diff --git a/src/allocator.rs b/src/allocator.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..10f52d3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/allocator.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+//! the global allocator, picked by the `alloc-*` features. the hydrant binary and the benches
+//! both include this file, so benchmarks allocate the way production does.
+
+#[cfg(feature = "alloc-mimalloc")]
+#[global_allocator]
+static GLOBAL: mimalloc::MiMalloc = mimalloc::MiMalloc;
+
+#[cfg(feature = "alloc-jemalloc")]
+#[global_allocator]
+static GLOBAL: tikv_jemallocator::Jemalloc = tikv_jemallocator::Jemalloc;
+
+// bake the tuned jemalloc runtime config into the binary. the prefixed tikv build reads
+// the `_rjem_malloc_conf` symbol (plain `malloc_conf` silently no-ops). `percpu_arena`
+// pins one arena per cpu, bounding per-arena dirty-page retention — the dominant rss lever
+// here (~2.4x less resident than the default 4*ncpu arenas); `background_thread` purges
+// asynchronously so `dirty_decay_ms:1000`/`muzzy_decay_ms:0` return pages without sync
+// munmap churn. measured 1.72 GiB steady vs 4.14 for mimalloc. both options are linux-only
+// (they no-op or warn elsewhere), so gate to linux; other targets get vanilla jemalloc.
+// overridable at runtime via _RJEM_MALLOC_CONF.
+#[cfg(all(feature = "alloc-jemalloc", target_os = "linux"))]
+#[allow(non_upper_case_globals)]
+#[unsafe(export_name = "_rjem_malloc_conf")]
+pub static _rjem_malloc_conf: Option<&'static core::ffi::CStr> =
+    Some(c"background_thread:true,percpu_arena:percpu,dirty_decay_ms:1000,muzzy_decay_ms:0");
+
+#[cfg(feature = "alloc-snmalloc")]
+#[global_allocator]
+static GLOBAL: snmalloc_rs::SnMalloc = snmalloc_rs::SnMalloc;
diff --git a/src/main.rs b/src/main.rs
index c924efd..a44924b 100644
--- a/src/main.rs
+++ b/src/main.rs
@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@ use hydrant::config::Config;
 use hydrant::control::{ApiBinds, Hydrant};
 use std::net::{IpAddr, Ipv4Addr, Ipv6Addr, SocketAddr};
 
+mod allocator;
+
 const DEFAULT_API_PORT: u16 = 3000;
 const DEFAULT_DEBUG_PORT: u16 = DEFAULT_API_PORT + 1;
 
@@ -58,32 +60,6 @@ fn parse_api_binds() -> miette::Result<ApiBinds> {
         .ok_or_else(|| miette::miette!("HYDRANT_API_BIND is set but contains no addresses"))
 }
 
-#[cfg(feature = "alloc-mimalloc")]
-#[global_allocator]
-static GLOBAL: mimalloc::MiMalloc = mimalloc::MiMalloc;
-
-#[cfg(feature = "alloc-jemalloc")]
-#[global_allocator]
-static GLOBAL: tikv_jemallocator::Jemalloc = tikv_jemallocator::Jemalloc;
-
-// bake the tuned jemalloc runtime config into the binary. the prefixed tikv build reads
-// the `_rjem_malloc_conf` symbol (plain `malloc_conf` silently no-ops). `percpu_arena`
-// pins one arena per cpu, bounding per-arena dirty-page retention — the dominant rss lever
-// here (~2.4x less resident than the default 4*ncpu arenas); `background_thread` purges
-// asynchronously so `dirty_decay_ms:1000`/`muzzy_decay_ms:0` return pages without sync
-// munmap churn. measured 1.72 GiB steady vs 4.14 for mimalloc. both options are linux-only
-// (they no-op or warn elsewhere), so gate to linux; other targets get vanilla jemalloc.
-// overridable at runtime via _RJEM_MALLOC_CONF.
-#[cfg(all(feature = "alloc-jemalloc", target_os = "linux"))]
-#[allow(non_upper_case_globals)]
-#[unsafe(export_name = "_rjem_malloc_conf")]
-pub static _rjem_malloc_conf: Option<&'static core::ffi::CStr> =
-    Some(c"background_thread:true,percpu_arena:percpu,dirty_decay_ms:1000,muzzy_decay_ms:0");
-
-#[cfg(feature = "alloc-snmalloc")]
-#[global_allocator]
-static GLOBAL: snmalloc_rs::SnMalloc = snmalloc_rs::SnMalloc;
-
 #[tokio::main]
 async fn main() -> miette::Result<()> {
     rustls::crypto::aws_lc_rs::default_provider()