diff --git a/tools/PictureRenderer.cpp b/tools/PictureRenderer.cpp
index b15b4a798..5128782d4 100644
--- a/tools/PictureRenderer.cpp
+++ b/tools/PictureRenderer.cpp
@@ -398,8 +398,12 @@ bool PipePictureRenderer::render(SkBitmap** out) {
         setup_bitmap(*out, fPicture->width(), fPicture->height());
         fCanvas->readPixels(*out, 0, 0);
     }
-    return write(fCanvas, fWritePath, fMismatchPath, fInputFilename, fJsonSummaryPtr,
-                 fUseChecksumBasedFilenames);
+    if (fEnableWrites) {
+        return write(fCanvas, fWritePath, fMismatchPath, fInputFilename, fJsonSummaryPtr,
+                     fUseChecksumBasedFilenames);
+    } else {
+        return true;
+    }
 }
 
 SkString PipePictureRenderer::getConfigNameInternal() {
@@ -429,8 +433,12 @@ bool SimplePictureRenderer::render(SkBitmap** out) {
         setup_bitmap(*out, fPicture->width(), fPicture->height());
         fCanvas->readPixels(*out, 0, 0);
     }
-    return write(fCanvas, fWritePath, fMismatchPath, fInputFilename, fJsonSummaryPtr,
-                 fUseChecksumBasedFilenames);
+    if (fEnableWrites) {
+        return write(fCanvas, fWritePath, fMismatchPath, fInputFilename, fJsonSummaryPtr,
+                     fUseChecksumBasedFilenames);
+    } else {
+        return true;
+    }
 }
 
 SkString SimplePictureRenderer::getConfigNameInternal() {
@@ -640,8 +648,10 @@ bool TiledPictureRenderer::render(SkBitmap** out) {
     bool success = true;
     for (int i = 0; i < fTileRects.count(); ++i) {
         draw_tile_to_canvas(fCanvas, fTileRects[i], fPicture);
-        success &= write(fCanvas, fWritePath, fMismatchPath, fInputFilename, fJsonSummaryPtr,
-                         fUseChecksumBasedFilenames, &i);
+        if (fEnableWrites) {
+            success &= write(fCanvas, fWritePath, fMismatchPath, fInputFilename, fJsonSummaryPtr,
+                             fUseChecksumBasedFilenames, &i);
+        }
         if (NULL != out) {
             if (fCanvas->readPixels(&bitmap, 0, 0)) {
                 // Add this tile to the entire bitmap.
@@ -700,9 +710,10 @@ class CloneData : public SkRunnable {
 public:
     CloneData(SkPicture* clone, SkCanvas* canvas, SkTDArray<SkRect>& rects, int start, int end,
               SkRunnable* done, ImageResultsAndExpectations* jsonSummaryPtr,
-              bool useChecksumBasedFilenames)
+              bool useChecksumBasedFilenames, bool enableWrites)
         : fClone(clone)
         , fCanvas(canvas)
+        , fEnableWrites(enableWrites)
         , fRects(rects)
         , fStart(start)
         , fEnd(end)
@@ -724,23 +735,25 @@ public:
 
