diff --git a/.env.example b/.env.example
index 1ca8f9658dbef..a90402036839c 100644
--- a/.env.example
+++ b/.env.example
@@ -45,6 +45,16 @@ LOCAL_PHP_XDEBUG_MODE=develop,debug
 # Whether or not to enable Memcached.
 LOCAL_PHP_MEMCACHED=false
 
+##
+# Whether or not to enable PCOV.
+#
+# PCOV is not interoperable with Xdebug. To use PCOV, `LOCAL_PHP_XDEBUG` must be
+# set to `false`. When both are enabled, Xdebug is used and PCOV is disabled.
+#
+# PCOV is only available for PHP 7.4 and higher.
+##
+LOCAL_PHP_PCOV=false
+
 ##
 # The database software to use.
 #
diff --git a/.github/workflows/reusable-phpunit-tests-v3.yml b/.github/workflows/reusable-phpunit-tests-v3.yml
index 1e1c85ad0a453..01dd82e983940 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/reusable-phpunit-tests-v3.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/reusable-phpunit-tests-v3.yml
@@ -114,6 +114,7 @@ env:
   LOCAL_PHP: ${{ inputs.php }}-fpm
   LOCAL_PHP_XDEBUG: false
   LOCAL_PHP_XDEBUG_MODE: 'develop,debug'
+  LOCAL_PHP_PCOV: ${{ inputs.coverage-report }}
   LOCAL_DB_TYPE: ${{ inputs.db-type }}
   LOCAL_DB_VERSION: ${{ inputs.db-version }}
   LOCAL_PHP_MEMCACHED: ${{ inputs.memcached }}
@@ -292,31 +293,6 @@ jobs:
       - name: Install WordPress
         run: npm run env:install
 
-      # Installs PCOV as the code coverage driver for the PHPUnit run below.
-      #
-      # The INI directives tune PCOV for WordPress's codebase:
-      # - `pcov.enabled` keeps the Zend hooks active (this is the default, but
-      #   stated explicitly for clarity).
-      # - `pcov.directory` restricts instrumentation to `src/`, so PCOV does not
-      #   record hits for `vendor/`, `tests/`, or WordPress test fixtures that
-      #   PHPUnit would discard at report time anyway.
-      # - `pcov.initial.files` pre-sizes the internal file tracking array for
-      #   the thousands of files under `src/`, avoiding reallocation churn
-      #   during test warmup. The default of 64 is far too low here.
-      - name: Install PCOV coverage driver
-        if: ${{ inputs.coverage-report }}
-        run: |
-          docker compose exec -T -u 0 php sh -c '
-            pecl install --force pcov-1.0.12 &&
-            docker-php-ext-enable pcov &&
-            {
-              echo "pcov.enabled=1"
-              echo "pcov.directory=/var/www/src"
-              echo "pcov.initial.files=10000"
-            } >> /usr/local/etc/php/conf.d/docker-php-ext-pcov.ini &&
-            php -m | grep -i pcov
-          '
-
       - name: Run external HTTP tests
         if: ${{ ! inputs.multisite && ! inputs.phpunit-test-groups && ! inputs.coverage-report }}
         continue-on-error: ${{ inputs.allow-errors }}
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 637e24359f034..0f41da84643bd 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -146,7 +146,9 @@ npm run test:coverage
 
 The command will generate three coverage reports in HTML, PHP, and text formats, saving them in the `coverage` folder.
 
-**Note:** xDebug is required to generate a code coverage report, which can slow down PHPUnit significantly. Passing selection-based options such as `--group` or `--filter` can decrease the overall time required but will result in an incomplete report.
+**Note:** A code coverage driver is required to generate a code coverage report. By default, xDebug is used, which can slow down PHPUnit significantly. PCOV is a faster alternative that is available for PHP 7.4 and higher. To use it, set `LOCAL_PHP_PCOV` to `true` and `LOCAL_PHP_XDEBUG` to `false` in your `.env` file.
+
+Passing selection-based options such as `--group` or `--filter` can decrease the overall time required but will result in an incomplete report.
 
 #### To restart the development environment
 
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index 61a123f7427c7..62bce43174293 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@ services:
     environment:
       LOCAL_PHP_XDEBUG: ${LOCAL_PHP_XDEBUG-false}
       XDEBUG_MODE: ${LOCAL_PHP_XDEBUG_MODE-develop,debug}
+      LOCAL_PHP_PCOV: ${LOCAL_PHP_PCOV-false}
       LOCAL_PHP_MEMCACHED: ${LOCAL_PHP_MEMCACHED-false}
       PHP_FPM_UID: ${PHP_FPM_UID-1000}
       PHP_FPM_GID: ${PHP_FPM_GID-1000}
@@ -118,6 +119,7 @@ services:
 
     environment:
       LOCAL_PHP_XDEBUG: ${LOCAL_PHP_XDEBUG-false}
+      LOCAL_PHP_PCOV: ${LOCAL_PHP_PCOV-false}
       LOCAL_PHP_MEMCACHED: ${LOCAL_PHP_MEMCACHED-false}
       PHP_FPM_UID: ${PHP_FPM_UID-1000}
       PHP_FPM_GID: ${PHP_FPM_GID-1000}
diff --git a/tools/local-env/php-config.ini b/tools/local-env/php-config.ini
index 6f98802e5c68a..c01d94af40aa2 100644
--- a/tools/local-env/php-config.ini
+++ b/tools/local-env/php-config.ini
@@ -5,3 +5,8 @@ post_max_size = 1G
 xdebug.start_with_request=trigger
 xdebug.discover_client_host=true
 xdebug.client_host=host.docker.internal
+
+; Pre-sizes PCOV's internal file tables (default: 64) to more than the number
+; of PHP files loaded during a test run, including test and vendor files.
+; This avoids repeatedly resizing the tables as files are loaded.
+pcov.initial.files=10000
diff --git a/tools/local-env/scripts/docker.js b/tools/local-env/scripts/docker.js
index a6b0f4e0af38e..0ef6d469d19d6 100644
--- a/tools/local-env/scripts/docker.js
+++ b/tools/local-env/scripts/docker.js
@@ -8,7 +8,11 @@ local_env_utils.ensure_env_file();
 
 dotenvExpand.expand( dotenv.config() );
 
-if ( process.argv.includes( '--coverage-html' ) ) {
+// Use Xdebug to generate HTML code coverage reports, unless PCOV is enabled and Xdebug is not.
+if (
+	process.argv.includes( '--coverage-html' ) &&
+	( process.env.LOCAL_PHP_PCOV !== 'true' || process.env.LOCAL_PHP_XDEBUG === 'true' )
+) {
 	process.env.LOCAL_PHP_XDEBUG = 'true';
 	process.env.LOCAL_PHP_XDEBUG_MODE = 'coverage';
 }