_dir_root
+        )
         self.keypoints_metadata: Optional[dict] = None
         initialise_cache(model_id=self.endpoint)
 
diff --git a/inference/core/registries/roboflow.py b/inference/core/registries/roboflow.py
index 9099aa35b0..142bc89032 100644
--- a/inference/core/registries/roboflow.py
+++ b/inference/core/registries/roboflow.py
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 
 from inference.core.cache import cache
 from inference.core.cache.lru_cache import LRUCache
+from inference.core.cache.model_artifacts import get_cache_dir
 from inference.core.devices.utils import GLOBAL_DEVICE_ID
 from inference.core.entities.types import (
     DatasetID,
@@ -16,7 +17,6 @@
 from inference.core.env import (
     CACHE_METADATA_LOCK_TIMEOUT,
     LAMBDA,
-    MODEL_CACHE_DIR,
     MODELS_CACHE_AUTH_CACHE_MAX_SIZE,
     MODELS_CACHE_AUTH_CACHE_TTL,
     MODELS_CACHE_AUTH_ENABLED,
@@ -415,7 +415,6 @@ def _save_model_metadata_in_cache(
 def construct_model_type_cache_path(
     dataset_id: Union[DatasetID, ModelID], version_id: Optional[VersionID]
 ) -> str:
-    cache_dir = os.path.join(
-        MODEL_CACHE_DIR, dataset_id, version_id if version_id else ""
-    )
+    model_id = dataset_id if version_id is None else f"{dataset_id}/{version_id}"
+    cache_dir = get_cache_dir(model_id=model_id)
     return os.path.join(cache_dir, "model_type.json")
diff --git a/inference/core/utils/file_system.py b/inference/core/utils/file_system.py
index 1288cb3bde..f1754f9a38 100644
--- a/inference/core/utils/file_system.py
+++ b/inference/core/utils/file_system.py
@@ -7,6 +7,9 @@
 
 _pattern = re.compile(r"[^A-Za-z0-9_-]")
 
+MAX_PATH_BYTES = 4096
+MAX_PATH_SEGMENT_BYTES = 255
+
 
 class AtomicPath:
     """Context manager for atomic file writes.
@@ -173,3 +176,16 @@ def ensure_write_is_allowed(path: str, allow_override: bool) -> None:
 def sanitize_path_segment(path_segment: str) -> str:
     # Keep only letters, numbers, underscores and dashes
     return _pattern.sub("_", path_segment)
+
+
+def path_fits_os_limits(path: str) -> bool:
+    if len(os.fsencode(os.path.abspath(path))) >= MAX_PATH_BYTES:
+        return False
+    drive, path_without_drive = os.path.splitdrive(path)
+    if os.altsep is not None:
+        path_without_drive = path_without_drive.replace(os.altsep, os.sep)
+    return all(
+        len(os.fsencode(path_segment)) <= MAX_PATH_SEGMENT_BYTES
+        for path_segment in path_without_drive.split(os.sep)
+        if path_segment
+    )
diff --git a/inference/models/easy_ocr/easy_ocr.py b/inference/models/easy_ocr/easy_ocr.py
index cfb45fcd9c..ad9c4bb9a5 100644
--- a/inference/models/easy_ocr/easy_ocr.py
+++ b/inference/models/easy_ocr/easy_ocr.py
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
 import torch
 from PIL import Image
 
+from inference.core.cache.model_artifacts import get_cache_file_path
 from inference.core.entities.requests.easy_ocr import EasyOCRInferenceRequest
 from inference.core.entities.responses.inference import (
     InferenceResponse,
@@ -53,8 +54,8 @@ def __init__(
         self.recognizer = model_id.split("/")[1]
 
         shutil.copyfile(
-            f"{MODEL_CACHE_DIR}/{model_id}/weights.pt",
-            f"{MODEL_CACHE_DIR}/{model_id}/{self.recognizer}.pth",
+            get_cache_file_path(file="weights.pt", model_id=model_id),
+            get_cache_file_path(file=f"{self.recognizer}.pth", model_id=model_id),
         )
 
     def predict(self, image_in: np.ndarray, prompt="", history=None, **kwargs):
diff --git a/inference/models/grounding_dino/grounding_dino.py b/inference/models/grounding_dino/grounding_dino.py
index 88bbcc84aa..3b041cc4f8 100644
--- a/inference/models/grounding_dino/grounding_dino.py
+++ b/inference/models/grounding_dino/grounding_dino.py
@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@ def _patched_get_extended_attention_mask(
 
