diff --git a/benchmark/benchmark_helper.rb b/benchmark/benchmark_helper.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4704afc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/benchmark/benchmark_helper.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+require 'benchmark'
+require 'benchmark/ips'
+
+require_relative '../lib/oga'
+
+##
+# Reads a big XML file and returns it as a String.
+#
+# @return [String]
+#
+def read_big_xml
+  return File.read(File.expand_path('../fixtures/big.xml', __FILE__))
+end
+
+##
+# Reads a normal sized HTML fixture.
+#
+# @return [String]
+#
+def read_html
+  return File.read(File.expand_path('../fixtures/gist.html', __FILE__))
+end
diff --git a/benchmark/lexer/big_xml_average.rb b/benchmark/lexer/big_xml_average.rb
index 4b1360b..c9edbbe 100644
--- a/benchmark/lexer/big_xml_average.rb
+++ b/benchmark/lexer/big_xml_average.rb
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
-require_relative '../../lib/oga'
-require 'benchmark'
+require_relative '../benchmark_helper'
 
-xml     = File.read(File.expand_path('../../fixtures/big.xml', __FILE__))
+xml     = read_big_xml
 amount  = 10
 timings = []
 
diff --git a/benchmark/lexer/big_xml_time.rb b/benchmark/lexer/big_xml_time.rb
index 18c3e97..3a20745 100644
--- a/benchmark/lexer/big_xml_time.rb
+++ b/benchmark/lexer/big_xml_time.rb
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
-require_relative '../../lib/oga'
-require 'benchmark'
+require_relative '../benchmark_helper'
 
-xml = File.read(File.expand_path('../../fixtures/big.xml', __FILE__))
+xml = read_big_xml
 
 Benchmark.bmbm(10) do |bench|
   bench.report '10MB of XML' do
diff --git a/benchmark/lexer/cdata.rb b/benchmark/lexer/cdata.rb
index 6235a08..e1bed6a 100644
--- a/benchmark/lexer/cdata.rb
+++ b/benchmark/lexer/cdata.rb
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
-require_relative '../../lib/oga'
-require 'benchmark/ips'
+require_relative '../benchmark_helper'
 
 string = 'Hello, how are you doing today?'
 small  = "<![CDATA[#{string}]]>"
diff --git a/benchmark/lexer/element.rb b/benchmark/lexer/element.rb
index 32007a7..379544c 100644
--- a/benchmark/lexer/element.rb
+++ b/benchmark/lexer/element.rb
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
-require_relative '../../lib/oga'
-require 'benchmark/ips'
+require_relative '../benchmark_helper'
 
 simple     = '<p>Hello world</p>'
 attributes = '<p class="foo">Hello world</p>'
diff --git a/benchmark/lexer/html.rb b/benchmark/lexer/html.rb
index 0d428c2..ba921f8 100644
--- a/benchmark/lexer/html.rb
+++ b/benchmark/lexer/html.rb
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
-require_relative '../../lib/oga'
-require 'benchmark/ips'
+require_relative '../benchmark_helper'
 
-html = File.read(File.expand_path('../../fixtures/gist.html', __FILE__))
+html = read_html
 
 Benchmark.ips do |bench|
   bench.report 'lex HTML' do
diff --git a/benchmark/lexer/html_time.rb b/benchmark/lexer/html_time.rb
index 32516c5..fed6df9 100644
--- a/benchmark/lexer/html_time.rb
+++ b/benchmark/lexer/html_time.rb
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
-require_relative '../../lib/oga'
-require 'benchmark'
+require_relative '../benchmark_helper'
 
-html = File.read(File.expand_path('../../fixtures/gist.html', __FILE__))
+html = read_html
 
 Benchmark.bmbm(20) do |bench|
   bench.report 'lex HTML' do
diff --git a/benchmark/lexer/line_rate.rb b/benchmark/lexer/line_rate.rb
index 6dcf4e2..fe35eeb 100644
--- a/benchmark/lexer/line_rate.rb
+++ b/benchmark/lexer/line_rate.rb
@@ -1,14 +1,6 @@
-require_relative '../../lib/oga'
-require 'benchmark'
+require_relative '../benchmark_helper'
 
-fixture = File.expand_path('../../fixtures/big.xml', __FILE__)
-
-unless File.file?(fixture)
-  system('rake fixtures')
-  puts
-end
-
-xml     = File.read(fixture)
+xml     = read_big_xml
 lines   = xml.lines.count
 lexer   = Oga::XML::Lexer.new(xml)
 timings = Benchmark.bm(20) do |bench|
diff --git a/benchmark/parser/big_xml_time.rb b/benchmark/parser/big_xml_time.rb
index 1c19b37..0a68008 100644
--- a/benchmark/parser/big_xml_time.rb
+++ b/benchmark/parser/big_xml_time.rb
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
-require_relative '../../lib/oga'
-require 'benchmark'
+require_relative '../benchmark_helper'
 
-xml    = File.read(File.expand_path('../../fixtures/big.xml', __FILE__))
+xml    = read_big_xml
 parser = Oga::XML::Parser.new(xml)
 
 Benchmark.bmbm(10) do |bench|
diff --git a/benchmark/parser/element.rb b/benchmark/parser/element.rb
index 44ecddd..9bb452e 100644
--- a/benchmark/parser/element.rb
+++ b/benchmark/parser/element.rb
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
-require_relative '../../lib/oga'
-require 'benchmark/ips'
+require_relative '../benchmark_helper'
 
 simple     = '<p>Hello world</p>'
 attributes = '<p class="foo">Hello world</p>'
diff --git a/benchmark/parser/html.rb b/benchmark/parser/html.rb
index 634c479..e68a8de 100644
--- a/benchmark/parser/html.rb
+++ b/benchmark/parser/html.rb
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
-require_relative '../../lib/oga'
-require 'benchmark/ips'
+require_relative '../benchmark_helper'
 
-html = File.read(File.expand_path('../../fixtures/gist.html', __FILE__))
+html = read_html
 
 Benchmark.ips do |bench|
   bench.report 'parse HTML' do
diff --git a/benchmark/pull_parser/big_xml_time.rb b/benchmark/pull_parser/big_xml_time.rb
index 7d79424..bbbeff2 100644
--- a/benchmark/pull_parser/big_xml_time.rb
+++ b/benchmark/pull_parser/big_xml_time.rb
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
-require_relative '../../lib/oga'
-require 'benchmark'
+require_relative '../benchmark_helper'
 
-xml    = File.read(File.expand_path('../../fixtures/big.xml', __FILE__))
+xml    = read_big_xml
 parser = Oga::XML::PullParser.new(xml)
 
 Benchmark.bmbm(10) do |bench|