diff --git a/Sources/SaplingEditor/EditorPerformanceProfiling.swift b/Sources/SaplingEditor/EditorPerformanceProfiling.swift
index 138e199..cdf2bf4 100644
--- a/Sources/SaplingEditor/EditorPerformanceProfiling.swift
+++ b/Sources/SaplingEditor/EditorPerformanceProfiling.swift
@@ -437,22 +437,27 @@ public enum EditorBenchmarkProfiler {
         ))
 
         let clickRenderResult = measure {
-            MarkdownTextStyler.apply(
-                to: textStorage,
-                invalidationPlan: dirtyClickPlan,
-                activeLineIndex: changedActiveLineIndex,
-                backgroundColor: .textBackgroundColor,
-                activeLineBackgroundColor: .controlAccentColor.withAlphaComponent(0.10),
-                textColor: .labelColor,
-                secondaryTextColor: .secondaryLabelColor,
-                accentColor: .controlAccentColor
-            )
+            if dirtyClickPlan.requiresStyling {
+                return MarkdownTextStyler.apply(
+                    to: textStorage,
+                    invalidationPlan: dirtyClickPlan,
+                    activeLineIndex: changedActiveLineIndex,
+                    backgroundColor: .textBackgroundColor,
+                    activeLineBackgroundColor: .controlAccentColor.withAlphaComponent(0.10),
+                    textColor: .labelColor,
+                    secondaryTextColor: .secondaryLabelColor,
+                    accentColor: .controlAccentColor
+                )
+            }
+            return MarkdownTextStylingResult.empty
         }
         measurements.append(EditorBenchmarkMeasurement(
             name: "render_update_click_dirty",
             category: .interaction,
             durationMilliseconds: clickRenderResult.durationMilliseconds,
-            notes: "\(clickRenderResult.value.styledLineCount) styled lines"
+            notes: dirtyClickPlan.requiresStyling
+                ? "\(clickRenderResult.value.styledLineCount) styled lines"
+                : "skipped; dirty plan did not require styling"
         ))
 
         let typingStorageResult = measure {