diff --git a/benchs/bench_hnsw_stats.cpp b/benchs/bench_hnsw_stats.cpp
index 4aba3feb8..32968d59c 100644
--- a/benchs/bench_hnsw_stats.cpp
+++ b/benchs/bench_hnsw_stats.cpp
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
 
 #include <benchmark/benchmark.h>
 #include <faiss/IndexBinaryHNSW.h>
+#include <faiss/utils/utils.h>
 #include <omp.h>
 
 namespace faiss {
@@ -41,6 +42,7 @@ const IndexBinaryHNSW& get_index() {
 
 void bench_binary_hnsw_single_query(benchmark::State& state) {
     omp_set_num_threads(1);
+    set_search_stats_enabled(state.range(0) != 0);
     constexpr std::array<uint8_t, kDimension / 8> query{};
     int32_t distance;
     idx_t label;
@@ -53,7 +55,12 @@ void bench_binary_hnsw_single_query(benchmark::State& state) {
     state.SetItemsProcessed(state.iterations());
 }
 
-BENCHMARK(bench_binary_hnsw_single_query)->ThreadRange(1, 64)->UseRealTime();
+BENCHMARK(bench_binary_hnsw_single_query)
+        ->ArgName("stats")
+        ->Arg(0)
+        ->Arg(1)
+        ->ThreadRange(1, 64)
+        ->UseRealTime();
 
 } // namespace
 } // namespace faiss
diff --git a/faiss/IndexBinaryHNSW.cpp b/faiss/IndexBinaryHNSW.cpp
index f3b9f11fb..3dd738bde 100644
--- a/faiss/IndexBinaryHNSW.cpp
+++ b/faiss/IndexBinaryHNSW.cpp
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@
 #include <faiss/impl/VisitedTable.h>
 #include <faiss/utils/Heap.h>
 #include <faiss/utils/random.h>
+#include <faiss/utils/utils.h>
 
 #include <faiss/impl/simd_dispatch.h>
 
@@ -121,7 +122,9 @@ void IndexBinaryHNSW::search(
         }
     }
 
-    hnsw_stats.combine_atomic({n1, n2, ndis, nhops});
+    if (get_search_stats_enabled()) {
+        hnsw_stats.combine_atomic({n1, n2, ndis, nhops});
+    }
 
 #pragma omp parallel for
     for (idx_t i = 0; i < n * k; ++i) {
@@ -270,7 +273,9 @@ void IndexBinaryHNSWCagra::search(
 
                 res.end();
             }
-            hnsw_stats.combine_atomic(search_stats);
+            if (get_search_stats_enabled()) {
+                hnsw_stats.combine_atomic(search_stats);
+            }
         }
 
 #pragma omp parallel for
diff --git a/faiss/IndexHNSW.cpp b/faiss/IndexHNSW.cpp
index cf4885c0f..d295a3dd4 100644
--- a/faiss/IndexHNSW.cpp
+++ b/faiss/IndexHNSW.cpp
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@
 #include <faiss/impl/platform_macros.h>
 #include <faiss/utils/random.h>
 #include <faiss/utils/sorting.h>
+#include <faiss/utils/utils.h>
 
 namespace faiss {
 
@@ -495,8 +496,10 @@ void hnsw_search(
         InterruptCallback::check();
     }
 
-    hnsw_stats.combine_atomic({n1, n2, ndis, nhops});
-    rabitq_stats.add_atomic({n_rabitq_1bit, n_rabitq_refine});
+    if (get_search_stats_enabled()) {
+        hnsw_stats.combine_atomic({n1, n2, ndis, nhops});
+        rabitq_stats.add_atomic({n_rabitq_1bit, n_rabitq_refine});
+    }
 }
 
 } // anonymous namespace
@@ -707,8 +710,10 @@ void IndexHNSW::search_level_0(
                     omp_capture_exception(ex, [&] { interrupt = true; });
                 }
             }
-            hnsw_stats.combine_atomic(search_stats);
-            rabitq_stats.add_atomic(rq_search_stats);
+            if (get_search_stats_enabled()) {
+                hnsw_stats.combine_atomic(search_stats);
+                rabitq_stats.add_atomic(rq_search_stats);
+            }
         }
         omp_rethrow_if_exception(ex);
     };
@@ -1235,7 +1240,9 @@ void IndexHNSW2Level::search(
         }
         omp_rethrow_if_exception(ex);
 
