diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index c83742dd..f854e46a 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 ### Improvements
 
 - [#59](https://github.com/cosmos/gogoproto/pull/59) Reuse buffers and gzip readers to reduce memory allocations during MergedFileDescriptors.
+- [#60](https://github.com/cosmos/gogoproto/pull/60) Skip work to check import path and file descriptor differences during MergedFileDescriptors, when not in debug mode.
 
 ## [v1.4.7](https://github.com/cosmos/gogoproto/releases/tag/v1.4.7) - 2023-03-30
 
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 35d36e54..6d0755fa 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -11,8 +11,8 @@ require (
 
 require (
 	github.com/golang/protobuf v1.5.3 // indirect
-	golang.org/x/net v0.8.0 // indirect
-	golang.org/x/sys v0.6.0 // indirect
-	golang.org/x/text v0.8.0 // indirect
+	golang.org/x/net v0.9.0 // indirect
+	golang.org/x/sys v0.7.0 // indirect
+	golang.org/x/text v0.9.0 // indirect
 	google.golang.org/genproto v0.0.0-20230110181048-76db0878b65f // indirect
 )
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index fc5e0db5..40e4ebe3 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -6,12 +6,12 @@ github.com/google/go-cmp v0.5.9 h1:O2Tfq5qg4qc4AmwVlvv0oLiVAGB7enBSJ2x2DqQFi38=
 github.com/google/go-cmp v0.5.9/go.mod h1:17dUlkBOakJ0+DkrSSNjCkIjxS6bF9zb3elmeNGIjoY=
 golang.org/x/exp v0.0.0-20230131160201-f062dba9d201 h1:BEABXpNXLEz0WxtA+6CQIz2xkg80e+1zrhWyMcq8VzE=
 golang.org/x/exp v0.0.0-20230131160201-f062dba9d201/go.mod h1:CxIveKay+FTh1D0yPZemJVgC/95VzuuOLq5Qi4xnoYc=
-golang.org/x/net v0.8.0 h1:Zrh2ngAOFYneWTAIAPethzeaQLuHwhuBkuV6ZiRnUaQ=
-golang.org/x/net v0.8.0/go.mod h1:QVkue5JL9kW//ek3r6jTKnTFis1tRmNAW2P1shuFdJc=
-golang.org/x/sys v0.6.0 h1:MVltZSvRTcU2ljQOhs94SXPftV6DCNnZViHeQps87pQ=
-golang.org/x/sys v0.6.0/go.mod h1:oPkhp1MJrh7nUepCBck5+mAzfO9JrbApNNgaTdGDITg=
-golang.org/x/text v0.8.0 h1:57P1ETyNKtuIjB4SRd15iJxuhj8Gc416Y78H3qgMh68=
-golang.org/x/text v0.8.0/go.mod h1:e1OnstbJyHTd6l/uOt8jFFHp6TRDWZR/bV3emEE/zU8=
+golang.org/x/net v0.9.0 h1:aWJ/m6xSmxWBx+V0XRHTlrYrPG56jKsLdTFmsSsCzOM=
+golang.org/x/net v0.9.0/go.mod h1:d48xBJpPfHeWQsugry2m+kC02ZBRGRgulfHnEXEuWns=
+golang.org/x/sys v0.7.0 h1:3jlCCIQZPdOYu1h8BkNvLz8Kgwtae2cagcG/VamtZRU=
+golang.org/x/sys v0.7.0/go.mod h1:oPkhp1MJrh7nUepCBck5+mAzfO9JrbApNNgaTdGDITg=
+golang.org/x/text v0.9.0 h1:2sjJmO8cDvYveuX97RDLsxlyUxLl+GHoLxBiRdHllBE=
+golang.org/x/text v0.9.0/go.mod h1:e1OnstbJyHTd6l/uOt8jFFHp6TRDWZR/bV3emEE/zU8=
 golang.org/x/xerrors v0.0.0-20191204190536-9bdfabe68543/go.mod h1:I/5z698sn9Ka8TeJc9MKroUUfqBBauWjQqLJ2OPfmY0=
 google.golang.org/genproto v0.0.0-20230110181048-76db0878b65f h1:BWUVssLB0HVOSY78gIdvk1dTVYtT1y8SBWtPYuTJ/6w=
 google.golang.org/genproto v0.0.0-20230110181048-76db0878b65f/go.mod h1:RGgjbofJ8xD9Sq1VVhDM1Vok1vRONV+rg+CjzG4SZKM=
diff --git a/proto/merge.go b/proto/merge.go
index 760da85d..8451b72e 100644
--- a/proto/merge.go
+++ b/proto/merge.go
@@ -45,7 +45,8 @@ func mergedFileDescriptors(debug bool) (*descriptorpb.FileDescriptorSet, error)
 	}
 
 	// While combing through the file descriptors, we'll also log any errors
-	// we encounter.
+	// we encounter -- only if debug is true. Otherwise, we will skip the work
+	// to check import path or file descriptor differences.
 	var (
 		checkImportErr []string
 		diffErr        []string
@@ -53,9 +54,11 @@ func mergedFileDescriptors(debug bool) (*descriptorpb.FileDescriptorSet, error)
 
 	// Add protoregistry file descriptors to our final file descriptor set.
 	protoregistry.GlobalFiles.RangeFiles(func(fileDescriptor protoreflect.FileDescriptor) bool {
-		fd := protodesc.ToFileDescriptorProto(fileDescriptor)
-		if err := CheckImportPath(fd.GetName(), fd.GetPackage()); err != nil {
-			checkImportErr = append(checkImportErr, err.Error())
+		if debug {
+			fd := protodesc.ToFileDescriptorProto(fileDescriptor)
+			if err := CheckImportPath(fd.GetName(), fd.GetPackage()); err != nil {
+				checkImportErr = append(checkImportErr, err.Error())
+			}
 		}
 
 		fds.File = append(fds.File, protodesc.ToFileDescriptorProto(fileDescriptor))
@@ -92,9 +95,11 @@ func mergedFileDescriptors(debug bool) (*descriptorpb.FileDescriptorSet, error)
 			return nil, err
 		}
 
-		err := CheckImportPath(fd.GetName(), fd.GetPackage())
-		if err != nil {
-			checkImportErr = append(checkImportErr, err.Error())
+		if debug {
+			err := CheckImportPath(fd.GetName(), fd.GetPackage())
+			if err != nil {
+				checkImportErr = append(checkImportErr, err.Error())
+			}
 		}
 
 		// If it's not in the protoregistry file descriptors, add it.