diff --git a/internal/common/tools.go b/internal/common/tools.go
index 1515e290..783354ff 100644
--- a/internal/common/tools.go
+++ b/internal/common/tools.go
@@ -96,6 +96,10 @@ func DeduplicateWithScore[T ScoreComparable, K comparable](keyFunc func(T) K, it
 // {"key": "value"}
 // ```
 // or regular JSON responses directly.
+// jsonCodeFenceRE extracts a JSON payload wrapped in a Markdown code fence.
+// Compiled once: ParseLLMJsonResponse runs on the graph-extraction path.
+var jsonCodeFenceRE = regexp.MustCompile("```(?:json)?\\s*([\\s\\S]*?)```")
+
 func ParseLLMJsonResponse(content string, target interface{}) error {
 	// First, try to parse directly as JSON
 	err := json.Unmarshal([]byte(content), target)
@@ -104,8 +108,7 @@ func ParseLLMJsonResponse(content string, target interface{}) error {
 	}
 
 	// If direct parsing fails, try to extract JSON from code blocks
-	re := regexp.MustCompile("```(?:json)?\\s*([\\s\\S]*?)```")
-	matches := re.FindStringSubmatch(content)
+	matches := jsonCodeFenceRE.FindStringSubmatch(content)
 	if len(matches) >= 2 {
 		// Extract the JSON content within the code block
 		jsonContent := strings.TrimSpace(matches[1])
diff --git a/internal/common/tools_test.go b/internal/common/tools_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..6b75caf4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/common/tools_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+package common
+
+import "testing"
+
+func TestParseLLMJsonResponse(t *testing.T) {
+	type payload struct {
+		Key string `json:"key"`
+	}
+
+	tests := []struct {
+		name    string
+		content string
+		want    string
+		wantErr bool
+	}{
+		{"direct json", `{"key":"value"}`, "value", false},
+		{"fenced json", "```json\n{\"key\":\"fenced\"}\n```", "fenced", false},
+		{"fenced no lang", "```\n{\"key\":\"plain\"}\n```", "plain", false},
+		{"prose around fence", "Here you go:\n```json\n{\"key\":\"wrapped\"}\n```\nThanks", "wrapped", false},
+		{"not json", "just some text", "", true},
+	}
+
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			var got payload
+			err := ParseLLMJsonResponse(tt.content, &got)
+			if (err != nil) != tt.wantErr {
+				t.Fatalf("err = %v, wantErr %v", err, tt.wantErr)
+			}
+			if !tt.wantErr && got.Key != tt.want {
+				t.Errorf("Key = %q, want %q", got.Key, tt.want)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}
+
+func BenchmarkParseLLMJsonResponse_Fenced(b *testing.B) {
+	const content = "```json\n{\"name\":\"Acme\",\"slug\":\"entity/acme\",\"aliases\":[\"A\",\"B\"]}\n```"
+	type payload struct {
+		Name string `json:"name"`
+	}
+	b.ReportAllocs()
+	for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ {
+		var p payload
+		_ = ParseLLMJsonResponse(content, &p)
+	}
+}