diff --git a/pkg/workflow/compiler.go b/pkg/workflow/compiler.go
index de36d6284ca..b941355f43f 100644
--- a/pkg/workflow/compiler.go
+++ b/pkg/workflow/compiler.go
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/github/gh-aw/pkg/console"
 	"github.com/github/gh-aw/pkg/logger"
 	"github.com/github/gh-aw/pkg/stringutil"
-	"github.com/goccy/go-yaml"
+	"go.yaml.in/yaml/v3"
 )
 
 var log = logger.New("workflow:compiler")
diff --git a/pkg/workflow/compiler_performance_benchmark_test.go b/pkg/workflow/compiler_performance_benchmark_test.go
index 898acd4aee3..0ea98c9e505 100644
--- a/pkg/workflow/compiler_performance_benchmark_test.go
+++ b/pkg/workflow/compiler_performance_benchmark_test.go
@@ -40,6 +40,10 @@ Analyze the issue: ${{ steps.sanitized.outputs.text }}
 
 	compiler := NewCompiler()
 
+	// Warm up: run once before timing to prime one-time caches (schema compilation, etc.)
+	_ = compiler.CompileWorkflow(testFile)
+
+	b.ResetTimer()
 	b.ReportAllocs()
 	for b.Loop() {
 		_ = compiler.CompileWorkflow(testFile)
@@ -98,6 +102,10 @@ Review the pull request: ${{ github.event.pull_request.number }}
 
 	compiler := NewCompiler(WithNoEmit(true))
 
+	// Warm up: run once before timing to prime one-time caches (schema compilation, etc.)
+	_ = compiler.CompileWorkflow(testFile)
+
+	b.ResetTimer()
 	b.ReportAllocs()
 	for b.Loop() {
 		_ = compiler.CompileWorkflow(testFile)
@@ -145,6 +153,10 @@ Review and test the pull request with multiple tools.
 
 	compiler := NewCompiler(WithNoEmit(true))
 
+	// Warm up: run once before timing to prime one-time caches (schema compilation, etc.)
+	_ = compiler.CompileWorkflow(testFile)
+
+	b.ResetTimer()
 	b.ReportAllocs()
 	for b.Loop() {
 		_ = compiler.CompileWorkflow(testFile)
@@ -194,6 +206,11 @@ Standard workflow for memory profiling.
 
 	compiler := NewCompiler(WithNoEmit(true))
 
+	// Warm up: run once before timing to initialize one-time caches
+	// (schema compilation, regex caches) so they don't skew per-op metrics.
+	_ = compiler.CompileWorkflow(testFile)
+
+	b.ResetTimer()
 	b.ReportAllocs()
 
 	// Track memory allocations
@@ -232,6 +249,10 @@ Test parsing performance.
 
 	compiler := NewCompiler()
 
+	// Warm up: prime the schema compilation cache before timed measurement.
+	_, _ = compiler.ParseWorkflowFile(testFile)
+
+	b.ResetTimer()
 	b.ReportAllocs()
 	for b.Loop() {
 		_, _ = compiler.ParseWorkflowFile(testFile)
@@ -274,6 +295,10 @@ Test validation performance.
 	compiler := NewCompiler(WithNoEmit(true))
 	compiler.SetStrictMode(true)
 
+	// Warm up: prime the schema compilation cache before timed measurement.
+	_ = compiler.CompileWorkflow(testFile)
+
+	b.ResetTimer()
 	b.ReportAllocs()
 	for b.Loop() {
 		_ = compiler.CompileWorkflow(testFile)
diff --git a/pkg/workflow/schema_validation.go b/pkg/workflow/schema_validation.go
index 05adaa458c7..cb64379f25b 100644
--- a/pkg/workflow/schema_validation.go
+++ b/pkg/workflow/schema_validation.go
@@ -45,8 +45,8 @@ import (
 	"strings"
 	"sync"
 
-	"github.com/goccy/go-yaml"
 	"github.com/santhosh-tekuri/jsonschema/v6"
+	"go.yaml.in/yaml/v3"
 )
 
 var schemaValidationLog = newValidationLogger("schema")