diff --git a/src/main.zig b/src/main.zig
index 074a301..ba1591d 100644
--- a/src/main.zig
+++ b/src/main.zig
@@ -59,10 +59,11 @@ pub const default_stack_size = 8 * 1024 * 1024;
 // ReleaseSafe GPF from fiber context-switch codegen bug, persistent ~10-15% coverage
 // degradation, zig team marks Evented as experimental. See docs/evented-attempt.md.
 // Can revisit when zig's Evented runtime matures.
-/// diagnostic build: zio prints loop-internal stats to stderr every 5s.
-/// the bug under investigation breaks the HTTP metrics path itself, so
-/// observation cannot depend on it.
-pub const zio_debug_loop_stats = true;
+/// zio prints loop-internal stats to stderr every 5s when true. invaluable
+/// while diagnosing a wedged scheduler (the HTTP metrics path is exactly
+/// what fails in that case), noise in steady state. left off by default;
+/// flip it on for a canary or an investigation.
+pub const zio_debug_loop_stats = false;
 
 const backend_config = @import("backend_config");
 const zio = @import("zio");