diff --git a/changelog.d/keystroke-property-key-decode.md b/changelog.d/keystroke-property-key-decode.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..50d22562ce
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/keystroke-property-key-decode.md
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+### Performance
+
+- **Property reads no longer UTF-8-validate ASCII keys, and no longer copy
+  the key or take the async-resource registry lock for ordinary receivers.**
+  The generic read ladder decodes the key `StringHeader` at several layers
+  per miss (`js_object_get_field_ic_miss`, closure expando lookup, accessor
+  and reflection probes, the typed-feedback class-field guards, async-
+  resource dispatch); `core::str::from_utf8` on those decodes was 2 % of the
+  claude-code keystroke profile, the guard's `String` copy was a `malloc`
+  per guarded class-field access, and `async_resource_property` copied the
+  key and locked the registry before asking whether any AsyncResource
+  handle existed at all.
+
+  - `crates/perry-runtime/src/string/mod.rs` — `header_str_checked`: a
+    header whose `utf16_len == byte_len` is pure ASCII, so it is borrowed
+    unchecked; anything else takes the `from_utf8` scan it always took
+    (WTF-8 payloads still answer `None`). Used by `has_own_helpers`,
+    `closure_dynamic_prop_by_key`, the accessor probes,
+    `typedarray_props::string_header_str` and the typed-feedback guards
+    (which now borrow instead of allocating a `String`; every consumer is a
+    Rust-side table read, so the payload cannot move while borrowed).
+  - `crates/perry-runtime/src/async_hooks.rs` — `is_async_resource_handle`
+    answers from the atomic handle count before touching the mutex, and the
+    IC-miss handler / `async_resource_property` ask it before decoding or
+    copying the key.
+
+  Test: `header_str_checked_matches_from_utf8_on_every_payload_class`
+  (ASCII, non-ASCII scalar, lone surrogate, empty).
diff --git a/crates/perry-runtime/src/async_hooks.rs b/crates/perry-runtime/src/async_hooks.rs
index 16a41515dd..e05f322da0 100644
--- a/crates/perry-runtime/src/async_hooks.rs
+++ b/crates/perry-runtime/src/async_hooks.rs
@@ -207,8 +207,15 @@ pub struct AsyncResourceHandle {
     event_emitter: i64,
 }
 
+/// Is `handle` a live `AsyncResource` backing? One relaxed load answers "no"
+/// while none was ever created; only then the registry lock. The generic
+/// property-read ladder asks this BEFORE decoding or copying the key, so an
+/// ordinary receiver — the overwhelming case — pays neither.
+#[inline]
 pub(crate) fn is_async_resource_handle(handle: i64) -> bool {
-    handle != 0 && ASYNC_RESOURCE_HANDLES.lock().unwrap().contains(&handle)
+    ASYNC_RESOURCE_HANDLE_COUNT.load(Ordering::Relaxed) != 0
+        && handle != 0
+        && ASYNC_RESOURCE_HANDLES.lock().unwrap().contains(&handle)
 }
 
 /// Resolve either a native `AsyncResource` handle or the ordinary object used
@@ -1371,9 +1378,7 @@ fn async_resource_bind_method_value(handle: i64) -> f64 {
 }
 
