diff --git a/perf/cairo-perf-trace.c b/perf/cairo-perf-trace.c
index d34790834..78c540268 100644
--- a/perf/cairo-perf-trace.c
+++ b/perf/cairo-perf-trace.c
@@ -278,6 +278,10 @@ describe (cairo_perf_t *perf,
 {
     char *description = NULL;
 
+    if (perf->has_described_backend)
+	    return;
+    perf->has_described_backend = TRUE;
+
     if (perf->target->describe)
         description = perf->target->describe (closure);
 
@@ -827,6 +831,7 @@ main (int   argc,
 
 	perf.target = target;
 	perf.test_number = 0;
+	perf.has_described_backend = FALSE;
 
 	if (perf.exact_names) {
 	    for (n = 0; n < perf.num_names; n++) {
diff --git a/perf/cairo-perf.h b/perf/cairo-perf.h
index ff177c4be..0b90dda4d 100644
--- a/perf/cairo-perf.h
+++ b/perf/cairo-perf.h
@@ -91,6 +91,7 @@ typedef struct _cairo_perf {
     const cairo_boilerplate_target_t **targets;
     int num_targets;
     const cairo_boilerplate_target_t *target;
+    cairo_bool_t has_described_backend;
     unsigned int test_number;
     unsigned int size;
     cairo_t *cr;