diff --git a/scripts/bench-read-bulk.ps1 b/scripts/bench-read-bulk.ps1
index 7aa9cdc..0a4568c 100644
--- a/scripts/bench-read-bulk.ps1
+++ b/scripts/bench-read-bulk.ps1
@@ -126,8 +126,13 @@ function Get-ClientCommand {
 
     switch ($Client) {
         "dotnet" {
+            # -c Release matches the rest of the matrix: HotSpot/Tier 1 JIT
+            # closes most of the debug/release gap for .NET on its own, but
+            # Release also disables JIT inline thresholds that hurt Stopwatch-
+            # bracketed measurement noise. Same project must have been built
+            # in Release at least once before this --no-build invocation.
             $cliArgs = @(
-                "run", "--project", "clients/dotnet/MxGateway.Client.Cli", "--no-build", "--",
+                "run", "--project", "clients/dotnet/MxGateway.Client.Cli", "-c", "Release", "--no-build", "--",
                 "bench-read-bulk",
                 "--endpoint", $httpEndpoint,
                 "--api-key-env", $ApiKeyEnv,
@@ -163,8 +168,13 @@ function Get-ClientCommand {
             return [pscustomobject]@{ file = "go"; args = $cliArgs; cwd = (Join-Path $repoRoot "clients/go") }
         }
         "rust" {
+            # --release is essential: Rust debug builds disable inlining and
+            # add overflow checks, which costs the bench ~45% of throughput
+            # and ~3x of p99 latency vs release. The other compiled clients
+            # don't have this gap (go run is optimized, dotnet/java run JIT-
+            # optimized after the warmup window).
             $cliArgs = @(
-                "run", "--quiet", "-p", "mxgw-cli", "--",
+                "run", "--release", "--quiet", "-p", "mxgw-cli", "--",
                 "bench-read-bulk",
                 "--endpoint", $httpEndpoint,
                 "--api-key-env", $ApiKeyEnv,