diff --git a/tests/bench_sys_base64/main.c b/tests/bench_sys_base64/main.c
index 3c33a7301a..265e9228d0 100644
--- a/tests/bench_sys_base64/main.c
+++ b/tests/bench_sys_base64/main.c
@@ -75,24 +75,24 @@ int main(void) {
     }
 
     start = xtimer_now_usec();
-    for (unsigned i = 0; i < 10000; i++) {
+    for (unsigned i = 0; i < 1000; i++) {
         size = sizeof(buf);
         base64_encode(input, sizeof(input), buf, &size);
     }
     stop = xtimer_now_usec();
 
-    print_str("Encoding 10.000 x 96 bytes (128 bytes in base64): ");
+    print_str("Encoding 1.000 x 96 bytes (128 bytes in base64): ");
     print_u32_dec(stop - start);
     print_str(" µs\n");
 
     start = xtimer_now_usec();
-    for (unsigned i = 0; i < 10000; i++) {
+    for (unsigned i = 0; i < 1000; i++) {
         size = sizeof(buf);
         base64_decode(base64, sizeof(base64), buf, &size);
     }
     stop = xtimer_now_usec();
 
-    print_str("Decoding 10.000 x 96 bytes (128 bytes in base64): ");
+    print_str("Decoding 1.000 x 96 bytes (128 bytes in base64): ");
     print_u32_dec(stop - start);
     print_str(" µs\n");
     return 0;
diff --git a/tests/bench_sys_base64/tests/01-run.py b/tests/bench_sys_base64/tests/01-run.py
index 7fa6c23f3c..3b37d1d325 100755
--- a/tests/bench_sys_base64/tests/01-run.py
+++ b/tests/bench_sys_base64/tests/01-run.py
@@ -13,8 +13,8 @@ from testrunner import run
 def testfunc(child):
     child.expect_exact("Verifying that base64 encoding works for benchmark input: OK\r\n")
     child.expect_exact("Verifying that base64 decoding works for benchmark input: OK\r\n")
-    child.expect(r"Encoding 10\.000 x 96 bytes \(128 bytes in base64\): [0-9]+ µs\r\n")
-    child.expect(r"Decoding 10\.000 x 96 bytes \(128 bytes in base64\): [0-9]+ µs\r\n")
+    child.expect(r"Encoding 1\.000 x 96 bytes \(128 bytes in base64\): [0-9]+ µs\r\n")
+    child.expect(r"Decoding 1\.000 x 96 bytes \(128 bytes in base64\): [0-9]+ µs\r\n")
 
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":