diff --git a/chex/_src/dataclass.py b/chex/_src/dataclass.py
index fd732c6..c262d40 100644
--- a/chex/_src/dataclass.py
+++ b/chex/_src/dataclass.py
@@ -159,7 +159,6 @@ def __init__(
     self.frozen = frozen
     self.kw_only = kw_only
     self.mappable_dataclass = mappable_dataclass
-    self.registered = False
 
   def __call__(self, cls):
     """Forwards class to dataclasses's wrapper and registers it with JAX."""
@@ -214,13 +213,9 @@ def _replace(self, **kwargs):
     def _getstate(self):
       return self.__dict__
 
-    class_self = self
-
     # Patch __setstate__ to register the object on deserialization.
     def _setstate(self, state):
-      if not class_self.registered:
-        register_dataclass_type_with_jax_tree_util(dcls)
-        class_self.registered = True
+      register_dataclass_type_with_jax_tree_util(dcls)
       self.__dict__.update(state)
 
     orig_init = dcls.__init__
@@ -229,9 +224,7 @@ def _setstate(self, state):
     # it is not registered on deserialization.
     @functools.wraps(orig_init)
     def _init(self, *args, **kwargs):
-      if not class_self.registered:
-        register_dataclass_type_with_jax_tree_util(dcls)
-        class_self.registered = True
+      register_dataclass_type_with_jax_tree_util(dcls)
       return orig_init(self, *args, **kwargs)
 
     setattr(dcls, "from_tuple", _from_tuple)
@@ -270,6 +263,7 @@ def _flatten_with_path(dcls):
   return path, keys
 
 
+@functools.cache
 def register_dataclass_type_with_jax_tree_util(data_class):
   """Register an existing dataclass so JAX knows how to handle it.