diff --git a/scripts/render_bench.py b/scripts/render_bench.py
index c289546d..8994f5bc 100755
--- a/scripts/render_bench.py
+++ b/scripts/render_bench.py
@@ -77,8 +77,9 @@ def load_config() -> dict:
         config = ConfigManager().config
         if isinstance(config, dict) and config:
             return config
-    except Exception:
-        pass
+    except Exception as exc:  # noqa: BLE001 - any failure means use the plain read
+        print(f"ConfigManager unavailable ({exc}); reading {CONFIG} directly",
+              file=sys.stderr)
     # ConfigManager pulls in a lot; a plain read is enough to drive the panel
     # and keeps the benchmark usable on a half-installed machine.
     try:
diff --git a/src/common/frame_timing.py b/src/common/frame_timing.py
index 9a39290b..c71399ff 100644
--- a/src/common/frame_timing.py
+++ b/src/common/frame_timing.py
@@ -145,7 +145,10 @@ STATS_FILENAME = "ledmatrix_frame_stats.json"
 
 
 def default_stats_path() -> str:
-    base = "/dev/shm" if os.path.isdir("/dev/shm") else tempfile.gettempdir()
+    # A fixed name in a shared directory is safe here: write() creates its
+    # temp file with mkstemp and os.replace()s it over this path, which swaps
+    # out whatever is there -- a planted symlink included -- without following it.
+    base = "/dev/shm" if os.path.isdir("/dev/shm") else tempfile.gettempdir()  # nosec B108
     return os.path.join(base, STATS_FILENAME)