diff --git a/src/Lean/Compiler/LCNF/Check.lean b/src/Lean/Compiler/LCNF/Check.lean
index 98a391466c..594588f2c3 100644
--- a/src/Lean/Compiler/LCNF/Check.lean
+++ b/src/Lean/Compiler/LCNF/Check.lean
@@ -232,6 +232,7 @@ partial def checkCases (c : Cases .pure) : CheckM Unit := do
       withParams params do check k
 
 partial def check (code : Code .pure) : CheckM Unit := do
+  checkSystem "LCNF check"
   match code with
   | .let decl k => checkLetDecl decl; withFVarId decl.fvarId do check k
   | .fun decl k =>
diff --git a/src/Lean/Compiler/LCNF/Main.lean b/src/Lean/Compiler/LCNF/Main.lean
index 2f6189f17a..11023abb4d 100644
--- a/src/Lean/Compiler/LCNF/Main.lean
+++ b/src/Lean/Compiler/LCNF/Main.lean
@@ -188,6 +188,7 @@ where
     profileitM Exception profilerName (← getOptions) do
       let mut state : (pu : Purity) × Array (Decl pu) := ⟨inPhase, decls⟩
       for pass in passes do
+        checkSystem "LCNF compiler"
         state ← withTraceNode `Compiler (fun _ => return m!"compiler phase: {pass.phase}, pass: {pass.name}") do
           let decls ← withPhase pass.phase do
             state.fst.withAssertPurity pass.phase.toPurity fun h => do
diff --git a/src/Lean/CoreM.lean b/src/Lean/CoreM.lean
index 3403cbfde6..ead24ad2a0 100644
--- a/src/Lean/CoreM.lean
+++ b/src/Lean/CoreM.lean
@@ -453,6 +453,9 @@ Throws an internal interrupt exception if cancellation has been requested. The e
 caught by `try catch` but is intended to be caught by `Command.withLoggingExceptions` at the top
 level of elaboration. In particular, we want to skip producing further incremental snapshots after
 the exception has been thrown.
+
+Like `checkSystem` but without the global heartbeat check, for callers that have their own
+heartbeat tracking (e.g. `SynthInstance`).
  -/
 @[inline] def checkInterrupted : CoreM Unit := do
   if let some tk := (← read).cancelTk? then
diff --git a/src/Lean/Elab/SyntheticMVars.lean b/src/Lean/Elab/SyntheticMVars.lean
index 310e9927b3..7b7f039bfa 100644
--- a/src/Lean/Elab/SyntheticMVars.lean
+++ b/src/Lean/Elab/SyntheticMVars.lean
@@ -582,6 +582,7 @@ mutual
     -- We use `filterRevM` instead of `filterM` to make sure we process the synthetic metavariables using the order they were created.
     -- It would not be incorrect to use `filterM`.
     let remainingPendingMVars ← pendingMVars.filterRevM fun mvarId => do
+       checkSystem "synthesize pending MVars"
        -- We use `traceM` because we want to make sure the metavar local context is used to trace the message
        traceM `Elab.postpone (mvarId.withContext do addMessageContext m!"resuming {mkMVar mvarId}")
        let succeeded ← synthesizeSyntheticMVar mvarId postponeOnError runTactics
diff --git a/src/Lean/Meta/AbstractNestedProofs.lean b/src/Lean/Meta/AbstractNestedProofs.lean
index 3b27b6f36b..b931c2cf05 100644
--- a/src/Lean/Meta/AbstractNestedProofs.lean
+++ b/src/Lean/Meta/AbstractNestedProofs.lean
@@ -70,6 +70,7 @@ structure Context where
 abbrev M := ReaderT Context $ MonadCacheT ExprStructEq Expr MetaM
 
 partial def visit (e : Expr) : M Expr := do
+  checkSystem "abstract nested proofs"
   if e.isAtomic then
     pure e
   else
diff --git a/src/Lean/Meta/Tactic/Simp/Main.lean b/src/Lean/Meta/Tactic/Simp/Main.lean
index f8c2607a24..b648566cb9 100644
--- a/src/Lean/Meta/Tactic/Simp/Main.lean
+++ b/src/Lean/Meta/Tactic/Simp/Main.lean
