diff --git a/memhub.vp b/memhub.vp
index 5ebe64b..ca7105a 100644
--- a/memhub.vp
+++ b/memhub.vp
@@ -1444,12 +1444,15 @@ class MemBuddy(MemManager):
         order: int = int(stored_val >> 1)
         if order < 0: return 0
         if order > self.max_order: return 0
-        # Live-set check: every alloc pushes its block onto chk_stack, and reset_to(mark)
-        # pops [mark, chk_depth) and frees those blocks. A stale pointer with a still-odd
-        # header would pass the checks above, so require the block to sit in the live
-        # window [0, chk_depth). Once chk_stack is full (chk_depth == chk_cap) new blocks
-        # are no longer recorded, so the check is skipped to avoid rejecting valid frees.
-        if self.chk_stack is not None and self.chk_depth < self.chk_cap:
+        # Live-set check (diagnostic, --detection only): every alloc pushes its block onto
+        # chk_stack, and reset_to(mark) pops [mark, chk_depth) and frees those blocks. A stale
+        # pointer with a still-odd header would pass the checks above, so require the block to
+        # sit in the live window [0, chk_depth). The scan is O(chk_depth): a pool that is never
+        # reset (PermPool) grows the window without bound (5M entries observed), so running it on
+        # every free made the type-interning frees O(N^2) and stretched one file's translation to
+        # minutes. The check is the same class of aid as --detection, so it is gated on it; the
+        # production path stays O(1) and still rejects re-frees via the header parity test above.
+        if self.detection != 0 and self.chk_stack is not None and self.chk_depth < self.chk_cap:
             alive: int = 0
             for ci in range(int(self.chk_depth)):
                 if self.chk_stack[ci] == uint64(block):