diff --git a/pkg/sfu/pacer/base_test.go b/pkg/sfu/pacer/base_test.go
index 3b68fa168..3842203a6 100644
--- a/pkg/sfu/pacer/base_test.go
+++ b/pkg/sfu/pacer/base_test.go
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/livekit/protocol/logger"
 
 	"github.com/livekit/livekit-server/pkg/sfu/bwe"
+	"github.com/livekit/livekit-server/pkg/sfu/utils"
 )
 
 // bwe.NullBWE is meant to be embedded and lacks Type
@@ -80,5 +81,7 @@ func TestSendPacketHeaderExtensionsNoAlloc(t *testing.T) {
 	require.Equal(t, 1002, w.writes)
 	require.Equal(t, 3*w.writes, w.absSendTimeLen)
 	require.Equal(t, 2*w.writes, w.transportWideLen)
-	require.Equal(t, 0.0, allocs, "allocations per SendPacket")
+	if !utils.RaceEnabled {
+		require.Equal(t, 0.0, allocs, "allocations per SendPacket")
+	}
 }
diff --git a/pkg/sfu/utils/norace.go b/pkg/sfu/utils/norace.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ba683f0f7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/sfu/utils/norace.go
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+//go:build !race
+
+package utils
+
+// RaceEnabled reports whether the binary was built with the race detector.
+const RaceEnabled = false
diff --git a/pkg/sfu/utils/race.go b/pkg/sfu/utils/race.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..72223acef
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/sfu/utils/race.go
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+//go:build race
+
+package utils
+
+// RaceEnabled reports whether the binary was built with the race detector.
+// sync.Pool drops a quarter of returned items under it, so allocation counts
+// on pooled paths are not meaningful.
+const RaceEnabled = true