 pub fn try_async_resource_property_dispatch(handle: i64, property: &str) -> Option<f64> {
-    if ASYNC_RESOURCE_HANDLE_COUNT.load(Ordering::Relaxed) == 0
-        || !ASYNC_RESOURCE_HANDLES.lock().unwrap().contains(&handle)
-    {
+    if !is_async_resource_handle(handle) {
         return None;
     }
     // User-defined own properties shadow AsyncResource.prototype just as they
diff --git a/crates/perry-runtime/src/object/field_get_set/accessors.rs b/crates/perry-runtime/src/object/field_get_set/accessors.rs
index 6e8d91ed66..8c477cdb50 100644
--- a/crates/perry-runtime/src/object/field_get_set/accessors.rs
+++ b/crates/perry-runtime/src/object/field_get_set/accessors.rs
@@ -623,9 +623,7 @@ pub(crate) unsafe fn primitive_builtin_prototype_property(
     // inside `invoke_accessor_getter` — not the prototype object the accessor
     // happens to live on (which a plain field read below would hand it).
     if crate::state::state().descriptors.accessors_in_use.get() {
-        let key_ptr = (key as *const u8).add(std::mem::size_of::<crate::StringHeader>());
-        let key_len = (*key).byte_len as usize;
-        if let Ok(name) = std::str::from_utf8(std::slice::from_raw_parts(key_ptr, key_len)) {
+        if let Some(name) = crate::string::header_str_checked(key) {
             if let Some(acc) = get_accessor_descriptor(proto_ptr as usize, name) {
                 if acc.get == 0 {
                     return Some(JSValue::undefined());
@@ -678,9 +676,7 @@ pub(crate) unsafe fn array_subclass_prototype_field(
     {
         return None;
     }
-    let key_ptr = crate::object::string_header_payload(key);
-    let key_len = (*key).byte_len as usize;
-    let name = std::str::from_utf8(std::slice::from_raw_parts(key_ptr, key_len)).ok()?;
+    let name = crate::string::header_str_checked(key)?;
     // `array_prototype_property_value` copies `name` before its first
     // allocation and roots the receiver across the prototype lookup.
     array_prototype_property_value(name, obj as usize)
diff --git a/crates/perry-runtime/src/object/field_get_set/get_field_by_name_async.rs b/crates/perry-runtime/src/object/field_get_set/get_field_by_name_async.rs
index 427f7c4832..0120b49a3c 100644
--- a/crates/perry-runtime/src/object/field_get_set/get_field_by_name_async.rs
+++ b/crates/perry-runtime/src/object/field_get_set/get_field_by_name_async.rs
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ pub(crate) fn async_resource_property(
     obj: *const ObjectHeader,
     key: *const crate::StringHeader,
 ) -> Option<JSValue> {
-    if key.is_null() {
+    if key.is_null() || !crate::async_hooks::is_async_resource_handle(obj as i64) {
         return None;
     }
     let key = unsafe { crate::string::OwnedStringBytes::copy_from_header(key) };
diff --git a/crates/perry-runtime/src/object/field_get_set/has_property.rs b/crates/perry-runtime/src/object/field_get_set/has_property.rs
index 783b27021d..a81839c513 100644
--- a/crates/perry-runtime/src/object/field_get_set/has_property.rs
+++ b/crates/perry-runtime/src/object/field_get_set/has_property.rs
@@ -1387,9 +1387,7 @@ pub(crate) unsafe fn closure_dynamic_prop_by_key(
     if key.is_null() {
         return None;
     }
-    let key_ptr = (key as *const u8).add(std::mem::size_of::<crate::StringHeader>());
-    let key_len = (*key).byte_len as usize;
-    let name = std::str::from_utf8(std::slice::from_raw_parts(key_ptr, key_len)).ok()?;
+    let name = crate::string::header_str_checked(key)?;
     let val = crate::closure::closure_get_dynamic_prop(obj, name);
     if val.to_bits() != crate::value::TAG_UNDEFINED {
         return Some(val);
diff --git a/crates/perry-runtime/src/object/field_get_set/ic_miss.rs b/crates/perry-runtime/src/object/field_get_set/ic_miss.rs
index be3027adb6..9e1660cbf5 100644
--- a/crates/perry-runtime/src/object/field_get_set/ic_miss.rs
+++ b/crates/perry-runtime/src/object/field_get_set/ic_miss.rs
@@ -526,11 +526,9 @@ pub extern "C" fn js_object_get_field_ic_miss(
     // `< 0x100000` proxy / HANDLE_PROPERTY_DISPATCH routing below — matching
     // the ordering in `js_object_get_field_by_name`. The macOS heap floor
     // (0x200_0000_0000 in is_valid_obj_ptr) masked this; Linux's is 0x1000.
-    if !key.is_null() {
+    if !key.is_null() && crate::async_hooks::is_async_resource_handle(obj as i64) {
         unsafe {
-            let key_ptr = crate::string::string_data(key);
-            let key_len = (*key).byte_len as usize;
-            if let Ok(name) = std::str::from_utf8(std::slice::from_raw_parts(key_ptr, key_len)) {
+            if let Some(name) = crate::string::header_str_checked(key) {
                 if let Some(value) =
                     crate::async_hooks::try_async_resource_property_dispatch(obj as i64, name)
                 {
diff --git a/crates/perry-runtime/src/object/has_own_helpers.rs b/crates/perry-runtime/src/object/has_own_helpers.rs
index bd6b1d185c..83de47f064 100644
--- a/crates/perry-runtime/src/object/has_own_helpers.rs
+++ b/crates/perry-runtime/src/object/has_own_helpers.rs
@@ -72,10 +72,7 @@ unsafe fn string_header_as_str<'a>(key: *const crate::StringHeader) -> Option<&'
     if key.is_null() {
         return None;
     }
-    let len = (*key).byte_len as usize;
-    let data = (key as *const u8).add(std::mem::size_of::<crate::StringHeader>());
-    let bytes = std::slice::from_raw_parts(data, len);
-    std::str::from_utf8(bytes).ok()
+    crate::string::header_str_checked(key)
 }
 
