diff --git a/spec/spec_helper.rb b/spec/spec_helper.rb
index b61f4b0405d..4bc65e178f1 100644
--- a/spec/spec_helper.rb
+++ b/spec/spec_helper.rb
@@ -5,10 +5,13 @@
 require 'webmock/rspec'
 require 'climate_control'
 
-# +SimpleCov.start+ must be invoked before any application code is loaded
-require 'simplecov'
-SimpleCov.start do
-  formatter SimpleCov::Formatter::SimpleFormatter
+# Skip for benchmarks, as coverage collection slows them down.
+unless RSpec.configuration.files_to_run.all? { |path| path.include?('/benchmark/') }
+  # +SimpleCov.start+ must be invoked before any application code is loaded
+  require 'simplecov'
+  SimpleCov.start do
+    formatter SimpleCov::Formatter::SimpleFormatter
+  end
 end
 
 require 'ddtrace/encoding'