diff --git a/src/bench/chacha20.cpp b/src/bench/chacha20.cpp
index 371651771f79..e214d53235da 100644
--- a/src/bench/chacha20.cpp
+++ b/src/bench/chacha20.cpp
@@ -8,8 +8,10 @@
 #include <crypto/chacha20poly1305.h>
 #include <span.h>
 
+#include <cassert>
 #include <cstddef>
 #include <cstdint>
+#include <optional>
 #include <vector>
 
 /* Number of bytes to process per iteration */
@@ -20,24 +22,32 @@ static const uint64_t BUFFER_SIZE_LARGE = 1024*1024;
 static void CHACHA20(benchmark::Bench& bench, size_t buffersize)
 {
     std::vector<std::byte> key(32, {});
-    ChaCha20 ctx(key);
-    ctx.Seek({0, 0}, 0);
+    std::optional<ChaCha20> ctx;
     std::vector<std::byte> in(buffersize, {});
     std::vector<std::byte> out(buffersize, {});
-    bench.batch(in.size()).unit("byte").run([&] {
-        ctx.Crypt(in, out);
+    bench.batch(in.size()).unit("byte").epochIterations(1)
+    .setup([&] {
+        ctx.emplace(key);
+        ctx->Seek({0, 0}, 0);
+    }).run([&] {
+        ctx->Crypt(in, out);
+        assert(out[0] == std::byte{0x76});
     });
 }
 
 static void FSCHACHA20POLY1305(benchmark::Bench& bench, size_t buffersize)
 {
     std::vector<std::byte> key(32);
-    FSChaCha20Poly1305 ctx(key, 224);
+    std::optional<FSChaCha20Poly1305> ctx;
     std::vector<std::byte> in(buffersize);
     std::vector<std::byte> aad;
     std::vector<std::byte> out(buffersize + FSChaCha20Poly1305::EXPANSION);
-    bench.batch(in.size()).unit("byte").run([&] {
-        ctx.Encrypt(in, aad, out);
+    bench.batch(in.size()).unit("byte").epochIterations(1)
+    .setup([&] {
+        ctx.emplace(key, 224);
+    }).run([&] {
+        ctx->Encrypt(in, aad, out);
+        assert(out[0] == std::byte{0x9f});
     });
 }
 
diff --git a/src/bench/lockedpool.cpp b/src/bench/lockedpool.cpp
index 27fd609a52dc..67eebc9cc8af 100644
--- a/src/bench/lockedpool.cpp
+++ b/src/bench/lockedpool.cpp
@@ -5,37 +5,43 @@
 #include <bench/bench.h>
 #include <support/lockedpool.h>
 
+#include <cassert>
 #include <cstddef>
 #include <cstdint>
+#include <optional>
 #include <vector>
 
 #define ASIZE 2048
 #define MSIZE 2048
+static constexpr uint32_t INITIAL_STATE{0x12345678};
 
 static void BenchLockedPool(benchmark::Bench& bench)
 {
     void *synth_base = reinterpret_cast<void*>(0x08000000);
     const size_t synth_size = 1024*1024;
-    Arena b(synth_base, synth_size, 16);
+    std::optional<Arena> b;
 
     std::vector<void*> addr{ASIZE, nullptr};
-    uint32_t s = 0x12345678;
-    bench.run([&] {
+    uint32_t s = INITIAL_STATE;
+    bench.epochIterations(1)
+    .setup([&] {
+        b.emplace(synth_base, synth_size, 16);
+        addr.assign(ASIZE, nullptr);
+        s = INITIAL_STATE;
+    }).run([&] {
+        assert(s == INITIAL_STATE);
         int idx = s & (addr.size() - 1);
         if (s & 0x80000000) {
-            b.free(addr[idx]);
+            b->free(addr[idx]);
             addr[idx] = nullptr;
         } else if (!addr[idx]) {
-            addr[idx] = b.alloc((s >> 16) & (MSIZE - 1));
+            addr[idx] = b->alloc((s >> 16) & (MSIZE - 1));
         }
         bool lsb = s & 1;
         s >>= 1;
         if (lsb)
             s ^= 0xf00f00f0; // LFSR period 0xf7ffffe0
     });
-    for (void *ptr: addr)
-        b.free(ptr);
-    addr.clear();
 }
 
 BENCHMARK(BenchLockedPool);
diff --git a/src/bench/mempool_ephemeral_spends.cpp b/src/bench/mempool_ephemeral_spends.cpp
index f0d8eb0bea7b..afaa5a1f23d1 100644
--- a/src/bench/mempool_ephemeral_spends.cpp
+++ b/src/bench/mempool_ephemeral_spends.cpp
@@ -59,8 +59,8 @@ static void MempoolCheckEphemeralSpends(benchmark::Bench& bench)
     CMutableTransaction tx2;
     tx2.vin.resize(tx1.vout.size());
     for (size_t i = 0; i < tx2.vin.size(); i++) {
-        tx2.vin[0].prevout.hash = parent_txid;
-        tx2.vin[0].prevout.n = i;
+        tx2.vin[i].prevout.hash = parent_txid;
+        tx2.vin[i].prevout.n = i;
     }
     tx2.vout.resize(1);
 
@@ -71,6 +71,8 @@ static void MempoolCheckEphemeralSpends(benchmark::Bench& bench)
     const CTransactionRef tx2_r{MakeTransactionRef(tx2)};
 
