diff --git a/codeflash/code_utils/deduplicate_code.py b/codeflash/code_utils/deduplicate_code.py
index 6619579c5..a13328432 100644
--- a/codeflash/code_utils/deduplicate_code.py
+++ b/codeflash/code_utils/deduplicate_code.py
@@ -151,7 +151,8 @@ def visit_For(self, node):
 
     def visit_With(self, node):
         """Handle with statement as variables"""
-        return self.generic_visit(node)
+        # micro-optimization: directly call NodeTransformer's generic_visit (fewer indirections than type-based lookup)
+        return ast.NodeTransformer.generic_visit(self, node)
 
 
 def normalize_code(code: str, remove_docstrings: bool = True) -> str:
@@ -167,21 +168,44 @@ def normalize_code(code: str, remove_docstrings: bool = True) -> str:
 
     """
     try:
-        # Parse the code
         tree = ast.parse(code)
 
-        # Remove docstrings if requested
+        # Fast-path: skip docstring removal step if not requested
         if remove_docstrings:
-            remove_docstrings_from_ast(tree)
-
-        # Normalize variable names
+            # Inline deduplication logic from remove_docstrings_from_ast for performance;
+            # replaces ast.walk() with iterative traversal for fewer allocations
+            nodes = [tree]
+            while nodes:
+                node = nodes.pop()
+                # Only consider def, async def, class, module nodes
+                if isinstance(node, (ast.FunctionDef, ast.AsyncFunctionDef, ast.ClassDef, ast.Module)):
+                    body = node.body
+                    if body:
+                        expr0 = body[0]
+                        if (
+                            isinstance(expr0, ast.Expr)
+                            and isinstance(expr0.value, ast.Constant)
+                            and isinstance(expr0.value.value, str)
+                        ):
+                            node.body = body[1:]
+                    # Extend with children efficiently
+                    nodes.extend(
+                        child
+                        for child in getattr(node, "body", [])
+                        if isinstance(child, (ast.FunctionDef, ast.AsyncFunctionDef, ast.ClassDef))
+                    )
+
+            # No need to import remove_docstrings_from_ast
+
+        # VariableNormalizer usage as before
         normalizer = VariableNormalizer()
         normalized_tree = normalizer.visit(tree)
 
-        # Fix missing locations in the AST
+        # Fix missing locations efficiently
+        # ast.fix_missing_locations does a deep recursive update; cannot optimize without breaking API
         ast.fix_missing_locations(normalized_tree)
 
-        # Unparse back to code
+        # ast.unparse is required; cannot avoid
         return ast.unparse(normalized_tree)
     except SyntaxError as e:
         msg = f"Invalid Python syntax: {e}"