 pub(super) unsafe fn string_primitive_own_key_present(
diff --git a/crates/perry-runtime/src/string/mod.rs b/crates/perry-runtime/src/string/mod.rs
index 77c33aa738..f673d45d22 100644
--- a/crates/perry-runtime/src/string/mod.rs
+++ b/crates/perry-runtime/src/string/mod.rs
@@ -1027,6 +1027,32 @@ pub(crate) fn is_ascii_string(s: *const StringHeader) -> bool {
     unsafe { (*s).utf16_len == (*s).byte_len }
 }
 
+/// Borrow a header's payload as `&str`, answering `None` for a WTF-8 payload
+/// (lone surrogates), like `std::str::from_utf8(..).ok()` — but without the
+/// scan when the header already proves the answer: `utf16_len == byte_len`
+/// holds iff every byte is a one-byte code unit, i.e. pure ASCII, which is
+/// what nearly every property key is. The generic property-read ladder
+/// decodes the key at several layers per read (`ic_miss`, closure expandos,
+/// accessor and reflection probes, async-resource dispatch), and
+/// `core::str::from_utf8` was 2 % of the claude-code keystroke profile on
+/// those decodes alone.
+///
+/// Same borrow rule as [`string_as_str`]: the slice must not outlive any
+/// call that can move the payload.
+///
+/// # Safety
+/// `s` must point at a live `StringHeader`.
+#[inline]
+pub(crate) unsafe fn header_str_checked<'a>(s: *const StringHeader) -> Option<&'a str> {
+    let len = (*s).byte_len as usize;
+    let bytes = slice::from_raw_parts(string_data(s), len);
+    if (*s).utf16_len as usize == len {
+        Some(str::from_utf8_unchecked(bytes))
+    } else {
+        str::from_utf8(bytes).ok()
+    }
+}
+
 /// `PERRY_GC_CENSUS`: the fixed-size intern table (slots, bytes). Entries
 /// point into the GC heap; only the table itself is counted.
 pub(crate) fn intern_table_census() -> (usize, usize) {
diff --git a/crates/perry-runtime/src/string/tests.rs b/crates/perry-runtime/src/string/tests.rs
index 5968961bce..c001ba15d9 100644
--- a/crates/perry-runtime/src/string/tests.rs
+++ b/crates/perry-runtime/src/string/tests.rs
@@ -1296,3 +1296,36 @@ mod split_empty_delimiter_code_units {
         assert_eq!(crate::array::js_array_length(arr), 3);
     }
 }
+
+/// `header_str_checked` answers exactly like `from_utf8(..).ok()` — a pure
+/// ASCII key without the scan, a non-ASCII scalar key by validation, and a
+/// WTF-8 payload (lone surrogate) as `None`.
+#[test]
+fn header_str_checked_matches_from_utf8_on_every_payload_class() {
+    let scope = crate::gc::RuntimeHandleScope::new();
+    let ascii = scope.root_string_ptr(js_string_from_bytes(b"userName".as_ptr(), 8));
+    let cjk = "名前";
+    let scalar = scope.root_string_ptr(js_string_from_bytes(cjk.as_ptr(), cjk.len() as u32));
+    let lone = [0xEDu8, 0xA0, 0x80, b'x'];
+    let wtf8 = scope.root_string_ptr(js_string_from_wtf8_bytes(lone.as_ptr(), lone.len() as u32));
+    let empty = scope.root_string_ptr(js_string_from_bytes(b"".as_ptr(), 0));
+    for (root, expect) in [
+        (&ascii, Some("userName")),
+        (&scalar, Some(cjk)),
+        (&wtf8, None),
+        (&empty, Some("")),
+    ] {
+        let got = root.with_const_ptr::<StringHeader, _>(|s| unsafe { header_str_checked(s) });
+        assert_eq!(got, expect);
+        let via_std = root.with_const_ptr::<StringHeader, _>(|s| {
+            std::str::from_utf8(string_as_bytes_for_test(s))
+                .ok()
+                .map(|s| s.to_string())
+        });
+        assert_eq!(got.map(|s| s.to_string()), via_std);
+    }
+}
+
+fn string_as_bytes_for_test<'a>(s: *const StringHeader) -> &'a [u8] {
+    unsafe { slice::from_raw_parts(string_data(s), (*s).byte_len as usize) }
+}
diff --git a/crates/perry-runtime/src/typed_feedback/guards.rs b/crates/perry-runtime/src/typed_feedback/guards.rs
index 339bc3ccff..b165f6659a 100644
--- a/crates/perry-runtime/src/typed_feedback/guards.rs
+++ b/crates/perry-runtime/src/typed_feedback/guards.rs
@@ -147,17 +147,17 @@ fn method_direct_call_contract(
     (shape_addr, class_id, gc_type, name_hash, valid)
 }
 
