diff --git a/bench_test.go b/bench_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e971268
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bench_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+package quicktest_test
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+
+	qt "github.com/frankban/quicktest"
+)
+
+func BenchmarkCNewAndRunWithCustomType(b *testing.B) {
+	for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ {
+		c := qt.New(customTForBenchmark{})
+		c.Run("test", func(c *qt.C) {})
+	}
+}
+
+func BenchmarkCRunWithCustomType(b *testing.B) {
+	c := qt.New(customTForBenchmark{})
+	for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ {
+		c.Run("test", func(c *qt.C) {})
+	}
+}
+
+type customTForBenchmark struct {
+	testing.TB
+}
+
+func (customTForBenchmark) Run(name string, f func(testing.TB)) bool {
+	return true
+}
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index d5ba542..21f2cd5 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -5,4 +5,12 @@ require (
 	github.com/kr/pretty v0.3.1
 )
 
-go 1.13
+require (
+	github.com/kr/text v0.2.0 // indirect
+	github.com/rogpeppe/go-internal v1.9.0 // indirect
+)
+
+// We do actually support go 1.14, but until go 1.21
+// we can't have any generics code even if guarded
+// by a build tag.
+go 1.18
diff --git a/quicktest.go b/quicktest.go
index 65243cf..e944435 100644
--- a/quicktest.go
+++ b/quicktest.go
@@ -243,6 +243,10 @@ var (
 // A panic is raised when Run is called and the embedded concrete type does not
 // implement a Run method with a correct signature.
 func (c *C) Run(name string, f func(c *C)) bool {
+	r, ok := fastRun(c, name, f)
+	if ok {
+		return r
+	}
 	badType := func(m string) {
 		panic(fmt.Sprintf("cannot execute Run with underlying concrete type %T (%s)", c.TB, m))
 	}
diff --git a/run_go1.18.go b/run_go1.18.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..76cab73
--- /dev/null
+++ b/run_go1.18.go
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+// Licensed under the MIT license, see LICENSE file for details.
+
+//go:build go1.18
+// +build go1.18
+
+package quicktest
+
+import "testing"
+
+// fastRun implements c.Run for some known types.
+// It returns the result of calling c.Run and also reports
+// whether it was able to do so.
+func fastRun(c *C, name string, f func(c *C)) (bool, bool) {
+	switch t := c.TB.(type) {
+	case runner[*testing.T]:
+		return fastRun1(c, name, f, t), true
+	case runner[*testing.B]:
+		return fastRun1(c, name, f, t), true
+	case runner[*C]:
+		return fastRun1(c, name, f, t), true
+	case runner[testing.TB]:
+		// This case is here mostly for benchmarking, because
+		// it's hard to create a working concrete instance of *testing.T
+		// that isn't part of the outer tests.
+		return fastRun1(c, name, f, t), true
+	}
+	return false, false
+}
+
+type runner[T any] interface {
+	Run(name string, f func(T)) bool
+}
+
+func fastRun1[T testing.TB](c *C, name string, f func(*C), t runner[T]) bool {
+	return t.Run(name, func(t2 T) {
+		c2 := New(t2)
+		defer c2.Done()
+		c2.SetFormat(c.getFormat())
+		f(c2)
+	})
+}
diff --git a/run_go1.18_test.go b/run_go1.18_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..847e87a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/run_go1.18_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+// Licensed under the MIT license, see LICENSE file for details.
+
+//go:build go1.18
+// +build go1.18
+
+package quicktest_test
+
+import (
+	"reflect"
+	"testing"
+
+	qt "github.com/frankban/quicktest"
+)
+
+type customT2[T testing.TB] struct {
+	testing.TB
+}
+
+func (t *customT2[T]) Run(name string, f func(T)) bool {
+	f(*new(T))
+	return true
+}
+
+func (t *customT2[T]) rtype() reflect.Type {
+	return reflect.TypeOf((*T)(nil)).Elem()
+}
+
+type otherTB struct {
+	testing.TB
+}
+
+func TestCRunCustomTypeWithNonMatchingRunSignature(t *testing.T) {
+	// Note: this test runs only on >=go1.18 because there isn't any
+	// code that specializes on this types that's enabled on versions before that.
+	tests := []interface {
+		testing.TB
+		rtype() reflect.Type
+	}{
+		&customT2[*testing.T]{},
+		&customT2[*testing.B]{},
+		&customT2[*qt.C]{},
+		&customT2[testing.TB]{},
+		&customT2[otherTB]{},
+	}
+	for _, test := range tests {
+		t.Run(test.rtype().String(), func(t *testing.T) {
+			c := qt.New(test)
+			called := 0
+			c.Run("test", func(c *qt.C) {
+				called++
+				if test.rtype().Kind() != reflect.Interface && reflect.TypeOf(c.TB) != test.rtype() {
+					t.Errorf("TB isn't expected type (want %v got %T)", test.rtype(), c.TB)
+				}
+			})
+			if got, want := called, 1; got != want {
+				t.Errorf("subtest was called %d times, not once", called)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}
diff --git a/run_legacy.go b/run_legacy.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d4eddfd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/run_legacy.go
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+// Licensed under the MIT license, see LICENSE file for details.
+
+//go:build !go1.18
+// +build !go1.18
+
+package quicktest
+
+func fastRun(c *C, name string, f func(c *C)) (bool, bool) {
+	return false, false
+}