diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index 9130933..eaf65a1 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -16,7 +16,10 @@ jobs:
         uses: coursier/cache-action@v8.1
       - uses: VirtusLab/scala-cli-setup@v1
       - name: Check formatting
-        run: scala-cli --power fmt --check .
+        # benchmark/ is a separate scala-cli build (competitor deps, JMH) —
+        # excluded here even for repos without one, since --exclude is a
+        # no-op glob filter when nothing matches.
+        run: scala-cli --power fmt --check . --exclude benchmark
 
   test:
     name: Test
@@ -38,7 +41,7 @@ jobs:
       - name: Run tests
         # Coverage is recorded only for production sources; tests were previously
         # measured as 100%-covered and inflated the reported number.
-        run: scala-cli --power test . -O -coverage-out:./.scoverage -O '-coverage-exclude-files:.*test/.*'
+        run: scala-cli --power test . --exclude benchmark -O -coverage-out:./.scoverage -O '-coverage-exclude-files:.*test/.*'
       - name: Generate coverage
         run: scala-cli .scoverage/report.sc
       - uses: codecov/codecov-action@v7
@@ -47,7 +50,7 @@ jobs:
           files: .scoverage/report/cobertura.xml
           token: ${{ secrets.CODECOV_TOKEN }}
       - name: Test documentation
-        run: scala-cli --power doc .
+        run: scala-cli --power doc . --exclude benchmark
 
   compile:
     name: Compile (${{ matrix.platform }})
@@ -75,7 +78,7 @@ jobs:
             scala-build-${{ matrix.platform }}-
       - uses: VirtusLab/scala-cli-setup@v1
       - name: Compile
-        run: scala-cli --power compile . --platform ${{ matrix.platform }} ${{ matrix.args }}
+        run: scala-cli --power compile . --exclude benchmark --platform ${{ matrix.platform }} ${{ matrix.args }}
 
   # JVM is covered by the `test` job above (with coverage/docs); this just runs
   # the same suite on the other targets to catch platform-specific regressions.
@@ -103,4 +106,4 @@ jobs:
             scala-build-${{ matrix.platform }}-
       - uses: VirtusLab/scala-cli-setup@v1
       - name: Run tests
-        run: scala-cli --power test . --platform ${{ matrix.platform }} ${{ matrix.args }}
+        run: scala-cli --power test . --exclude benchmark --platform ${{ matrix.platform }} ${{ matrix.args }}
diff --git a/.github/workflows/docs.yaml b/.github/workflows/docs.yaml
index 2accc46..2af23ff 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/docs.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/docs.yaml
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ jobs:
           # name should differ from the repo slug, e.g. made -> "M&DE".
           PROJECT_NAME: ${{ vars.PROJECT_NAME || github.event.repository.name }}
         run: |
-          scala-cli --power doc . -- \
+          scala-cli --power doc . --exclude benchmark -- \
           -project "$PROJECT_NAME" \
           -project-version ${{ github.ref_name }} \
           -project-footer "made with ❤️ and coffee" \
diff --git a/.github/workflows/mima.yml b/.github/workflows/mima.yml
index edba6da..6297041 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/mima.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/mima.yml
@@ -45,15 +45,15 @@ jobs:
           org=$(grep -oP '(?<=using publish.organization ).*' project.scala | tr -d '"')
           name=$(grep -oP '(?<=using publish.name ).*' project.scala | tr -d '"')
 
-          scala-cli --power package . --library -o "$RUNNER_TEMP/new.jar" --force
-          shared_cp=$(scala-cli --power compile . --print-class-path | tail -1)
+          scala-cli --power package . --exclude benchmark --library -o "$RUNNER_TEMP/new.jar" --force
+          shared_cp=$(scala-cli --power compile . --exclude benchmark --print-class-path | tail -1)
 
           if [ "${{ github.event_name }}" = "pull_request" ]; then
             base_sha=$(git rev-parse HEAD^1)
             baseline_label="main@${base_sha:0:7}"
             echo "Baseline: $baseline_label (does this PR itself introduce a new binary incompatibility?)"
             git worktree add --detach --quiet "$RUNNER_TEMP/old-src" "$base_sha"
-            scala-cli --power package "$RUNNER_TEMP/old-src" --library -o "$RUNNER_TEMP/old.jar" --force
+            scala-cli --power package "$RUNNER_TEMP/old-src" --exclude benchmark --library -o "$RUNNER_TEMP/old.jar" --force
             old_jar="$RUNNER_TEMP/old.jar"
           else
             base_tag=$(git tag -l 'v*' --sort=-v:refname | head -1)