diff --git a/test/pkg/debug/setup.go b/test/pkg/debug/setup.go
index 0329029195..5867d2df2e 100644
--- a/test/pkg/debug/setup.go
+++ b/test/pkg/debug/setup.go
@@ -34,12 +34,20 @@ const (
 var m *Monitor
 var e *EventClient
 
+func BeforeSuite(ctx context.Context, config *rest.Config, kubeClient client.Client) {
+	m = New(ctx, config, kubeClient)
+	m.MustStart()
+}
+
+func AfterSuite(ctx context.Context, config *rest.Config, kubeClient client.Client) {
+	m.Stop()
+}
+
 func BeforeEach(ctx context.Context, config *rest.Config, kubeClient client.Client) {
 	// If the test is labeled as NoWatch, then the node/pod monitor will just list at the beginning
 	// of the test rather than perform a watch during it
-	if !lo.Contains(ginkgo.CurrentSpecReport().Labels(), NoWatch) {
-		m = New(ctx, config, kubeClient)
-		m.MustStart()
+	if lo.Contains(ginkgo.CurrentSpecReport().Labels(), NoWatch) {
+		m.Stop()
 	}
 	if !lo.Contains(ginkgo.CurrentSpecReport().Labels(), NoEvents) {
 		e = NewEventClient(kubeClient)
@@ -47,8 +55,8 @@ func BeforeEach(ctx context.Context, config *rest.Config, kubeClient client.Clie
 }
 
 func AfterEach(ctx context.Context) {
-	if !lo.Contains(ginkgo.CurrentSpecReport().Labels(), NoWatch) {
-		m.Stop()
+	if lo.Contains(ginkgo.CurrentSpecReport().Labels(), NoWatch) {
+		m.MustStart()
 	}
 	if !lo.Contains(ginkgo.CurrentSpecReport().Labels(), NoEvents) {
 		Expect(e.DumpEvents(ctx)).To(Succeed())
diff --git a/test/suites/perf/suite_test.go b/test/suites/perf/suite_test.go
index ecc1b0ea7e..0d150ca0c5 100644
--- a/test/suites/perf/suite_test.go
+++ b/test/suites/perf/suite_test.go
@@ -46,12 +46,14 @@ func TestPerf(t *testing.T) {
 	RegisterFailHandler(Fail)
 	BeforeSuite(func() {
 		env = common.NewEnvironment(t)
+		debug.BeforeSuite(env.Context, env.Config, env.Client)
 	})
 	AfterSuite(func() {
 		// Write out the timestamps from our tests
 		if err := debug.WriteTimestamps(env.OutputDir, env.TimeIntervalCollector); err != nil {
 			log.FromContext(env).Info(fmt.Sprintf("Failed to write timestamps to files, %s", err))
 		}
+		debug.AfterSuite(env.Context, env.Config, env.Client)
 		env.Stop()
 	})
 	RunSpecs(t, "Perf")