Setting text units in R2014b very slow.

When I run an old code on R2012b it takes just a second to render a complex figure. When I run the same code it takes 48 seconds. Using the profiler I tracked the problem down to the set line below:

for k = 1:50
  h = text(1200*rand,1200*rand,'my text'); 
  set(h,'units','pixels') 
end

Why is it taking so long to change text object units in R2014b? Is there a way to speed this up?