 from groundingdino.util.inference import Model
 
+from inference.core.cache.model_artifacts import get_cache_dir
 from inference.core.entities.requests.groundingdino import GroundingDINOInferenceRequest
 from inference.core.entities.requests.inference import InferenceRequestImage
 from inference.core.entities.responses.inference import (
@@ -54,7 +55,7 @@ def _patched_get_extended_attention_mask(
     ObjectDetectionInferenceResponse,
     ObjectDetectionPrediction,
 )
-from inference.core.env import CLASS_AGNOSTIC_NMS, MODEL_CACHE_DIR
+from inference.core.env import CLASS_AGNOSTIC_NMS
 from inference.core.models.roboflow import RoboflowCoreModel
 from inference.core.utils.image_utils import load_image_bgr, xyxy_to_xywh
 
@@ -78,7 +79,7 @@ def __init__(
 
         super().__init__(*args, model_id=model_id, **kwargs)
 
-        GROUNDING_DINO_CACHE_DIR = os.path.join(MODEL_CACHE_DIR, model_id)
+        GROUNDING_DINO_CACHE_DIR = get_cache_dir(model_id=model_id)
 
         import groundingdino.config as _gd_config
 
diff --git a/inference/models/transformers/transformers.py b/inference/models/transformers/transformers.py
index ae2b8aa841..ada2d40f40 100644
--- a/inference/models/transformers/transformers.py
+++ b/inference/models/transformers/transformers.py
@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@ def __init__(
 
         self.cache_model_artefacts(**kwargs)
 
-        self.cache_dir = os.path.join(MODEL_CACHE_DIR, self.endpoint + "/")
+        self.cache_dir = get_cache_dir(model_id=self.endpoint)
 
         self.initialize_model(**kwargs)
 
diff --git a/tests/inference/unit_tests/core/cache/test_model_artifacts.py b/tests/inference/unit_tests/core/cache/test_model_artifacts.py
index 8b1ef40b47..73c2ce3064 100644
--- a/tests/inference/unit_tests/core/cache/test_model_artifacts.py
+++ b/tests/inference/unit_tests/core/cache/test_model_artifacts.py
@@ -19,7 +19,9 @@
     save_bytes_in_cache,
     save_json_in_cache,
     save_text_lines_in_cache,
+    slugify_model_id_to_cache_key,
 )
+from inference.core.utils.file_system import MAX_PATH_SEGMENT_BYTES
 from tests.inference.unit_tests.core.utils.test_file_system import (
     assert_bytes_file_content_correct,
     assert_text_file_content_correct,
@@ -272,6 +274,51 @@ def test_get_cache_dir_when_model_id_given() -> None:
     assert result == "/some/cache/yolo/3"
 
 
+@mock.patch.object(model_artifacts, "MODEL_CACHE_DIR", "/some/cache")
+def test_get_cache_dir_when_model_id_has_long_segment() -> None:
+    # given
+    long_model_slug = "find-" + ("class-" * 60) + "instant-1"
+    model_id = f"workspace/{long_model_slug}"
+
+    # when
+    result = get_cache_dir(model_id=model_id)
+
+    # then
+    assert result == os.path.join(
+        "/some/cache", slugify_model_id_to_cache_key(model_id=model_id)
+    )
+    assert len(os.fsencode(os.path.basename(result))) <= MAX_PATH_SEGMENT_BYTES
+
+
+@mock.patch.object(model_artifacts, "MODEL_CACHE_DIR", "/some/cache")
+def test_get_cache_dir_when_model_id_has_too_many_segments() -> None:
+    # given
+    model_id = "/".join(["segment"] * 700)
+
+    # when
+    result = get_cache_dir(model_id=model_id)
+
+    # then
+    assert result == os.path.join(
+        "/some/cache", slugify_model_id_to_cache_key(model_id=model_id)
+    )
+
+
+@mock.patch.object(model_artifacts, "MODEL_CACHE_DIR", "/some/cache")
+def test_get_cache_dir_when_model_id_points_outside_cache_root() -> None:
+    # given
+    model_id = "../outside"
+
+    # when
+    result = get_cache_dir(model_id=model_id)
+
+    # then
+    assert result == os.path.join(
+        "/some/cache", slugify_model_id_to_cache_key(model_id=model_id)
+    )
+    assert os.path.commonpath(["/some/cache", result]) == "/some/cache"
+
+
 @mock.patch.object(model_artifacts, "MODEL_CACHE_DIR", "/some/cache")
 def test_get_cache_dir_when_model_id_not_given() -> None:
     # when
diff --git a/tests/inference/unit_tests/core/registries/test_roboflow.py b/tests/inference/unit_tests/core/registries/test_roboflow.py
index a9c8c8f395..c62fd1def8 100644
--- a/tests/inference/unit_tests/core/registries/test_roboflow.py
+++ b/tests/inference/unit_tests/core/registries/test_roboflow.py
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 
 import pytest
 