-        hnsw_stats.combine_atomic({n1, n2, ndis, nhops});
+        if (get_search_stats_enabled()) {
+            hnsw_stats.combine_atomic({n1, n2, ndis, nhops});
+        }
     }
 }
 
@@ -1437,7 +1444,9 @@ void IndexHNSWCagra::range_search(
         result->do_allocation();
         pres.copy_result();
 
-        hnsw_stats.combine_atomic({n1, n2, ndis, nhops});
+        if (get_search_stats_enabled()) {
+            hnsw_stats.combine_atomic({n1, n2, ndis, nhops});
+        }
     };
 
     if (is_similarity_metric(metric_type)) {
diff --git a/faiss/python/__init__.pyi b/faiss/python/__init__.pyi
index 152349526..8ebb208ed 100644
--- a/faiss/python/__init__.pyi
+++ b/faiss/python/__init__.pyi
@@ -3114,6 +3114,8 @@ class SIMDConfig:
 # Utility functions
 def get_mem_usage_kb() -> int: ...
 def get_compile_options() -> str: ...
+def set_search_stats_enabled(enabled: bool) -> None: ...
+def get_search_stats_enabled() -> bool: ...
 def check_openmp() -> bool: ...
 def shard_ivf_index_centroids(
     index: IndexIVF,
diff --git a/faiss/utils/utils.cpp b/faiss/utils/utils.cpp
index 7a14fc2cf..abd4fc756 100644
--- a/faiss/utils/utils.cpp
+++ b/faiss/utils/utils.cpp
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@
 #include <omp.h>
 
 #include <algorithm>
+#include <atomic>
 #include <set>
 #include <type_traits>
 #include <unordered_set>
@@ -175,6 +176,18 @@ uint64_t get_cycles() {
 #endif
 }
 
+namespace {
+std::atomic<bool> search_stats_enabled{true};
+} // namespace
+
+void set_search_stats_enabled(bool enabled) {
+    search_stats_enabled.store(enabled, std::memory_order_relaxed);
+}
+
+bool get_search_stats_enabled() {
+    return search_stats_enabled.load(std::memory_order_relaxed);
+}
+
 #ifdef __linux__
 
 size_t get_mem_usage_kb() {
diff --git a/faiss/utils/utils.h b/faiss/utils/utils.h
index 3af2590dc..e387c6263 100644
--- a/faiss/utils/utils.h
+++ b/faiss/utils/utils.h
@@ -48,6 +48,14 @@ size_t get_mem_usage_kb();
 
 uint64_t get_cycles();
 
+/** Enable or disable the collection of global search statistics (enabled by
+ * default). The flag is process-wide. When it is disabled, searches may skip
+ * updates to global stats objects, so their values are unspecified. At the
+ * moment, the flag controls hnsw_stats and rabitq_stats.
+ */
+void set_search_stats_enabled(bool enabled);
+bool get_search_stats_enabled();
+
 /***************************************************************************
  * Misc  matrix and vector manipulation functions
  ***************************************************************************/
diff --git a/tests/test_graph_based.py b/tests/test_graph_based.py
index f314aa41a..3a659897e 100644
--- a/tests/test_graph_based.py
+++ b/tests/test_graph_based.py
@@ -217,6 +217,10 @@ class TestHNSW(unittest.TestCase):
         index = faiss.IndexHNSWFlat(d, 16)
         index.add(self.xb)
         stats = faiss.cvar.hnsw_stats
+        self.addCleanup(
+            faiss.set_search_stats_enabled, faiss.get_search_stats_enabled()
+        )
+        faiss.set_search_stats_enabled(True)
         stats.reset()
         Dhnsw, Ihnsw = index.search(self.xq, 1)
         self.assertGreater(stats.ndis, len(self.xq) * index.hnsw.efSearch)
diff --git a/tests/test_hnsw.cpp b/tests/test_hnsw.cpp
index a0be2193e..163ccadce 100644
--- a/tests/test_hnsw.cpp
+++ b/tests/test_hnsw.cpp
@@ -24,9 +24,40 @@
 #include <faiss/impl/VisitedTable.h>
 #include <faiss/impl/hnsw/MinimaxHeap.h>
 #include <faiss/utils/random.h>
+#include <faiss/utils/utils.h>
 #include <omp.h>
 
