diff --git a/tests/benchmarks/README.md b/tests/benchmarks/README.md
index 283b156e5..cb58c83f5 100644
--- a/tests/benchmarks/README.md
+++ b/tests/benchmarks/README.md
@@ -17,7 +17,9 @@ Micro-benchmarks for parsing, serialization and the binary formats, written with
 | `FromBinaryShape` | read deeply nested, container-heavy and scalar-heavy documents in every binary format |
 | `FromCborChunkedString` | read CBOR strings split into indefinite-length chunks |
 | `SaxParse` | parse with a SAX handler that only counts events, so no values are built |
-| `Copy`, `Destroy`, `Equal`, `Iterate` | copy, destroy, or compare a parsed document, or visit every value with range-based `for` loops |
+| `Copy`, `CopyAssign`, `CopyRing` | copy a parsed document and destroy a copy, both timed: a temporary copy, an assignment over an earlier copy, and replacing the oldest of eight live copies |
+| `CopyOnly`, `DestroyOnly` | only the copy or only the destruction, the other half untimed; a fast destructor can leave work to the next allocations, so these tell the halves apart but do not compare versions |
+| `Equal`, `Iterate` | compare a parsed document with a copy, or visit every value with range-based `for` loops |
 | `Flatten`, `FlattenOrdered`, `Unflatten` | `flatten()` for `json` and `ordered_json`, and `unflatten()` |
 | `Diff`, `Patch` | `diff()` against the document with every eighth scalar changed, and applying that patch |
 | `JsonPointerParse`, `JsonPointerToString`, `JsonPointerAt`, `JsonPointerContains` | the JSON pointers of every scalar in a document: parse them from strings, turn them back into strings, look them up with `at()` and `contains()` |
diff --git a/tests/benchmarks/src/benchmarks.cpp b/tests/benchmarks/src/benchmarks.cpp
index a0f65d882..3240b52ed 100644
--- a/tests/benchmarks/src/benchmarks.cpp
+++ b/tests/benchmarks/src/benchmarks.cpp
@@ -737,12 +737,71 @@ BENCHMARK_CAPTURE(SaxParse, twitter,      TEST_DATA_DIRECTORY "/nativejson-bench
 // The parsed test files stand in for a document an application keeps around.
 // Each benchmark times one whole-document operation; setup and cleanup run
 // outside the timed section.
+//
+// A copy is always destroyed again, and how a document is freed shapes the
+// heap the next copy allocates from: a destructor that frees quickly can leave
+// work to the allocator's next calls. Copy, CopyAssign and CopyRing therefore
+// time the copy together with the destruction of a copy; CopyOnly and
+// DestroyOnly time one half each and are meant for telling the halves apart,
+// not for comparing versions.
 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 
+/// copy a document and destroy the copy again, as a temporary copy is used
 static void Copy(benchmark::State& state, const char* filename)
 {
     const json j = load_json(filename);
 
