diff --git a/agreement/persistence_test.go b/agreement/persistence_test.go
index 1a7381aa6a..3380833507 100644
--- a/agreement/persistence_test.go
+++ b/agreement/persistence_test.go
@@ -182,13 +182,19 @@ func BenchmarkAgreementPersistenceRecovery(b *testing.B) {
 	}
 }
 
+const randomizedEncodingMaxCollectionLen = 8 // instead of 32 used in codec_tester.go
+
 func randomizeDiskState() (rr rootRouter, p player) {
-	p2, err := protocol.RandomizeObject(&player{})
+	opts := []protocol.RandomizeObjectOption{
+		protocol.RandomizeObjectWithMaxCollectionLen(randomizedEncodingMaxCollectionLen),
+		protocol.RandomizeObjectSilenceAllocWarnings(),
+	}
+	p2, err := protocol.RandomizeObject(&player{}, opts...)
 	if err != nil {
 		return
 	}
 
-	rr2, err := protocol.RandomizeObject(&rootRouter{})
+	rr2, err := protocol.RandomizeObject(&rootRouter{}, opts...)
 	if err != nil {
 		return
 	}
@@ -200,7 +206,12 @@ func randomizeDiskState() (rr rootRouter, p player) {
 
 func TestRandomizedEncodingFullDiskState(t *testing.T) {
 	partitiontest.PartitionTest(t)
-	for i := 0; i < 5000; i++ {
+	iterations := 1000
+	if testing.Short() {
+		iterations = 500
+	}
+
+	for i := 0; i < iterations; i++ {
 		router, player := randomizeDiskState()
 		a := []action{}
 		clock := timers.MakeMonotonicClock[TimeoutType](time.Date(2015, 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, time.UTC))
diff --git a/protocol/codec_tester.go b/protocol/codec_tester.go
index 7e6cb02919..5e3e8ffde4 100644
--- a/protocol/codec_tester.go
+++ b/protocol/codec_tester.go
@@ -54,6 +54,10 @@ type randomizeObjectCfg struct {
 	ZeroesEveryN int
 	// AllUintSizes will be equally likely to generate 8-bit, 16-bit, 32-bit, or 64-bit uints.
 	AllUintSizes bool
+	// MaxCollectionLen bounds randomized slice/map lengths when positive.
+	MaxCollectionLen int
+	// SilenceAllocWarnings suppresses allocbound warning prints.
+	SilenceAllocWarnings bool
 }
 
 // RandomizeObjectOption is an option for RandomizeObject
@@ -69,6 +73,20 @@ func RandomizeObjectWithAllUintSizes() RandomizeObjectOption {
 	return func(cfg *randomizeObjectCfg) { cfg.AllUintSizes = true }
 }
 
+// RandomizeObjectSilenceAllocWarnings silences allocbound warning prints.
+func RandomizeObjectSilenceAllocWarnings() RandomizeObjectOption {
+	return func(cfg *randomizeObjectCfg) { cfg.SilenceAllocWarnings = true }
+}
+
+// RandomizeObjectWithMaxCollectionLen limits randomized slice/map lengths to n (when n>0).
+func RandomizeObjectWithMaxCollectionLen(n int) RandomizeObjectOption {
+	return func(cfg *randomizeObjectCfg) {
+		if n > 0 {
+			cfg.MaxCollectionLen = n
+		}
+	}
+}
+
 // RandomizeObject returns a random object of the same type as template
 func RandomizeObject(template interface{}, opts ...RandomizeObjectOption) (interface{}, error) {
 	cfg := randomizeObjectCfg{}
@@ -185,7 +203,7 @@ func checkMsgpAllocBoundDirective(dataType reflect.Type) bool {
 	return false
 }
 
-func checkBoundsLimitingTag(val reflect.Value, datapath string, structTag string) (hasAllocBound bool) {
+func checkBoundsLimitingTag(val reflect.Value, datapath string, structTag string, cfg randomizeObjectCfg) (hasAllocBound bool) {
 	var objType string
 	if val.Kind() == reflect.Slice {
 		objType = "slice"
@@ -199,7 +217,9 @@ func checkBoundsLimitingTag(val reflect.Value, datapath string, structTag string
 		tagsMap := parseStructTags(structTag)
 
 		if tagsMap["allocbound"] == "-" {
-			printWarning(fmt.Sprintf("%s %s have an unbounded allocbound defined", objType, datapath))
+			if !cfg.SilenceAllocWarnings {
+				printWarning(fmt.Sprintf("%s %s have an unbounded allocbound defined", objType, datapath))
+			}
 			return
 		}
 
@@ -234,7 +254,9 @@ func checkBoundsLimitingTag(val reflect.Value, datapath string, structTag string
 	}
 
 	if val.Type().Kind() == reflect.Slice || val.Type().Kind() == reflect.Map || val.Type().Kind() == reflect.Array {
-		printWarning(fmt.Sprintf("%s %s does not have an allocbound defined for %s %s", objType, datapath, val.Type().String(), val.Type().PkgPath()))
+		if !cfg.SilenceAllocWarnings {
+			printWarning(fmt.Sprintf("%s %s does not have an allocbound defined for %s %s", objType, datapath, val.Type().String(), val.Type().PkgPath()))
+		}
 	}
 	return
 }
@@ -285,7 +307,7 @@ func randomizeValue(v reflect.Value, depth int, datapath string, tag string, rem
 		v.SetInt(int64(rand.Uint64()))
 		*remainingChanges--
 	case reflect.String:
-		hasAllocBound := checkBoundsLimitingTag(v, datapath, tag)
+		hasAllocBound := checkBoundsLimitingTag(v, datapath, tag, cfg)
 		var buf []byte
 		var len int
 		if strings.HasSuffix(v.Type().PkgPath(), "go-algorand/agreement") && v.Type().Name() == "serializableError" {
@@ -359,9 +381,13 @@ func randomizeValue(v reflect.Value, depth int, datapath string, tag string, rem
 	case reflect.Slice:
 		// we don't want to allocate a slice with size of 0. This is because decoding and encoding this slice
 		// will result in nil and not slice of size 0
-		l := rand.Int()%31 + 1
+		maxLen := 31
+		if cfg.MaxCollectionLen > 0 {
+			maxLen = min(maxLen, cfg.MaxCollectionLen)
+		}
+		l := rand.Intn(maxLen) + 1
 
-		hasAllocBound := checkBoundsLimitingTag(v, datapath, tag)
+		hasAllocBound := checkBoundsLimitingTag(v, datapath, tag, cfg)
 		if hasAllocBound {
 			l = 1
 		}
@@ -382,10 +408,15 @@ func randomizeValue(v reflect.Value, depth int, datapath string, tag string, rem
 		v.SetBool(rand.Uint32()%2 == 0)
 		*remainingChanges--
 	case reflect.Map:
-		hasAllocBound := checkBoundsLimitingTag(v, datapath, tag)
+		hasAllocBound := checkBoundsLimitingTag(v, datapath, tag, cfg)
 		mt := v.Type()
 		v.Set(reflect.MakeMap(mt))
-		l := rand.Int() % 32
+		maxLen := 32
+		if cfg.MaxCollectionLen > 0 {
+			// preserve possibility of zero entries while capping positive lengths
+			maxLen = min(maxLen, cfg.MaxCollectionLen+1)
+		}
+		l := rand.Intn(maxLen)
 		if hasAllocBound {
 			l = 1
 		}