         for (int i = fStart; i < fEnd; i++) {
             draw_tile_to_canvas(fCanvas, fRects[i], fClone);
-            if (!write(fCanvas, fWritePath, fMismatchPath, fInputFilename, fJsonSummaryPtr,
-                       fUseChecksumBasedFilenames, &i)
-                && fSuccess != NULL) {
-                *fSuccess = false;
-                // If one tile fails to write to a file, do not continue drawing the rest.
-                break;
-            }
-            if (fBitmap != NULL) {
-                if (fCanvas->readPixels(&bitmap, 0, 0)) {
-                    SkAutoLockPixels alp(*fBitmap);
-                    bitmapCopyAtOffset(bitmap, fBitmap, SkScalarFloorToInt(fRects[i].left()),
-                                       SkScalarFloorToInt(fRects[i].top()));
-                } else {
+            if (fEnableWrites) {
+                if (!write(fCanvas, fWritePath, fMismatchPath, fInputFilename, fJsonSummaryPtr,
+                           fUseChecksumBasedFilenames, &i)
+                    && fSuccess != NULL) {
                     *fSuccess = false;
-                    // If one tile fails to read pixels, do not continue drawing the rest.
+                    // If one tile fails to write to a file, do not continue drawing the rest.
                     break;
                 }
+                if (fBitmap != NULL) {
+                    if (fCanvas->readPixels(&bitmap, 0, 0)) {
+                        SkAutoLockPixels alp(*fBitmap);
+                        bitmapCopyAtOffset(bitmap, fBitmap, SkScalarFloorToInt(fRects[i].left()),
+                                           SkScalarFloorToInt(fRects[i].top()));
+                    } else {
+                        *fSuccess = false;
+                        // If one tile fails to read pixels, do not continue drawing the rest.
+                        break;
+                    }
+                }
             }
         }
         fDone->run();
@@ -763,6 +776,8 @@ private:
     SkPicture*         fClone;      // Picture to draw from. Each CloneData has a unique one which
                                     // is threadsafe.
     SkCanvas*          fCanvas;     // Canvas to draw to. Reused for each tile.
+    bool               fEnableWrites; // TODO(epoger): Temporary hack; see declaration of
+                                      // fEnableWrites in PictureRenderer.h.
     SkString           fWritePath;  // If not empty, write all results into this directory.
     SkString           fMismatchPath;  // If not empty, write all unexpected results into this dir.
     SkString           fInputFilename; // Filename of input SkPicture file.
@@ -813,7 +828,7 @@ void MultiCorePictureRenderer::init(SkPicture *pict, const SkString* writePath,
         const int end = SkMin32(start + chunkSize, fTileRects.count());
         fCloneData[i] = SkNEW_ARGS(CloneData,
                                    (pic, fCanvasPool[i], fTileRects, start, end, &fCountdown,
-                                    fJsonSummaryPtr, useChecksumBasedFilenames));
+                                    fJsonSummaryPtr, useChecksumBasedFilenames, fEnableWrites));
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/tools/PictureRenderer.h b/tools/PictureRenderer.h
index 468c567b1..109073bca 100644
--- a/tools/PictureRenderer.h
+++ b/tools/PictureRenderer.h
@@ -95,6 +95,14 @@ public:
     virtual void init(SkPicture* pict, const SkString* writePath, const SkString* mismatchPath,
                       const SkString* inputFilename, bool useChecksumBasedFilenames);
 
+    /**
+     * TODO(epoger): Temporary hack, while we work on http://skbug.com/2584 ('bench_pictures is
+     * timing reading pixels and writing json files'), such that:
+     * - render_pictures can call this method and continue to work
+     * - any other callers (bench_pictures) will skip calls to write() by default
+     */
+    void enableWrites() { fEnableWrites = true; }
+
     /**
      *  Set the viewport so that only the portion listed gets drawn.
      */
@@ -345,6 +353,7 @@ public:
     PictureRenderer()
         : fJsonSummaryPtr(NULL)
         , fDeviceType(kBitmap_DeviceType)
+        , fEnableWrites(false)
         , fBBoxHierarchyType(kNone_BBoxHierarchyType)
         , fScaleFactor(SK_Scalar1)
 #if SK_SUPPORT_GPU
@@ -371,6 +380,7 @@ protected:
     bool                   fUseChecksumBasedFilenames;
     ImageResultsAndExpectations*   fJsonSummaryPtr;
     SkDeviceTypes          fDeviceType;
+    bool                   fEnableWrites;
     BBoxHierarchyType      fBBoxHierarchyType;
     DrawFilterFlags        fDrawFilters[SkDrawFilter::kTypeCount];
     SkString               fDrawFiltersConfig;
diff --git a/tools/render_pictures_main.cpp b/tools/render_pictures_main.cpp
index cbbca7ab2..e054acf67 100644
--- a/tools/render_pictures_main.cpp
+++ b/tools/render_pictures_main.cpp
@@ -206,6 +206,7 @@ static bool render_picture_internal(const SkString& inputPath, const SkString* w
     }
 
     renderer.setup();
+    renderer.enableWrites();
 
     bool success = renderer.render(out);
     if (!success) {