-TEST(HNSWStats, ConcurrentBinarySearchAggregatesExactly) {
+namespace {
+
+struct SearchStatsEnabledGuard {
+    explicit SearchStatsEnabledGuard(bool enabled)
+            : previous(faiss::get_search_stats_enabled()) {
+        faiss::set_search_stats_enabled(enabled);
+    }
+    ~SearchStatsEnabledGuard() {
+        faiss::set_search_stats_enabled(previous);
+    }
+    bool previous;
+};
+
+} // namespace
+
+TEST(HNSWStats, DisabledCollectionSkipsGlobalStats) {
+    faiss::IndexBinaryHNSW index(8, 2);
+    const uint8_t database = 0;
+    index.add(1, &database);
+    index.hnsw.efSearch = 1;
+    SearchStatsEnabledGuard guard(false);
+    faiss::hnsw_stats.reset();
+
+    int32_t distance;
+    faiss::idx_t label;
+    index.search(1, &database, 1, &distance, &label);
+
+    EXPECT_EQ(0, faiss::hnsw_stats.n1);
+}
+
+TEST(HNSWStats, EnabledCollectionAggregatesConcurrentSearchesExactly) {
     constexpr size_t num_threads = 16;
     constexpr size_t searches_per_thread = 100;
 
@@ -34,6 +65,7 @@ TEST(HNSWStats, ConcurrentBinarySearchAggregatesExactly) {
     const uint8_t database = 0;
     index.add(1, &database);
     index.hnsw.efSearch = 1;
+    SearchStatsEnabledGuard guard(true);
     faiss::hnsw_stats.reset();
 
     std::vector<std::thread> threads;
diff --git a/tests/test_hnsw_rabitq.py b/tests/test_hnsw_rabitq.py
index f338a1863..4e3ce9a2c 100644
--- a/tests/test_hnsw_rabitq.py
+++ b/tests/test_hnsw_rabitq.py
@@ -10,6 +10,11 @@ import numpy as np
 
 
 class TestHNSWRaBitQ(unittest.TestCase):
+    def setUp(self):
+        self.addCleanup(
+            faiss.set_search_stats_enabled, faiss.get_search_stats_enabled()
+        )
+
     def make_data(self, d=32, nt=400, nb=600, nq=20):
         rs = np.random.RandomState(123)
         xt = rs.randn(nt, d).astype("float32")
@@ -39,6 +44,13 @@ class TestHNSWRaBitQ(unittest.TestCase):
     def test_staged_search_quality(self):
         index, xb, xq = self.make_index(nb_bits=3)
 
+        faiss.set_search_stats_enabled(False)
+        faiss.cvar.rabitq_stats.reset()
+        index.search(xq, 10)
+        self.assertEqual(faiss.cvar.rabitq_stats.n_1bit, 0)
+        self.assertEqual(faiss.cvar.rabitq_stats.n_refine, 0)
+
+        faiss.set_search_stats_enabled(True)
         faiss.cvar.rabitq_stats.reset()
         D, I = index.search(xq, 10)
         stats = faiss.cvar.rabitq_stats
@@ -130,6 +142,7 @@ class TestHNSWRaBitQ(unittest.TestCase):
     def test_one_bit_fallback(self):
         index, _, xq = self.make_index(nb_bits=1)
         self.assertEqual(index.hnsw.search_method, 0)
+        faiss.set_search_stats_enabled(True)
         faiss.cvar.rabitq_stats.reset()
         D, I = index.search(xq, 10)
         self.assertTrue(np.all(I >= 0))