diff --git a/DQMServices/Core/src/MonitorElement.cc b/DQMServices/Core/src/MonitorElement.cc
index cb68f9ad21864..c87769e91c45d 100644
--- a/DQMServices/Core/src/MonitorElement.cc
+++ b/DQMServices/Core/src/MonitorElement.cc
@@ -765,7 +765,9 @@ namespace dqm::impl {
       auto access = this->accessMut();
       update();
       if (getAxis(access, __PRETTY_FUNCTION__, axis)->GetNbins() >= bin) {
-        getAxis(access, __PRETTY_FUNCTION__, axis)->SetBinLabel(bin, label.c_str());
+        if (strcmp(label.c_str(), getAxis(access, __PRETTY_FUNCTION__, axis)->GetBinLabel(bin)) != 0) {
+          getAxis(access, __PRETTY_FUNCTION__, axis)->SetBinLabel(bin, label.c_str());
+        }
       } else {
         fail = true;
       }
diff --git a/HLTrigger/Timer/plugins/FastTimerServiceClient.cc b/HLTrigger/Timer/plugins/FastTimerServiceClient.cc
index 2c6ad2794ec4e..17d74489a61b4 100644
--- a/HLTrigger/Timer/plugins/FastTimerServiceClient.cc
+++ b/HLTrigger/Timer/plugins/FastTimerServiceClient.cc
@@ -30,6 +30,17 @@ struct MEPSet {
   double xmax;
 };
 
+namespace {
+  void setBinLabel(TAxis* axis, int bin, const char* label) {
+    //TAxis::GetBinLabel currently doesnt have this check
+    //and changing a label is a slow operation
+    if (strcmp(axis->GetBinLabel(bin), label) != 0) {
+      axis->SetBinLabel(bin, label);
+    }
+  }
+
+}  // namespace
+
 class FastTimerServiceClient : public DQMEDHarvester {
 public:
   explicit FastTimerServiceClient(edm::ParameterSet const&);
@@ -165,7 +176,6 @@ void FastTimerServiceClient::fillPathSummaryPlots(DQMStore::IBooker& booker,
                                                   double events,
                                                   std::string const& current_path) {
   // note: the following checks need to be kept separate, as any of these histograms might be missing
-
   booker.setCurrentFolder(current_path);
   std::vector<std::string> subsubdirs = getter.getSubdirs();
   size_t npaths = subsubdirs.size();
@@ -262,7 +272,7 @@ void FastTimerServiceClient::fillPathSummaryPlots(DQMStore::IBooker& booker,
       real_average->SetYTitle("average processing (real) time [ms]");
       for (uint32_t i = 1; i <= bins; ++i) {
         const char* module = counter->GetXaxis()->GetBinLabel(i);
-        real_average->GetXaxis()->SetBinLabel(i, module);
+        setBinLabel(real_average->GetXaxis(), i, module);
       }
     }
 
@@ -278,7 +288,7 @@ void FastTimerServiceClient::fillPathSummaryPlots(DQMStore::IBooker& booker,
       thread_average->SetYTitle("average processing (thread) time [ms]");
       for (uint32_t i = 1; i <= bins; ++i) {
         const char* module = counter->GetXaxis()->GetBinLabel(i);
-        thread_average->GetXaxis()->SetBinLabel(i, module);
+        setBinLabel(thread_average->GetXaxis(), i, module);
       }
     }
 
@@ -293,7 +303,7 @@ void FastTimerServiceClient::fillPathSummaryPlots(DQMStore::IBooker& booker,
       real_running->SetYTitle("running processing (real) time [ms]");
       for (uint32_t i = 1; i <= bins; ++i) {
         const char* module = counter->GetXaxis()->GetBinLabel(i);
-        real_running->GetXaxis()->SetBinLabel(i, module);
+        setBinLabel(real_running->GetXaxis(), i, module);
       }
     }
 
@@ -309,7 +319,7 @@ void FastTimerServiceClient::fillPathSummaryPlots(DQMStore::IBooker& booker,
       thread_running->SetYTitle("running processing (thread) time [ms]");
       for (uint32_t i = 1; i <= bins; ++i) {
         const char* module = counter->GetXaxis()->GetBinLabel(i);
-        thread_running->GetXaxis()->SetBinLabel(i, module);
+        setBinLabel(thread_running->GetXaxis(), i, module);
       }
     }
 
@@ -325,7 +335,7 @@ void FastTimerServiceClient::fillPathSummaryPlots(DQMStore::IBooker& booker,
       efficiency->SetMaximum(1.05);
       for (uint32_t i = 1; i <= bins; ++i) {
         const char* module = counter->GetXaxis()->GetBinLabel(i);
-        efficiency->GetXaxis()->SetBinLabel(i, module);
+        setBinLabel(efficiency->GetXaxis(), i, module);
       }
     }