diff --git a/tests/prediction_bounds.rs b/tests/prediction_bounds.rs
index 06e5b19..eedde48 100644
--- a/tests/prediction_bounds.rs
+++ b/tests/prediction_bounds.rs
@@ -17,6 +17,24 @@ use trueskill_tt::{
 
 type R = Rating<i64, ConstantDrift>;
 
+/// How many random matchups the ceiling sweep draws.
+///
+/// Scaled by build profile rather than fixed. Each sample runs a full inference
+/// pass per outcome, and that is about **19x** faster in release — measured,
+/// 20 000 samples take 12.1s released against 23s for 2 000 in debug. `just
+/// test` runs three debug feature combinations and one release one, so a fixed
+/// count pays the slow price three times and the fast one once, which is
+/// exactly backwards.
+///
+/// The debug run is here to prove the sweep still compiles and holds on a small
+/// sample; the release run is the one that actually searches. The violation
+/// this guards was found at a rate near 1.8%, so even the debug count expects
+/// tens of hits in the regime.
+#[cfg(debug_assertions)]
+const SAMPLES: usize = 1_000;
+#[cfg(not(debug_assertions))]
+const SAMPLES: usize = 50_000;
+
 /// Deterministic LCG, so a failure is reproducible from the printed seed.
 struct Lcg(u64);
 
@@ -49,7 +67,7 @@ fn information_gain_never_exceeds_the_entropy_of_the_outcome() {
     let mut evaluated = 0usize;
     let mut refused = 0usize;
 
-    for i in 0..2_000 {
+    for i in 0..SAMPLES {
         let mu_a = rng.in_range(-100.0, 100.0);
         let mu_b = rng.in_range(-100.0, 100.0);
         let sigma_a = rng.log_uniform(1e-4, 1e2);
@@ -91,8 +109,8 @@ fn information_gain_never_exceeds_the_entropy_of_the_outcome() {
     // The sweep must actually exercise the function, not pass by refusing
     // everything.
     assert!(
-        evaluated > 1_000,
-        "only {evaluated} of 2000 samples were evaluated ({refused} refused); \
+        evaluated * 2 > SAMPLES,
+        "only {evaluated} of {SAMPLES} samples were evaluated ({refused} refused); \
          the sweep is no longer testing anything"
     );
     // And it must still reach the regime where the ceiling was violated —