diff --git a/examples/app/utils_mfem.hpp b/examples/app/utils_mfem.hpp
index 91f15e6b..cf4b41f6 100644
--- a/examples/app/utils_mfem.hpp
+++ b/examples/app/utils_mfem.hpp
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ using dt3 = mfem::DeviceTensor<3, T>;
 
 
 template <typename Tin, typename Tout>
-PERFFASPECT()
+__attribute__((annotate("@critical_path(pointcut='around')")))
 static inline void pack_ij(const int k,
                            const int sz_i,
                            const int sz_sparse_j,
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ static inline void pack_ij(const int k,
 }
 
 template <typename Tin, typename Tout>
-PERFFASPECT()
+__attribute__((annotate("@critical_path(pointcut='around')")))
 static inline void unpack_ij(const int k,
                              const int sz_i,
                              const int sz_sparse_j,