diff --git a/docs/BENCHMARKS.md b/docs/BENCHMARKS.md
index df3e0581..f963ad1c 100644
--- a/docs/BENCHMARKS.md
+++ b/docs/BENCHMARKS.md
@@ -78,7 +78,10 @@ given toolchain, so the gates run in every `go test` without the race
 detector, which adds allocations of its own. The gates count the
 allocations of the whole test binary, so each measurement starts after a
 garbage collection; a collection that earlier tests leave pending would
-otherwise add to a figure. The byte ceiling catches a
+otherwise add to a figure. No collection runs during a measurement either.
+A collection empties the caches of `sync.Pool`, and the measured operation
+then allocates what it would have reused, by an amount that depends on when
+the collection falls. The byte ceiling catches a
 single oversized allocation, such as a fixed buffer, which the allocation
 count does not; each byte ceiling is the measured figure rounded up to the
 next 64 bytes, because map growth in the in-memory store varies it by a few
@@ -93,7 +96,7 @@ figures in the other sections were measured with Go 1.25.
 | Record StreamWrite of three records | 63 | 7,296 |
 | JSONL Decode of three records | 33 | 5,504 |
 | Volume ReadAt within one of ten blocks | 41 | 10,816 |
-| Volume Commit of one block onto a small volume | 136 | 252,032 |
+| Volume Commit of one block onto a small volume | 135 | 252,032 |
 
 A change that exceeds a ceiling fails the test and must justify the increase
 in its pull request before the ceiling is raised. A change that reduces a
diff --git a/internal/testutil/allocgate.go b/internal/testutil/allocgate.go
index 0a1b49bc..927d2bb6 100644
--- a/internal/testutil/allocgate.go
+++ b/internal/testutil/allocgate.go
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ package testutil
 
 import (
 	"runtime"
+	"runtime/debug"
 	"testing"
 )
 
@@ -34,7 +35,10 @@ const AllocGateCalls = 1 + (gateRuns + 1) + gateRuns
 // toolchain, but the race detector adds allocations of its own, so callers
 // exclude race builds. Each measurement starts after a garbage collection:
 // the figures count the allocations of the whole test binary, and a
-// collection that earlier tests leave pending otherwise adds to them. Each
+// collection that earlier tests leave pending otherwise adds to them. No
+// collection runs during a measurement either: a collection empties the
+// caches of sync.Pool, and the operation then allocates what it would have
+// reused, by an amount that depends on when the collection falls. Each
 // gate logs the ceilings its measured figures call for, so `task gates`
 // reports them without an edit to the gate table.
 func RunAllocGates(t *testing.T, gates []AllocGate) {
@@ -43,6 +47,9 @@ func RunAllocGates(t *testing.T, gates []AllocGate) {
 		t.Run(g.Name, func(t *testing.T) {
 			op := g.Setup(t)
 			op()
+			// A collection still runs on runtime.GC, but none starts on its
+			// own until the gate restores the collector's target.
+			defer debug.SetGCPercent(debug.SetGCPercent(-1))
 			runtime.GC()
 			allocs := testing.AllocsPerRun(gateRuns, op)
 			runtime.GC()
diff --git a/lode/volume/alloc_test.go b/lode/volume/alloc_test.go
index f8536b42..84abf7a4 100644
--- a/lode/volume/alloc_test.go
+++ b/lode/volume/alloc_test.go
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ const (
 // in-memory store varies it by a few bytes.
 var allocGates = []testutil.AllocGate{
 	{Name: "ReadAt within one of ten blocks", Allocs: 41, Bytes: 10816, Setup: gateReadAt},
-	{Name: "Commit of one block onto a small volume", Allocs: 136, Bytes: 252032, Setup: gateCommit},
+	{Name: "Commit of one block onto a small volume", Allocs: 135, Bytes: 252032, Setup: gateCommit},
 }
 
 // TestAllocationGates holds each Volume hot path to its allocation ceiling.