diff --git a/.github/actions/next-stats-action/src/prepare/load-stats-config.js b/.github/actions/next-stats-action/src/prepare/load-stats-config.js
index 7dfdfec22fe89..55cecb54faad3 100644
--- a/.github/actions/next-stats-action/src/prepare/load-stats-config.js
+++ b/.github/actions/next-stats-action/src/prepare/load-stats-config.js
@@ -16,7 +16,10 @@ function loadStatsConfig() {
         'stats-config.js'
       ))
       break
-    } catch (_) {
+    } catch (err) {
+      if (err.code !== 'MODULE_NOT_FOUND') {
+        console.error('Failed to load stats-config at', configPath, err)
+      }
       /* */
     }
   }
diff --git a/.github/actions/next-stats-action/src/run/index.js b/.github/actions/next-stats-action/src/run/index.js
index 5e332d4c9f6b2..2f0e053c35c78 100644
--- a/.github/actions/next-stats-action/src/run/index.js
+++ b/.github/actions/next-stats-action/src/run/index.js
@@ -169,55 +169,6 @@ async function runConfigs(
         )
       )
       curStats.General.buildDurationCached = Date.now() - secondBuildStart
-
-      if (statsConfig.appDevCommand) {
-        const port = await getPort()
-        const startTime = Date.now()
-        const child = exec.spawn(statsConfig.appDevCommand, {
-          cwd: statsAppDir,
-          env: {
-            PORT: port,
-          },
-          stdio: 'pipe',
-        })
-
-        let serverReadyResolve
-        let serverReadyResolved = false
-        const serverReadyPromise = new Promise((resolve) => {
-          serverReadyResolve = resolve
-        })
-
-        child.stdout.on('data', (data) => {
-          if (
-            data.toString().includes('started server') &&
-            !serverReadyResolved
-          ) {
-            serverReadyResolved = true
-            serverReadyResolve()
-          }
-          process.stdout.write(data)
-        })
-        child.stderr.on('data', (data) => process.stderr.write(data))
-
-        child.on('exit', (code) => {
-          if (!serverReadyResolved) {
-            serverReadyResolve()
-            serverReadyResolved = true
-          }
-          exitCode = code
-        })
-
-        setTimeout(() => {
-          if (!serverReadyResolved) {
-            child.kill()
-          }
-        }, 3 * 1000)
-
-        await serverReadyPromise
-        child.kill()
-
-        curStats['General']['nextDevReadyDuration'] = Date.now() - startTime
-      }
     }
 
     logger(`Finished running: ${config.title}`)
diff --git a/test/.stats-app/image.js b/test/.stats-app/pages/image.js
similarity index 100%
rename from test/.stats-app/image.js
rename to test/.stats-app/pages/image.js
diff --git a/test/.stats-app/stats-config.js b/test/.stats-app/stats-config.js
index fb95fd578e620..0081dda215e3d 100644
--- a/test/.stats-app/stats-config.js
+++ b/test/.stats-app/stats-config.js
@@ -1,12 +1,3 @@
-const fs = require('fs')
-const path = require('path')
-// this page is conditionally added when not testing
-// in webpack 4 mode since it's not supported for webpack 4
-const imagePageData = fs.readFileSync(
-  path.join(__dirname, './image.js'),
-  'utf8'
-)
-
 const clientGlobs = [
   {
     name: 'Client Bundles (main, webpack)',
@@ -84,17 +75,13 @@ module.exports = {
       title: 'Default Build',
       diff: 'onOutputChange',
       diffConfigFiles: [
-        {
-          path: 'pages/image.js',
-          content: imagePageData,
-        },
         {
           path: 'next.config.js',
           content: `
             module.exports = {
               experimental: {
                 appDir: true,
-                // remove after next stable relase (current v12.3.1)
+                // remove after next stable release (current v12.3.1)
                 serverComponents: true,
               },
               generateBuildId: () => 'BUILD_ID',
@@ -110,10 +97,6 @@ module.exports = {
       // renames to apply to make file names deterministic
       renames,
       configFiles: [
-        {
-          path: 'pages/image.js',
-          content: imagePageData,
-        },
         {
           path: 'next.config.js',
           content: `
@@ -135,51 +118,22 @@ module.exports = {
         'http://localhost:$PORT/link',
         'http://localhost:$PORT/withRouter',
       ],
-      pagesToBench: [
-        'http://localhost:$PORT/',
-        'http://localhost:$PORT/error-in-render',
-      ],
-      benchOptions: {
-        reqTimeout: 60,
-        concurrency: 50,
-        numRequests: 2500,
-      },
+      // TODO: investigate replacing "ab" for this
+      // pagesToBench: [
+      //   'http://localhost:$PORT/',
+      //   'http://localhost:$PORT/error-in-render',
+      // ],
+      // benchOptions: {
+      //   reqTimeout: 60,
+      //   concurrency: 50,
+      //   numRequests: 2500,
+      // },
     },
     {
-      title: 'Default Build with SWC',
-      diff: 'onOutputChange',
-      diffConfigFiles: [
-        {
-          path: 'pages/image.js',
-          content: imagePageData,
-        },
-        {
-          path: 'next.config.js',
-          content: `
-            module.exports = {
-              experimental: {
-                appDir: true,
-                // remove after next stable relase (current v12.3.1)
-                serverComponents: true
-              },
-              generateBuildId: () => 'BUILD_ID',
-              swcMinify: true,
-              webpack(config) {
-                config.optimization.minimize = false
-                config.optimization.minimizer = undefined
-                return config
-              }
-            }
-          `,
-        },
-      ],
+      title: 'Default Build with SWC minify',
       // renames to apply to make file names deterministic
       renames,
       configFiles: [
-        {
-          path: 'pages/image.js',
-          content: imagePageData,
-        },
         {
           path: 'next.config.js',
           content: `
@@ -202,15 +156,6 @@ module.exports = {
         'http://localhost:$PORT/link',
         'http://localhost:$PORT/withRouter',
       ],
-      pagesToBench: [
-        'http://localhost:$PORT/',
-        'http://localhost:$PORT/error-in-render',
-      ],
-      benchOptions: {
-        reqTimeout: 60,
-        concurrency: 50,
-        numRequests: 2500,
-      },
     },
   ],
 }