diff --git a/airbyte/_connector_base.py b/airbyte/_connector_base.py
index 2007cbfa5..8d7dbc00a 100644
--- a/airbyte/_connector_base.py
+++ b/airbyte/_connector_base.py
@@ -401,14 +401,32 @@ def _execute(
         # Fail early if the connector is not installed.
         self.executor.ensure_installation(auto_fix=False)
 
+        # When calculating MB read, we need to account for the envelope size.
+        # Note our priority is to keep performance up, while providing at least rough
+        # alignment with comparable metrics in Airbyte Cloud.
+        envelope_size = len(
+            json.dumps(
+                {
+                    "type": "RECORD",
+                    "record": {
+                        "stream": "",
+                        "data": {},
+                        "emitted_at": 1234567890,
+                        # "namespace": "",  # We're knowingly omitting this to keep perf impact low.
+                    },
+                }
+            )
+        )
+
         try:
             for line in self.executor.execute(args, stdin=stdin):
                 try:
                     message: AirbyteMessage = AirbyteMessage.model_validate_json(json_data=line)
                     if progress_tracker and message.record:
+                        stream_name = message.record.stream
                         progress_tracker.tally_bytes_read(
-                            len(line),
-                            stream_name=message.record.stream,
+                            bytes_read=len(line) - envelope_size - len(stream_name),
+                            stream_name=stream_name,
                         )
                     self._peek_airbyte_message(message)
                     yield message