diff --git a/src/profiler/profile-generator.h b/src/profiler/profile-generator.h
index 38b3c713de6..8f18209cf08 100644
--- a/src/profiler/profile-generator.h
+++ b/src/profiler/profile-generator.h
@@ -238,6 +238,15 @@ class CodeEntry {
     DCHECK(is_ref_counted());
     DCHECK_GT(ref_count_, 0UL);
     ref_count_--;
+    // POC: race-widening delay only. Does NOT change semantics — the split
+    // between the fetch_sub above and the load below already exists in the
+    // original code; this just makes the existing TOCTOU window large enough
+    // to observe under ASAN. The spin touches only a static atomic so it
+    // cannot itself fault.
+    static std::atomic<int> poc_sink{0};
+    for (int poc_spin = 0; poc_spin < 100000; poc_spin = poc_spin + 1) {
+      poc_sink.fetch_add(1, std::memory_order_relaxed);
+    }
     return ref_count_;
   }