diff --git a/lib/index.js b/lib/index.js
index e3e0886..e5905c5 100644
--- a/lib/index.js
+++ b/lib/index.js
@@ -141,31 +141,49 @@ class Suite {
 		}
 
 		this.#useWorkers = options.useWorkers || false;
+		this.#benchmarkMode = options.benchmarkMode || "ops";
+		validateBenchmarkMode(this.#benchmarkMode, "options.benchmarkMode");
 
-		// DCE detection is opt-in to avoid breaking changes
-		const dceEnabled = options.detectDeadCodeElimination === true;
-		if (dceEnabled) {
-			this.#dceDetector = new DeadCodeEliminationDetectionPlugin(
-				options.dceThreshold ? { threshold: options.dceThreshold } : {},
+		if (this.#useWorkers && this.#benchmarkMode === "time") {
+			console.warn(
+				"Warning: Worker mode currently doesn't fully support 'time' benchmarkMode.",
 			);
 		}
 
-		// Plugin setup: If DCE detection is enabled, default to no plugins (allow optimization)
-		// Otherwise, use V8NeverOptimizePlugin as the default
+		// DCE detection is opt-in to avoid breaking changes
+		let dceEnabled = false;
+
+		if (options.detectDeadCodeElimination === true) {
+			if (this.#useWorkers) {
+				console.warn(
+					"Warning: Worker mode currently doesn't support detectDeadCodeElimination=true.",
+				);
+			} else {
+				dceEnabled = true;
+			}
+		}
+
+		let plugins = [];
+
 		if (options?.plugins) {
 			validateArray(options.plugins, "plugin");
 			validatePlugins(options.plugins);
-			this.#plugins = options.plugins;
-		} else if (dceEnabled) {
+			plugins = [...options.plugins];
+		} else if (!dceEnabled) {
 			// DCE detection requires optimization to be enabled, so no default plugins
-			this.#plugins = [];
-		} else {
 			// Default behavior - use V8NeverOptimizePlugin
-			this.#plugins = [new V8NeverOptimizePlugin()];
+			plugins = [new V8NeverOptimizePlugin()];
 		}
 
-		this.#benchmarkMode = options.benchmarkMode || "ops";
-		validateBenchmarkMode(this.#benchmarkMode, "options.benchmarkMode");
+		if (dceEnabled) {
+			this.#dceDetector = new DeadCodeEliminationDetectionPlugin(
+				options.dceThreshold ? { threshold: options.dceThreshold } : {},
+			);
+
+			plugins.push(this.#dceDetector);
+		}
+
+		this.#plugins = plugins;
 
 		this.#reporterOptions = options.reporterOptions || {
 			printHeader: true,
@@ -278,14 +296,6 @@ class Suite {
 		for (let i = 0; i < this.#benchmarks.length; ++i) {
 			const benchmark = this.#benchmarks[i];
 
-			// Add DCE detector to benchmark plugins if enabled
-			if (this.#dceDetector && this.#benchmarkMode === "ops") {
-				const originalPlugins = benchmark.plugins;
-				benchmark.plugins = [...benchmark.plugins, this.#dceDetector];
-				// Regenerate function string with new plugins
-				benchmark.fnStr = createFnString(benchmark);
-			}
-
 			// Warmup is calculated to reduce noise/bias on the results
 			const initialIterations = await getInitialIterations(benchmark);
 			debugBench(
@@ -294,11 +304,6 @@ class Suite {
 
 			let result;
 			if (this.#useWorkers) {
-				if (this.#benchmarkMode === "time") {
-					console.warn(
-						"Warning: Worker mode currently doesn't fully support 'time' benchmarkMode.",
-					);
-				}
 				result = await this.runWorkerBenchmark(benchmark, initialIterations);
 			} else {
 				result = await runBenchmark(