diff --git a/markitdown_mcp/server.py b/markitdown_mcp/server.py
index 416c726..574f71d 100644
--- a/markitdown_mcp/server.py
+++ b/markitdown_mcp/server.py
@@ -538,7 +538,6 @@ def safe_convert_with_limits(markitdown_instance: MarkItDown, file_path: str) ->
                 Path(sanitized_file_path).unlink(missing_ok=True)
 
 
-@normalize_timing
 def validate_and_sanitize_path(
     file_path: str, allowed_dirs: list[str] | None = None
 ) -> tuple[Path, bool]:
diff --git a/tests/unit/test_additional_coverage.py b/tests/unit/test_additional_coverage.py
index a0bf03b..7d6a6ec 100644
--- a/tests/unit/test_additional_coverage.py
+++ b/tests/unit/test_additional_coverage.py
@@ -12,16 +12,17 @@
 
 from markitdown_mcp.server import (
     MarkItDownMCPServer,
-    MCPRequest,
     SecurityError,
-    validate_xml_security,
-    validate_json_security,
     extract_text_from_binary,
+    normalize_timing,
+    safe_convert_with_limits,
     sanitize_unicode_text,
-    with_timeout,
+    secure_compare,
     validate_base64,
-    safe_convert_with_limits,
     validate_file_content_security,
+    validate_json_security,
+    validate_xml_security,
+    with_timeout,
 )
 
 
@@ -201,6 +202,35 @@ def operation():
         result = operation()
         assert result == "no timeout"
 
+    def test_secure_compare(self):
+        """Test constant-time comparison helper."""
+        assert secure_compare("same", "same") is True
+        assert secure_compare("same", "different") is False
+
+    def test_normalize_timing_success(self):
+        """Test timing normalization decorator returns successful results."""
+        @normalize_timing
+        def operation():
+            return "normalized"
+
+        start_time = time.time()
+        result = operation()
+
+        assert result == "normalized"
+        assert time.time() - start_time >= 0.05
+
+    def test_normalize_timing_exception(self):
+        """Test timing normalization decorator re-raises exceptions."""
+        @normalize_timing
+        def operation():
+            raise ValueError("normalized error")
+
+        start_time = time.time()
+        with pytest.raises(ValueError, match="normalized error"):
+            operation()
+
+        assert time.time() - start_time >= 0.05
+
     def test_validate_base64_valid(self):
         """Test base64 validation with valid data."""
         import base64
@@ -320,4 +350,4 @@ def test_validate_file_content_security_other(self):
             result = validate_file_content_security(temp_path)
             assert result == temp_path  # Should return original for non-special files
         finally:
-            Path(temp_path).unlink(missing_ok=True)
\ No newline at end of file
+            Path(temp_path).unlink(missing_ok=True)