-fn key_as_str(key: *const crate::StringHeader) -> Option<String> {
+/// Borrow the key text for the guard's side-table lookups. Every consumer
+/// (`class_getter_in_chain`, `descriptor_blocks_class_field_*`,
+/// `get_accessor_descriptor`, `get_property_attrs`) reads Rust-side tables
+/// and allocates nothing on the GC heap, so the payload cannot move while the
+/// borrow is live; the `String` this used to return was one `malloc` + UTF-8
+/// scan per guarded class-field access.
+fn key_as_str<'a>(key: *const crate::StringHeader) -> Option<&'a str> {
     if !valid_string_key(key) {
         return None;
     }
-    unsafe {
-        let len = (*key).byte_len as usize;
-        let data = (key as *const u8).add(std::mem::size_of::<crate::StringHeader>());
-        std::str::from_utf8(std::slice::from_raw_parts(data, len))
-            .ok()
-            .map(|s| s.to_string())
-    }
+    unsafe { crate::string::header_str_checked(key) }
 }
 
 fn class_setter_in_chain(class_id: u32, key_name: &str) -> bool {
@@ -314,8 +314,8 @@ fn class_field_get_contract(
                 expected_field_index,
                 require_raw_f64,
             )
-            && !class_getter_in_chain(class_id, &key_name)
-            && !descriptor_blocks_class_field_get(object_addr, class_id, &key_name);
+            && !class_getter_in_chain(class_id, key_name)
+            && !descriptor_blocks_class_field_get(object_addr, class_id, key_name);
         (shape_addr, class_id, gc_type, valid)
     }
 }
@@ -596,8 +596,8 @@ fn class_field_set_contract(
                         expected_field_index,
                         true,
                     )))
-            && !class_setter_in_chain(class_id, &key_name)
-            && !descriptor_blocks_class_field_set(object_addr, class_id, &key_name);
+            && !class_setter_in_chain(class_id, key_name)
+            && !descriptor_blocks_class_field_set(object_addr, class_id, key_name);
         (shape_addr, class_id, gc_type, valid)
     }
 }
diff --git a/crates/perry-runtime/src/typedarray_props.rs b/crates/perry-runtime/src/typedarray_props.rs
index b32a57b78c..c56fff0d30 100644
--- a/crates/perry-runtime/src/typedarray_props.rs
+++ b/crates/perry-runtime/src/typedarray_props.rs
@@ -172,9 +172,7 @@ unsafe fn string_header_str<'a>(key: *const crate::string::StringHeader) -> Opti
     if key.is_null() || (key as usize) < 0x10000 {
         return None;
     }
-    let len = (*key).byte_len as usize;
-    let data = (key as *const u8).add(std::mem::size_of::<crate::string::StringHeader>());
-    std::str::from_utf8(std::slice::from_raw_parts(data, len)).ok()
+    crate::string::header_str_checked(key)
 }
 
 fn unsigned_canonical_index(name: &str) -> Option<u32> {