diff --git a/scripts/bench-ax-bfs-queue.swift b/scripts/bench-ax-bfs-queue.swift
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..585691e1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/bench-ax-bfs-queue.swift
@@ -0,0 +1,106 @@
+import Foundation
+
+private struct Node {
+  let firstChild: Int
+  let childCount: Int
+}
+
+private let depthLimit = 8
+private let branching = 3
+private var nodes: [Node] = []
+private var frontier: [(index: Int, depth: Int)] = [(0, 0)]
+
+nodes.reserveCapacity(9_841)
+nodes.append(Node(firstChild: -1, childCount: 0))
+
+var frontierIndex = 0
+while frontierIndex < frontier.count {
+  let (nodeIndex, depth) = frontier[frontierIndex]
+  frontierIndex += 1
+  guard depth < depthLimit else { continue }
+
+  let firstChild = nodes.count
+  for _ in 0..<branching {
+    nodes.append(Node(firstChild: -1, childCount: 0))
+    frontier.append((nodes.count - 1, depth + 1))
+  }
+  nodes[nodeIndex] = Node(firstChild: firstChild, childCount: branching)
+}
+
+private let roots = [0, 1, 2].filter { $0 < nodes.count }
+private let maxDepth = 8
+private let maxElements = 240
+private let iterations = 20_000
+
+@inline(never)
+private func removeFirstTraversal() -> Int {
+  var queue = roots.map { ($0, 0) }
+  var inspected = 0
+  var checksum = 0
+
+  while let (nodeIndex, depth) = queue.first {
+    queue.removeFirst()
+    inspected += 1
+    if inspected > maxElements { break }
+
+    checksum &+= nodeIndex &+ depth
+    if depth >= maxDepth { continue }
+
+    let node = nodes[nodeIndex]
+    if node.childCount > 0 {
+      for offset in 0..<node.childCount {
+        queue.append((node.firstChild + offset, depth + 1))
+      }
+    }
+  }
+  return checksum
+}
+
+@inline(never)
+private func cursorTraversal() -> Int {
+  var queue = roots.map { ($0, 0) }
+  var queueIndex = 0
+  var inspected = 0
+  var checksum = 0
+
+  while queueIndex < queue.count {
+    let (nodeIndex, depth) = queue[queueIndex]
+    queueIndex += 1
+    inspected += 1
+    if inspected > maxElements { break }
+
+    checksum &+= nodeIndex &+ depth
+    if depth >= maxDepth { continue }
+
+    let node = nodes[nodeIndex]
+    if node.childCount > 0 {
+      for offset in 0..<node.childCount {
+        queue.append((node.firstChild + offset, depth + 1))
+      }
+    }
+  }
+  return checksum
+}
+
+@inline(never)
+private func measure(_ label: String, _ block: () -> Int) -> (label: String, ms: Double, checksum: Int) {
+  var checksum = 0
+  let start = DispatchTime.now().uptimeNanoseconds
+  for _ in 0..<iterations {
+    checksum &+= block()
+  }
+  let elapsed = DispatchTime.now().uptimeNanoseconds - start
+  return (label, Double(elapsed) / 1_000_000.0, checksum)
+}
+
+let removeFirstWarmup = removeFirstTraversal()
+let cursorWarmup = cursorTraversal()
+precondition(removeFirstWarmup == cursorWarmup)
+
+let removeFirst = measure("removeFirst", removeFirstTraversal)
+let cursor = measure("cursor", cursorTraversal)
+
+print("nodes=\(nodes.count) roots=\(roots.count) maxDepth=\(maxDepth) maxElements=\(maxElements) iterations=\(iterations)")
+print("\(removeFirst.label): \(String(format: "%.2f", removeFirst.ms)) ms checksum=\(removeFirst.checksum)")
+print("\(cursor.label): \(String(format: "%.2f", cursor.ms)) ms checksum=\(cursor.checksum)")
+print("speedup: \(String(format: "%.2fx", removeFirst.ms / cursor.ms))")
diff --git a/src/native/ax-caret-query.swift b/src/native/ax-caret-query.swift
index 2bfdabbf..60debb88 100644
--- a/src/native/ax-caret-query.swift
+++ b/src/native/ax-caret-query.swift
@@ -161,9 +161,11 @@ public enum AXCaretQuery {
     }
     // BFS up to a small depth to avoid walking huge trees.
     var queue: [(el: AXUIElement, depth: Int)] = [(root, 0)]
+    var queueIndex = 0
     let maxDepth = 6
-    while let (el, depth) = queue.first {
-      queue.removeFirst()
+    while queueIndex < queue.count {
+      let (el, depth) = queue[queueIndex]
+      queueIndex += 1
       if depth > 0 {
         let role = copyString(el, kAXRoleAttribute as CFString) ?? ""
         if TEXT_LEAF_ROLES.contains(role) && hasSelectedTextRange(el) {
diff --git a/src/native/get-selected-text.swift b/src/native/get-selected-text.swift
index 7e4f4112..3b86892b 100644
--- a/src/native/get-selected-text.swift
+++ b/src/native/get-selected-text.swift
@@ -163,12 +163,14 @@ private func enqueueChildren(of element: AXUIElement, depth: Int, into queue: in
 
 private func findSelectedText(from roots: [AXUIElement]) -> String? {
   var queue = roots.map { ($0, 0) }
+  var queueIndex = 0
   var inspected = 0
   let maxDepth = 8
   let maxElements = 240
 
-  while let (element, depth) = queue.first {
-    queue.removeFirst()
+  while queueIndex < queue.count {
+    let (element, depth) = queue[queueIndex]
+    queueIndex += 1
     inspected += 1
     if inspected > maxElements { break }