diff --git a/runtime/vm/compiler/frontend/bytecode_reader.cc b/runtime/vm/compiler/frontend/bytecode_reader.cc
index 47d260b52d12a..49dec0454450e 100644
--- a/runtime/vm/compiler/frontend/bytecode_reader.cc
+++ b/runtime/vm/compiler/frontend/bytecode_reader.cc
@@ -43,8 +43,12 @@ void BytecodeMetadataHelper::ReadMetadata(const Function& function) {
 #if !defined(PRODUCT)
   TimelineDurationScope tds(Thread::Current(), Timeline::GetCompilerStream(),
                             "BytecodeMetadataHelper::ReadMetadata");
+  // This increases bytecode reading time by ~7%, so only keep it around for
+  // debugging.
+#if defined(DEBUG)
   tds.SetNumArguments(1);
   tds.CopyArgument(0, "Function", function.ToQualifiedCString());
+#endif  // defined(DEBUG)
 #endif  // !defined(PRODUCT)
 
   const intptr_t node_offset = function.kernel_offset();