diff --git a/packages/astro/src/@types/astro.ts b/packages/astro/src/@types/astro.ts
index 818384c99..38c52ba6e 100644
--- a/packages/astro/src/@types/astro.ts
+++ b/packages/astro/src/@types/astro.ts
@@ -1010,6 +1010,7 @@ export interface AstroSettings {
 	watchFiles: string[];
 	forceDisableTelemetry: boolean;
 	timer: AstroTimer;
+	performanceRun?: boolean;
 }
 
 export type AsyncRendererComponentFn<U> = (
diff --git a/packages/astro/src/core/build/generate.ts b/packages/astro/src/core/build/generate.ts
index 7ae4de6a1..4d5c7fd6b 100644
--- a/packages/astro/src/core/build/generate.ts
+++ b/packages/astro/src/core/build/generate.ts
@@ -350,6 +350,7 @@ async function generatePath(
 		markdown: {
 			...settings.config.markdown,
 			contentDir: getContentPaths(settings.config).contentDir,
+			performanceRun: settings.performanceRun,
 		},
 		mode: opts.mode,
 		renderers,
diff --git a/packages/astro/src/core/build/plugins/plugin-ssr.ts b/packages/astro/src/core/build/plugins/plugin-ssr.ts
index d4536b92c..ba473431e 100644
--- a/packages/astro/src/core/build/plugins/plugin-ssr.ts
+++ b/packages/astro/src/core/build/plugins/plugin-ssr.ts
@@ -209,6 +209,7 @@ function buildManifest(
 		markdown: {
 			...settings.config.markdown,
 			contentDir: getContentPaths(settings.config).contentDir,
+			performanceRun: settings.performanceRun,
 		},
 		pageMap: null as any,
 		propagation: Array.from(internals.propagation),
diff --git a/packages/astro/src/core/config/settings.ts b/packages/astro/src/core/config/settings.ts
index c92222b04..d11ab4d1b 100644
--- a/packages/astro/src/core/config/settings.ts
+++ b/packages/astro/src/core/config/settings.ts
@@ -27,6 +27,9 @@ export function createBaseSettings(config: AstroConfig): AstroSettings {
 }
 
 export function createSettings(config: AstroConfig, cwd?: string): AstroSettings {
+	// TODO: hoisted to flags handler
+	const performanceRun = process.argv.some((arg) => arg === '--perf');
+
 	const tsconfig = loadTSConfig(cwd);
 	const settings = createBaseSettings(config);
 
@@ -39,6 +42,7 @@ export function createSettings(config: AstroConfig, cwd?: string): AstroSettings
 	settings.tsConfig = tsconfig?.config;
 	settings.tsConfigPath = tsconfig?.path;
 	settings.watchFiles = watchFiles;
+	settings.performanceRun = performanceRun;
 	return settings;
 }
 
diff --git a/packages/astro/src/core/render/dev/environment.ts b/packages/astro/src/core/render/dev/environment.ts
index 7f9fe3195..d4bdc4779 100644
--- a/packages/astro/src/core/render/dev/environment.ts
+++ b/packages/astro/src/core/render/dev/environment.ts
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ export function createDevelopmentEnvironment(
 		markdown: {
 			...settings.config.markdown,
 			contentDir: getContentPaths(settings.config).contentDir,
+			performanceRun: settings.performanceRun,
 		},
 		mode,
 		// This will be overridden in the dev server
diff --git a/packages/astro/src/vite-plugin-markdown/index.ts b/packages/astro/src/vite-plugin-markdown/index.ts
index 746bfde36..fe9a65e66 100644
--- a/packages/astro/src/vite-plugin-markdown/index.ts
+++ b/packages/astro/src/vite-plugin-markdown/index.ts
@@ -72,6 +72,7 @@ export default function markdown({ settings, logging }: AstroPluginOptions): Plu
 					...settings.config.markdown,
 					fileURL: new URL(`file://${fileId}`),
 					contentDir: getContentPaths(settings.config).contentDir,
+					performanceRun: settings.performanceRun,
 					frontmatter: raw.data,
 				});
 
diff --git a/packages/markdown/remark/src/index.ts b/packages/markdown/remark/src/index.ts
index fdd669280..7a89d084e 100644
--- a/packages/markdown/remark/src/index.ts
+++ b/packages/markdown/remark/src/index.ts
@@ -55,6 +55,7 @@ export async function renderMarkdown(
 		smartypants = markdownConfigDefaults.smartypants,
 		contentDir,
 		frontmatter: userFrontmatter = {},
+		performanceRun = false,
 	} = opts;
 	const input = new VFile({ value: content, path: fileURL });
 	const scopedClassName = opts.$?.scopedClassName;
@@ -64,8 +65,10 @@ export async function renderMarkdown(
 		.use(toRemarkInitializeAstroData({ userFrontmatter }))
 		.use([]);
 
-	if (gfm) {
-		parser.use(remarkGfm);
+	if (!performanceRun) {
+		if (gfm) {
+			parser.use(remarkGfm);
+		}
 	}
 
 	if (smartypants) {
@@ -79,18 +82,20 @@ export async function renderMarkdown(
 		parser.use([[plugin, pluginOpts]]);
 	});
 
-	if (scopedClassName) {
-		parser.use([scopedStyles(scopedClassName)]);
-	}
+	if (!performanceRun) {
+		if (scopedClassName) {
+			parser.use([scopedStyles(scopedClassName)]);
+		}
 
-	if (syntaxHighlight === 'shiki') {
-		parser.use([await remarkShiki(shikiConfig, scopedClassName)]);
-	} else if (syntaxHighlight === 'prism') {
-		parser.use([remarkPrism(scopedClassName)]);
-	}
+		if (syntaxHighlight === 'shiki') {
+			parser.use([await remarkShiki(shikiConfig, scopedClassName)]);
+		} else if (syntaxHighlight === 'prism') {
+			parser.use([remarkPrism(scopedClassName)]);
+		}
 
-	// Apply later in case user plugins resolve relative image paths
-	parser.use([toRemarkContentRelImageError({ contentDir })]);
+		// Apply later in case user plugins resolve relative image paths
+		parser.use([toRemarkContentRelImageError({ contentDir })]);
+	}
 
 	parser.use([
 		[
@@ -107,7 +112,11 @@ export async function renderMarkdown(
 		parser.use([[plugin, pluginOpts]]);
 	});
 
-	parser.use([rehypeHeadingIds, rehypeRaw]).use(rehypeStringify, { allowDangerousHtml: true });
+	if (!performanceRun) {
+		parser.use([rehypeHeadingIds]);
+	}
+
+	parser.use([rehypeRaw]).use(rehypeStringify, { allowDangerousHtml: true });
 
 	let vfile: MarkdownVFile;
 	try {