diff --git a/src/QueryCache.zig b/src/QueryCache.zig
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..21870c8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/QueryCache.zig
@@ -0,0 +1,125 @@
+const std = @import("std");
+const build_options = @import("build_options");
+
+const treez = if (build_options.use_tree_sitter)
+    @import("treez")
+else
+    @import("treez_dummy.zig");
+
+const Self = @This();
+
+pub const FileType = @import("file_type.zig");
+const Query = treez.Query;
+
+allocator: std.mem.Allocator,
+mutex: ?std.Thread.Mutex,
+highlights: std.StringHashMapUnmanaged(*Query) = .{},
+injections: std.StringHashMapUnmanaged(*Query) = .{},
+ref_count: usize = 1,
+
+pub const QueryType = enum {
+    highlights,
+    injections,
+};
+
+pub const QueryParseError = error{
+    InvalidSyntax,
+    InvalidNodeType,
+    InvalidField,
+    InvalidCapture,
+    InvalidStructure,
+    InvalidLanguage,
+};
+
+pub const Error = (error{
+    NotFound,
+    OutOfMemory,
+} || QueryParseError);
+
+pub fn create(allocator: std.mem.Allocator, opts: struct { lock: bool = false }) !*Self {
+    const self = try allocator.create(Self);
+    self.* = .{
+        .allocator = allocator,
+        .mutex = if (opts.lock) .{} else null,
+    };
+    return self;
+}
+
+pub fn deinit(self: *Self) void {
+    self.release_ref_unlocked_and_maybe_destroy();
+}
+
+fn add_ref_locked(self: *Self) void {
+    std.debug.assert(self.ref_count > 0);
+    self.ref_count += 1;
+}
+
+fn release_ref_unlocked_and_maybe_destroy(self: *Self) void {
+    {
+        if (self.mutex) |*mtx| mtx.lock();
+        defer if (self.mutex) |*mtx| mtx.unlock();
+        self.ref_count -= 1;
+        if (self.ref_count > 0) return;
+    }
+
+    var iter_highlights = self.highlights.iterator();
+    while (iter_highlights.next()) |p| {
+        self.allocator.free(p.key_ptr.*);
+        p.value_ptr.*.destroy();
+    }
+    var iter_injections = self.injections.iterator();
+    while (iter_injections.next()) |p| {
+        self.allocator.free(p.key_ptr.*);
+        p.value_ptr.*.destroy();
+    }
+    self.highlights.deinit(self.allocator);
+    self.injections.deinit(self.allocator);
+    self.allocator.destroy(self);
+}
+
+fn ReturnType(comptime query_type: QueryType) type {
+    return switch (query_type) {
+        .highlights => *Query,
+        .injections => ?*Query,
+    };
+}
+
+fn get_or_add_internal(self: *Self, file_type: *const FileType, comptime query_type: QueryType) Error!ReturnType(query_type) {
+    const hash = switch (query_type) {
+        .highlights => &self.highlights,
+        .injections => &self.injections,
+    };
+
+    return if (hash.get(file_type.name)) |query| query else blk: {
+        const lang = file_type.lang_fn() orelse std.debug.panic("tree-sitter parser function failed for language: {s}", .{file_type.name});
+        const query = try Query.create(lang, switch (query_type) {
+            .highlights => file_type.highlights,
+            .injections => if (file_type.injections) |injections| injections else return null,
+        });
+        errdefer query.destroy();
+        try hash.put(self.allocator, try self.allocator.dupe(u8, file_type.name), query);
+        break :blk query;
+    };
+}
+
+pub fn pre_load(self: *Self, lang_name: []const u8) Error!void {
+    if (self.mutex) |*mtx| mtx.lock();
+    defer if (self.mutex) |*mtx| mtx.unlock();
+    const file_type = FileType.get_by_name(lang_name) orelse return;
+    _ = try self.get_or_add_internal(file_type, .highlights);
+    _ = try self.get_or_add_internal(file_type, .injections);
+}
+
+pub fn get(self: *Self, file_type: *const FileType, comptime query_type: QueryType) Error!ReturnType(query_type) {
+    if (self.mutex) |*mtx| mtx.lock();
+    defer if (self.mutex) |*mtx| mtx.unlock();
+    const query = try self.get_or_add_internal(file_type, query_type);
+    self.add_ref_locked();
+    return query;
+}
+
+pub fn release(self: *Self, query: *Query, comptime query_type: QueryType) void {
+    _ = query;
+    _ = query_type;
+    self.release_ref_unlocked_and_maybe_destroy();
+}
diff --git a/src/syntax.zig b/src/syntax.zig
index b88362a..20f9b8e 100644
--- a/src/syntax.zig
+++ b/src/syntax.zig
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ const Self = @This();
 
 pub const Edit = treez.InputEdit;
 pub const FileType = @import("file_type.zig");
+pub const QueryCache = @import("QueryCache.zig");
 pub const Range = treez.Range;
 pub const Point = treez.Point;
 const Input = treez.Input;
@@ -26,34 +27,37 @@ query: *Query,
 injections: ?*Query,
 tree: ?*treez.Tree = null,
 
-pub fn create(file_type: *const FileType, allocator: std.mem.Allocator) !*Self {
+pub fn create(file_type: *const FileType, allocator: std.mem.Allocator, query_cache: *QueryCache) !*Self {
+    const query = try query_cache.get(file_type, .highlights);
+    const injections = try query_cache.get(file_type, .injections);
     const self = try allocator.create(Self);
     self.* = .{
         .allocator = allocator,
         .lang = file_type.lang_fn() orelse std.debug.panic("tree-sitter parser function failed for language: {s}", .{file_type.name}),
         .file_type = file_type,
         .parser = try Parser.create(),
-        .query = try Query.create(self.lang, file_type.highlights),
-        .injections = if (file_type.injections) |injections| try Query.create(self.lang, injections) else null,
+        .query = query,
+        .injections = injections,
     };
-    errdefer self.destroy();
+    errdefer self.destroy(query_cache);
     try self.parser.setLanguage(self.lang);
     return self;
 }
 
-pub fn create_file_type(allocator: std.mem.Allocator, lang_name: []const u8) !*Self {
+pub fn create_file_type(allocator: std.mem.Allocator, lang_name: []const u8, query_cache: *QueryCache) !*Self {
     const file_type = FileType.get_by_name(lang_name) orelse return error.NotFound;
-    return create(file_type, allocator);
+    return create(file_type, allocator, query_cache);
 }
 
-pub fn create_guess_file_type(allocator: std.mem.Allocator, content: []const u8, file_path: ?[]const u8) !*Self {
+pub fn create_guess_file_type(allocator: std.mem.Allocator, content: []const u8, file_path: ?[]const u8, query_cache: *QueryCache) !*Self {
     const file_type = FileType.guess(file_path, content) orelse return error.NotFound;
-    return create(file_type, allocator);
+    return create(file_type, allocator, query_cache);
 }
 
-pub fn destroy(self: *Self) void {
+pub fn destroy(self: *Self, query_cache: *QueryCache) void {
     if (self.tree) |tree| tree.destroy();
-    self.query.destroy();
+    query_cache.release(self.query, .highlights);
+    if (self.injections) |injections| query_cache.release(injections, .injections);
     self.parser.destroy();
     self.allocator.destroy(self);
 }