diff --git a/filament/backend/src/vulkan/VulkanPipelineCache.cpp b/filament/backend/src/vulkan/VulkanPipelineCache.cpp
index b4dfea5a28..be1f006adb 100644
--- a/filament/backend/src/vulkan/VulkanPipelineCache.cpp
+++ b/filament/backend/src/vulkan/VulkanPipelineCache.cpp
@@ -232,9 +232,18 @@ VulkanPipelineCache::DescriptorCacheEntry* VulkanPipelineCache::createDescriptor
     // are no longer used. This occurs during the cleanup phase during command buffer submission.
     auto& descriptorSetArenas = layoutCacheEntry->descriptorSetArenas;
     if (descriptorSetArenas[0].empty()) {
-        if (mDescriptorSets.size() >= mDescriptorPoolSize) {
+
+        // If allocating a new descriptor set from the pool would cause it to overflow, then
+        // recreate the pool. The number of descriptor sets that have already been allocated from
+        // the pool is the sum of the "active" descriptor sets (mDescriptorSets) and the "dormant"
+        // descriptor sets (mDescriptorArenasCount).
+        //
+        // NOTE: technically both sides of the inequality below should be multiplied by
+        // DESCRIPTOR_TYPE_COUNT to get the true number of descriptor sets.
+        if (mDescriptorSets.size() + mDescriptorArenasCount + 1 > mDescriptorPoolSize) {
             growDescriptorPool();
         }
+
         VkDescriptorSetAllocateInfo allocInfo = {};
         allocInfo.sType = VK_STRUCTURE_TYPE_DESCRIPTOR_SET_ALLOCATE_INFO;
         allocInfo.descriptorPool = mDescriptorPool;
@@ -251,6 +260,8 @@ VulkanPipelineCache::DescriptorCacheEntry* VulkanPipelineCache::createDescriptor
             descriptorCacheEntry.handles[i] = descriptorSetArenas[i].back();
             descriptorSetArenas[i].pop_back();
         }
+        assert_invariant(mDescriptorArenasCount > 0);
+        mDescriptorArenasCount--;
     }
 
     // Rewrite every binding in the new descriptor sets.
@@ -704,6 +715,7 @@ void VulkanPipelineCache::onCommandBuffer(const VulkanCommandBuffer& cmdbuffer)
             for (uint32_t i = 0; i < DESCRIPTOR_TYPE_COUNT; ++i) {
                 arenas[i].push_back(cacheEntry.handles[i]);
             }
+            ++mDescriptorArenasCount;
             iter = mDescriptorSets.erase(iter);
         } else {
             ++iter;
@@ -738,6 +750,12 @@ void VulkanPipelineCache::onCommandBuffer(const VulkanCommandBuffer& cmdbuffer)
 #endif
                 vkDestroyDescriptorSetLayout(mDevice, setLayout, VKALLOC);
             }
+            auto& arenas = iter->second.descriptorSetArenas;
+            assert_invariant(mDescriptorArenasCount >= arenas[0].size());
+            mDescriptorArenasCount -= arenas[0].size();
+            for (auto& arena : arenas) {
+                vkFreeDescriptorSets(mDevice, mDescriptorPool, arena.size(), arena.data());
+            }
             iter = mPipelineLayouts.erase(iter);
         } else {
             ++iter;
@@ -839,6 +857,7 @@ void VulkanPipelineCache::growDescriptorPool() noexcept {
             arena.clear();
         }
     }
+    mDescriptorArenasCount = 0;
 
     // Move all in-use descriptors from the primary cache into an "extinct" list, so that they will
     // later be destroyed rather than reclaimed.
diff --git a/filament/backend/src/vulkan/VulkanPipelineCache.h b/filament/backend/src/vulkan/VulkanPipelineCache.h
index d206058027..f83700d105 100644
--- a/filament/backend/src/vulkan/VulkanPipelineCache.h
+++ b/filament/backend/src/vulkan/VulkanPipelineCache.h
@@ -399,8 +399,19 @@ private:
     // The descriptor set pool starts out with a decent number of descriptor sets.  The cache can
     // grow the pool by re-creating it with a larger size.  See growDescriptorPool().
     VkDescriptorPool mDescriptorPool;
+
+    // This describes the number of descriptor sets in mDescriptorPool. Note that this needs to be
+    // multiplied by DESCRIPTOR_TYPE_COUNT to get the actual number of descriptor sets. Also note
+    // that the number of low-level "descriptors" (not descriptor *sets*) is actually much more than
+    // this size. It can be computed only by factoring in UBUFFER_BINDING_COUNT etc.
     uint32_t mDescriptorPoolSize = INITIAL_DESCRIPTOR_SET_POOL_SIZE;
 
+    // To get the actual number of descriptor sets that have been allocated from the pool,
+    // take the sum of mDescriptorArenasCount (these are inactive descriptor sets) and the
+    // number of entries in the mDescriptorPool map (active descriptor sets). Multiply the result by
+    // DESCRIPTOR_TYPE_COUNT.
+    uint32_t mDescriptorArenasCount = 0;
+
     // After a growth event (i.e. when the VkDescriptorPool is replaced with a bigger version), all
     // currently used descriptors are moved into the "extinct" sets so that they can be safely
     // destroyed a few frames later.