     AddTx(tx1_r, pool);
+    assert(tx2_r->vin.back().prevout.hash == parent_txid);
+    assert(tx2_r->vin.back().prevout.n == tx2_r->vin.size() - 1);
 
     uint32_t iteration{0};
 
diff --git a/src/bench/nanobench.h b/src/bench/nanobench.h
index 1f798b848b3d..12a03bc42d71 100644
--- a/src/bench/nanobench.h
+++ b/src/bench/nanobench.h
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@
 ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 
 #include <chrono>        // high_resolution_clock
+#include <cassert>       // assert
 #include <cstring>       // memcpy
 #include <iosfwd>        // for std::ostream* custom output target in Config
 #include <string>        // all names
@@ -1238,6 +1239,8 @@ class SetupRunner {
     template <typename Op>
     ANKERL_NANOBENCH_NO_SANITIZE("integer")
     Bench& run(Op&& op) {
+        assert(mBench.epochIterations() == 1 &&
+               "setup() runs once per epoch, not once per iteration; use epochIterations(1) when setup() must reset state for each timed call");
         return mBench.runImpl(mSetupOp, std::forward<Op>(op));
     }
 
diff --git a/src/bench/pool.cpp b/src/bench/pool.cpp
index cf4ba132bf43..370c35c5c507 100644
--- a/src/bench/pool.cpp
+++ b/src/bench/pool.cpp
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 #include <bench/bench.h>
 #include <support/allocators/pool.h>
 
+#include <cassert>
 #include <cstddef>
 #include <cstdint>
 #include <functional>
@@ -15,11 +16,15 @@ template <typename Map>
 void BenchFillClearMap(benchmark::Bench& bench, Map& map)
 {
     size_t batch_size = 5000;
+    size_t empty_bucket_count = 0;
 
-    // make sure each iteration of the benchmark contains exactly 5000 inserts and one clear.
-    // do this at least 10 times so we get reasonable accurate results
-
-    bench.batch(batch_size).minEpochIterations(10).run([&] {
+    bench.batch(batch_size).epochIterations(1)
+    .setup([&] {
+        map.clear();
+        map.rehash(0);
+        empty_bucket_count = map.bucket_count();
+    }).run([&] {
+        assert(map.bucket_count() == empty_bucket_count);
         auto rng = ankerl::nanobench::Rng(1234);
         for (size_t i = 0; i < batch_size; ++i) {
             map[rng()];
diff --git a/src/bench/readwriteblock.cpp b/src/bench/readwriteblock.cpp
index b8e226c6eb96..0285559cb916 100644
--- a/src/bench/readwriteblock.cpp
+++ b/src/bench/readwriteblock.cpp
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
 #include <cassert>
 #include <cstdint>
 #include <memory>
+#include <optional>
 #include <vector>
 
 static CBlock CreateTestBlock()
@@ -28,12 +29,18 @@ static CBlock CreateTestBlock()
 
 static void WriteBlockBench(benchmark::Bench& bench)
 {
-    const auto testing_setup{MakeNoLogFileContext<const TestingSetup>(ChainType::MAIN)};
-    auto& blockman{testing_setup->m_node.chainman->m_blockman};
     const CBlock block{CreateTestBlock()};
-    bench.run([&] {
+    std::unique_ptr<const TestingSetup> testing_setup;
+    std::optional<FlatFilePos> expected_pos;
+    bench.epochIterations(1)
+    .setup([&] {
+        testing_setup = MakeNoLogFileContext<const TestingSetup>(ChainType::MAIN);
+    }).run([&] {
+        auto& blockman{testing_setup->m_node.chainman->m_blockman};
         const auto pos{blockman.WriteBlock(block, 413'567)};
         assert(!pos.IsNull());
+        assert(!expected_pos || pos == *expected_pos);
+        expected_pos = pos;
     });
 }
 
diff --git a/src/bench/rollingbloom.cpp b/src/bench/rollingbloom.cpp
index 8331eb6a7c90..913127f463b9 100644
--- a/src/bench/rollingbloom.cpp
+++ b/src/bench/rollingbloom.cpp
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 #include <crypto/common.h>
 #include <span.h>
 
+#include <cassert>
 #include <cstdint>
 #include <vector>
 
@@ -15,8 +16,16 @@ static void RollingBloom(benchmark::Bench& bench)
 {
     CRollingBloomFilter filter(120000, 0.000001);
     std::vector<unsigned char> data(32);
+    std::vector<unsigned char> first_insert(32);
+    WriteLE32(first_insert.data(), 1);
     uint32_t count = 0;
-    bench.run([&] {
+    bench.epochIterations(1)
+    .setup([&] {
+        filter.reset();
+        data.assign(32, 0);
+        count = 0;
+    }).run([&] {
+        assert(!filter.contains(first_insert));
         count++;
         WriteLE32(data.data(), count);
         filter.insert(data);
diff --git a/src/bench/wallet_balance.cpp b/src/bench/wallet_balance.cpp
index 45f23494280a..d9cd4bbb9521 100644
--- a/src/bench/wallet_balance.cpp
+++ b/src/bench/wallet_balance.cpp
@@ -62,11 +62,9 @@ static void WalletBalance(benchmark::Bench& bench, const bool set_dirty, const b
 
 static void WalletBalanceDirty(benchmark::Bench& bench) { WalletBalance(bench, /*set_dirty=*/true, /*add_mine=*/true); }
 static void WalletBalanceClean(benchmark::Bench& bench) { WalletBalance(bench, /*set_dirty=*/false, /*add_mine=*/true); }
-static void WalletBalanceMine(benchmark::Bench& bench) { WalletBalance(bench, /*set_dirty=*/false, /*add_mine=*/true); }
 static void WalletBalanceWatch(benchmark::Bench& bench) { WalletBalance(bench, /*set_dirty=*/false, /*add_mine=*/false); }
 
 BENCHMARK(WalletBalanceDirty);
 BENCHMARK(WalletBalanceClean);
-BENCHMARK(WalletBalanceMine);
 BENCHMARK(WalletBalanceWatch);
 } // namespace wallet