diff --git a/pkg/formatter/expression_scaling_test.go b/pkg/formatter/expression_scaling_test.go
index 29d7630b..4e3f115c 100644
--- a/pkg/formatter/expression_scaling_test.go
+++ b/pkg/formatter/expression_scaling_test.go
@@ -30,6 +30,11 @@ import (
 // and the 64x bound leaves room for noisy shared CI runners. Build ASTs outside the measurement so
 // parser limits and parsing time do not conceal formatter regressions.
 func TestFormatASTExpressionLinearGrowth(t *testing.T) {
+	// Race instrumentation inflates allocation-heavy paths unevenly across
+	// input sizes, so the growth ratio is only meaningful without it.
+	if raceEnabled {
+		t.Skip("timing ratios are unreliable under the race detector")
+	}
 	for _, shape := range []struct {
 		name  string
 		small int
diff --git a/pkg/formatter/race_enabled_norace_test.go b/pkg/formatter/race_enabled_norace_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..5b3cc4b4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/formatter/race_enabled_norace_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+// Copyright 2026 GoSQLX Authors
+//
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+//     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+
+//go:build !race
+
+package formatter_test
+
+// raceEnabled reports whether the race detector instruments this test binary.
+const raceEnabled = false
diff --git a/pkg/formatter/race_enabled_race_test.go b/pkg/formatter/race_enabled_race_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..bd5e53e1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/formatter/race_enabled_race_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+// Copyright 2026 GoSQLX Authors
+//
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+//     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+
+//go:build race
+
+package formatter_test
+
+// raceEnabled reports whether the race detector instruments this test binary.
+const raceEnabled = true