@@ -714,7 +714,6 @@ where
 set_option compiler.ignoreBorrowAnnotation true in
 @[export lean_simp]
 def simpImpl (e : Expr) : SimpM Result := withIncRecDepth do
-  checkSystem "simp"
   if (← isProof e) then
     return { expr := e }
   trace[Meta.Tactic.simp.heads] "{repr e.toHeadIndex}"
diff --git a/src/Lean/Meta/Tactic/Simp/Rewrite.lean b/src/Lean/Meta/Tactic/Simp/Rewrite.lean
index 49d1c5d503..1ef7505199 100644
--- a/src/Lean/Meta/Tactic/Simp/Rewrite.lean
+++ b/src/Lean/Meta/Tactic/Simp/Rewrite.lean
@@ -219,6 +219,7 @@ where
     else
       let candidates := candidates.insertionSort fun e₁ e₂ => e₁.1.priority > e₂.1.priority
       for (thm, numExtraArgs) in candidates do
+        checkSystem "simp"
         if inErasedSet thm then continue
         if rflOnly then
           unless thm.rfl do
@@ -246,6 +247,7 @@ where
     else
       let candidates := candidates.insertionSort fun e₁ e₂ => e₁.priority > e₂.priority
       for thm in candidates do
+        checkSystem "simp"
         unless inErasedSet thm || (rflOnly && !thm.rfl) do
           let result? ← withNewMCtxDepth do
             let val  ← thm.getValue
diff --git a/src/Lean/Meta/Tactic/Simp/Types.lean b/src/Lean/Meta/Tactic/Simp/Types.lean
index 6583ec6ae6..c2d1d673f0 100644
--- a/src/Lean/Meta/Tactic/Simp/Types.lean
+++ b/src/Lean/Meta/Tactic/Simp/Types.lean
@@ -722,6 +722,7 @@ def simpAppUsingCongr (e : Expr) : SimpM Result := do
     if i == 0 then
       simp f
     else
+      checkSystem "simp"
       let i := i - 1
       let .app f a := e | unreachable!
       let fr ← visit f i
diff --git a/src/Lean/Meta/Transform.lean b/src/Lean/Meta/Transform.lean
index f75d4da31c..e526c71d75 100644
--- a/src/Lean/Meta/Transform.lean
+++ b/src/Lean/Meta/Transform.lean
@@ -50,6 +50,7 @@ partial def transform {m} [Monad m] [MonadLiftT CoreM m] [MonadControlT CoreM m]
   let _ : MonadLiftT (ST IO.RealWorld) m := { monadLift := fun x => liftM (m := CoreM) (liftM (m := ST IO.RealWorld) x) }
   let rec visit (e : Expr) : MonadCacheT ExprStructEq Expr m Expr :=
     checkCache { val := e : ExprStructEq } fun _ => Core.withIncRecDepth do
+      Core.checkSystem "transform"
       let rec visitPost (e : Expr) : MonadCacheT ExprStructEq Expr m Expr := do
         match (← post e) with
         | .done e      => pure e
@@ -107,6 +108,7 @@ partial def transformWithCache {m} [Monad m] [MonadLiftT MetaM m] [MonadControlT
   let _ : MonadLiftT (ST IO.RealWorld) m := { monadLift := fun x => liftM (m := MetaM) (liftM (m := ST IO.RealWorld) x) }
   let rec visit (e : Expr) : MonadCacheT ExprStructEq Expr m Expr :=
     checkCache { val := e : ExprStructEq } fun _ => Meta.withIncRecDepth do
+      (Core.checkSystem "transform" : MetaM Unit)
       let rec visitPost (e : Expr) : MonadCacheT ExprStructEq Expr m Expr := do
         match (← post e) with
         | .done e      => pure e
diff --git a/src/Lean/Meta/WHNF.lean b/src/Lean/Meta/WHNF.lean
index 74fcfef37f..0ce0dcac22 100644
--- a/src/Lean/Meta/WHNF.lean
+++ b/src/Lean/Meta/WHNF.lean
@@ -650,7 +650,7 @@ expand let-expressions, expand assigned meta-variables, unfold aux declarations.
 partial def whnfCore (e : Expr) : MetaM Expr :=
   go e
 where
-  go (e : Expr) : MetaM Expr :=
+  go (e : Expr) : MetaM Expr := do
     whnfEasyCases e fun e => do
       trace[Meta.whnf] e
       match e with