+    for (auto _ : state)
+    {
+        json copy = j;
+        benchmark::DoNotOptimize(copy);
+    }
+}
+BENCHMARK_CAPTURE(Copy, canada,       TEST_DATA_DIRECTORY "/nativejson-benchmark/canada.json");
+BENCHMARK_CAPTURE(Copy, citm_catalog, TEST_DATA_DIRECTORY "/nativejson-benchmark/citm_catalog.json");
+BENCHMARK_CAPTURE(Copy, twitter,      TEST_DATA_DIRECTORY "/nativejson-benchmark/twitter.json");
+
+/// copy-assign a document over an earlier copy of it, which is freed in the process
+static void CopyAssign(benchmark::State& state, const char* filename)
+{
+    const json j = load_json(filename);
+    json target = j;
+
+    for (auto _ : state)
+    {
+        target = j;
+        benchmark::DoNotOptimize(target);
+    }
+}
+BENCHMARK_CAPTURE(CopyAssign, canada,       TEST_DATA_DIRECTORY "/nativejson-benchmark/canada.json");
+BENCHMARK_CAPTURE(CopyAssign, citm_catalog, TEST_DATA_DIRECTORY "/nativejson-benchmark/citm_catalog.json");
+BENCHMARK_CAPTURE(CopyAssign, twitter,      TEST_DATA_DIRECTORY "/nativejson-benchmark/twitter.json");
+
+/// keep eight copies alive and replace the oldest one, as a cache or an undo
+/// history does, so that the copy is not made from memory just freed by an
+/// identical document
+static void CopyRing(benchmark::State& state, const char* filename)
+{
+    const json j = load_json(filename);
+    std::vector<json> ring(8, j);
+    std::size_t oldest = 0;
+
+    for (auto _ : state)
+    {
+        ring[oldest] = j;
+        benchmark::DoNotOptimize(ring[oldest]);
+        oldest = (oldest + 1) % ring.size();
+    }
+}
+BENCHMARK_CAPTURE(CopyRing, canada,       TEST_DATA_DIRECTORY "/nativejson-benchmark/canada.json");
+BENCHMARK_CAPTURE(CopyRing, citm_catalog, TEST_DATA_DIRECTORY "/nativejson-benchmark/citm_catalog.json");
+BENCHMARK_CAPTURE(CopyRing, twitter,      TEST_DATA_DIRECTORY "/nativejson-benchmark/twitter.json");
+
+/// only the copy; the copy is destroyed with the timer paused (diagnostic)
+static void CopyOnly(benchmark::State& state, const char* filename)
+{
+    const json j = load_json(filename);
+
     for (auto _ : state)
     {
         auto* copy = new json(j);
@@ -752,11 +811,12 @@ static void Copy(benchmark::State& state, const char* filename)
         state.ResumeTiming();
     }
 }
-BENCHMARK_CAPTURE(Copy, canada,       TEST_DATA_DIRECTORY "/nativejson-benchmark/canada.json");
-BENCHMARK_CAPTURE(Copy, citm_catalog, TEST_DATA_DIRECTORY "/nativejson-benchmark/citm_catalog.json");
-BENCHMARK_CAPTURE(Copy, twitter,      TEST_DATA_DIRECTORY "/nativejson-benchmark/twitter.json");
+BENCHMARK_CAPTURE(CopyOnly, canada,       TEST_DATA_DIRECTORY "/nativejson-benchmark/canada.json");
+BENCHMARK_CAPTURE(CopyOnly, citm_catalog, TEST_DATA_DIRECTORY "/nativejson-benchmark/citm_catalog.json");
+BENCHMARK_CAPTURE(CopyOnly, twitter,      TEST_DATA_DIRECTORY "/nativejson-benchmark/twitter.json");
 
-static void Destroy(benchmark::State& state, const char* filename)
+/// only the destruction; the copy is made with the timer paused (diagnostic)
+static void DestroyOnly(benchmark::State& state, const char* filename)
 {
     const json j = load_json(filename);
 
@@ -769,9 +829,9 @@ static void Destroy(benchmark::State& state, const char* filename)
         delete copy;
     }
 }
-BENCHMARK_CAPTURE(Destroy, canada,       TEST_DATA_DIRECTORY "/nativejson-benchmark/canada.json");
-BENCHMARK_CAPTURE(Destroy, citm_catalog, TEST_DATA_DIRECTORY "/nativejson-benchmark/citm_catalog.json");
-BENCHMARK_CAPTURE(Destroy, twitter,      TEST_DATA_DIRECTORY "/nativejson-benchmark/twitter.json");
+BENCHMARK_CAPTURE(DestroyOnly, canada,       TEST_DATA_DIRECTORY "/nativejson-benchmark/canada.json");
+BENCHMARK_CAPTURE(DestroyOnly, citm_catalog, TEST_DATA_DIRECTORY "/nativejson-benchmark/citm_catalog.json");
+BENCHMARK_CAPTURE(DestroyOnly, twitter,      TEST_DATA_DIRECTORY "/nativejson-benchmark/twitter.json");
 
 static void Equal(benchmark::State& state, const char* filename)
 {