diff --git a/test/benchmark/parse_benchmark_test.cc b/test/benchmark/parse_benchmark_test.cc
index e528322b..be01e33f 100644
--- a/test/benchmark/parse_benchmark_test.cc
+++ b/test/benchmark/parse_benchmark_test.cc
@@ -15,6 +15,8 @@
 // A benchmark for parsing and compiling models from XML.
 
 #include <array>
+#include <memory>
+#include <string>
 
 #include <benchmark/benchmark.h>
 #include <gmock/gmock.h>
@@ -27,21 +29,40 @@
 namespace mujoco {
 namespace {
 
+using ::testing::Eq;
 using ::testing::NotNull;
 
-static void run_parse_benchmark(const std::string xml_path, benchmark::State& state) {
+
+static void run_parse_benchmark(const std::string xml_path,
+                                benchmark::State& state) {
   MujocoErrorTestGuard guard;  // Fail test if there are any mujoco errors
 
+  int vfs_errno = 0;
+  std::string vfs_errmsg = "";
+  auto vfs = std::make_unique<mjVFS>();
+  mj_defaultVFS(vfs.get());
+
+  if ((vfs_errno = mj_addFileVFS(vfs.get(), "", xml_path.data()))) {
+    if (vfs_errno == 1) {
+      vfs_errmsg = "VFS is full";  // should not occur
+    } else if (vfs_errno == 2) {
+      vfs_errmsg = "Repeated name in VFS";  // should not occur
+    } else {
+      vfs_errmsg = "File not found";
+    }
+  }
+
+  ASSERT_THAT(vfs_errno, Eq(0)) << "Failed to add file to VFS: " << vfs_errmsg;
+
   std::array<char, 1024> error;
   for (auto s : state) {
-    // TODO(nimrod): Load the models from VFS rather than from disk, to
-    // limit the benchmark to the parsing and model compilation speed.
     mjModel* model =
-      mj_loadXML(xml_path.data(), nullptr, error.data(), error.size());
+      mj_loadXML(xml_path.data(), vfs.get(), error.data(), error.size());
     ASSERT_THAT(model, NotNull()) << "Failed to load model: " << error.data();
     mj_deleteModel(model);
   }
   state.SetLabel(xml_path);
+  mj_deleteVFS(vfs.get());
 }
 
 // Use ABSL_ATTRIBUTE_NO_TAIL_CALL to make sure the benchmark functions appear
diff --git a/test/benchmark/step_benchmark_test.cc b/test/benchmark/step_benchmark_test.cc
index 1c369e84..d2b6963d 100644
--- a/test/benchmark/step_benchmark_test.cc
+++ b/test/benchmark/step_benchmark_test.cc
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
 
 // A benchmark which steps various models without rendering, and measures speed.
 
-#include <array>
+#include <vector>
 
 #include <benchmark/benchmark.h>
 #include <gmock/gmock.h>
@@ -28,17 +28,12 @@
 namespace mujoco {
 namespace {
 
-// number of steps to roll out before benhmarking
+// number of steps to roll out before benchmarking
 static const int kNumWarmupSteps = 500;
 
 // number of steps to benchmark
 static const int kNumBenchmarkSteps = 50;
 
-// copy array into vector
-std::vector<mjtNum> AsVector(const mjtNum* array, int n) {
-  return std::vector<mjtNum>(array, array + n);
-}
-
 static void run_step_benchmark(const mjModel* model, benchmark::State& state) {
   mjData* data = mj_makeData(model);