+from inference.core.cache import model_artifacts
 from inference.core.devices.utils import GLOBAL_DEVICE_ID
 from inference.core.entities.types import ModelType, TaskType
 from inference.core.exceptions import (
@@ -214,6 +215,39 @@ def test_save_model_metadata_in_cache(
     )
 
 
+def test_save_and_load_model_metadata_in_cache_when_instant_model_slug_is_long(
+    empty_local_dir: str,
+) -> None:
+    # given
+    long_model_slug = "find-" + ("class-" * 60) + "instant-1"
+    dataset_id = f"huizen/{long_model_slug}"
+
+    # when
+    with mock.patch.object(
+        model_artifacts, "MODEL_CACHE_DIR", empty_local_dir
+    ), mock.patch.object(roboflow, "LAMBDA", True):
+        save_model_metadata_in_cache(
+            dataset_id=dataset_id,
+            version_id=None,
+            project_task_type="object-detection",
+            model_type="yolov8n",
+        )
+        _in_process_metadata_cache.cache.clear()
+        result = get_model_metadata_from_cache(dataset_id=dataset_id, version_id=None)
+        cache_path = roboflow.construct_model_type_cache_path(
+            dataset_id=dataset_id, version_id=None
+        )
+
+    # then
+    assert result == ("object-detection", "yolov8n")
+    assert os.path.isfile(cache_path)
+    assert all(
+        len(os.fsencode(path_segment)) <= 255
+        for path_segment in cache_path.split(os.sep)
+        if path_segment
+    )
+
+
 @mock.patch.object(roboflow, "construct_model_type_cache_path")
 def test_get_model_type_when_cache_is_utilised(
     construct_model_type_cache_path_mock: MagicMock,
diff --git a/tests/inference/unit_tests/core/utils/test_file_system.py b/tests/inference/unit_tests/core/utils/test_file_system.py
index 7792a300e3..2fb4965baf 100644
--- a/tests/inference/unit_tests/core/utils/test_file_system.py
+++ b/tests/inference/unit_tests/core/utils/test_file_system.py
@@ -7,6 +7,8 @@
 from humanfriendly.testing import touch
 
 from inference.core.utils.file_system import (
+    MAX_PATH_BYTES,
+    MAX_PATH_SEGMENT_BYTES,
     AtomicPath,
     dump_bytes,
     dump_bytes_atomic,
@@ -16,6 +18,7 @@
     dump_text_lines_atomic,
     ensure_parent_dir_exists,
     ensure_write_is_allowed,
+    path_fits_os_limits,
     read_json,
     read_text_file,
 )
@@ -341,6 +344,44 @@ def test_ensure_parent_dir_exists_when_dir_does_not_exist(empty_local_dir: str)
     assert os.listdir(empty_local_dir) == ["some"]
 
 
+def test_path_fits_os_limits_when_path_is_within_limits(empty_local_dir: str) -> None:
+    # given
+    path = os.path.join(empty_local_dir, "workspace", "model_type.json")
+
+    # when
+    result = path_fits_os_limits(path=path)
+
+    # then
+    assert result is True
+
+
+def test_path_fits_os_limits_when_segment_exceeds_os_limit(
+    empty_local_dir: str,
+) -> None:
+    # given
+    path = os.path.join(empty_local_dir, "a" * (MAX_PATH_SEGMENT_BYTES + 1))
+
+    # when
+    result = path_fits_os_limits(path=path)
+
+    # then
+    assert result is False
+
+
+def test_path_fits_os_limits_when_total_path_exceeds_os_limit(
+    empty_local_dir: str,
+) -> None:
+    # given
+    segments_count = (MAX_PATH_BYTES // len("segment/")) + 1
+    long_path = os.path.join(empty_local_dir, *["segment"] * segments_count)
+
+    # when
+    result = path_fits_os_limits(path=long_path)
+
+    # then
+    assert result is False
+
+
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("allow_override", [True, False])
 def test_ensure_write_is_allowed_when_file_does_not_exist(
     allow_override: bool,
diff --git a/tests/unit/core/cache/test_air_gapped.py b/tests/unit/core/cache/test_air_gapped.py
index 0c0e136f1c..8921914fef 100644
--- a/tests/unit/core/cache/test_air_gapped.py
+++ b/tests/unit/core/cache/test_air_gapped.py
@@ -8,7 +8,6 @@
 
 import pytest
 
-
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # Helpers
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------