diff --git a/db.go b/db.go
index d78062e5..0b8067bb 100644
--- a/db.go
+++ b/db.go
@@ -93,6 +93,13 @@ type DbMap struct {
 	tablesDynamic map[string]*TableMap // tables that use same go-struct and different db table names
 	logger        GorpLogger
 	logPrefix     string
+
+	Cache Cache
+}
+
+type Cache interface {
+	Load(key interface{}) (value interface{}, ok bool)
+	Store(key, value interface{})
 }
 
 func (m *DbMap) dynamicTableAdd(tableName string, tbl *TableMap) {
diff --git a/gorp.go b/gorp.go
index fc654567..8cdcf724 100644
--- a/gorp.go
+++ b/gorp.go
@@ -256,7 +256,32 @@ func expandNamedQuery(m *DbMap, query string, keyGetter func(key string) reflect
 	}), args
 }
 
+type fieldCacheKey struct {
+	t    reflect.Type
+	name string
+	cols string
+}
+
+type fieldCacheEntry struct {
+	mapping [][]int
+	err     error
+}
+
 func columnToFieldIndex(m *DbMap, t reflect.Type, name string, cols []string) ([][]int, error) {
+	var ck fieldCacheKey
+	var err error
+	if m.Cache != nil {
+		ck.t = t
+		ck.name = name
+		ck.cols = strings.Join(cols, ",")
+
+		rv, ok := m.Cache.Load(ck)
+		if ok {
+			entry := rv.(*fieldCacheEntry)
+			return entry.mapping, entry.err
+		}
+	}
+
 	colToFieldIndex := make([][]int, len(cols))
 
 	// check if type t is a mapped table - if so we'll
@@ -298,13 +323,22 @@ func columnToFieldIndex(m *DbMap, t reflect.Type, name string, cols []string) ([
 			missingColNames = append(missingColNames, colName)
 		}
 	}
+
 	if len(missingColNames) > 0 {
-		return colToFieldIndex, &NoFieldInTypeError{
+		err = &NoFieldInTypeError{
 			TypeName:        t.Name(),
 			MissingColNames: missingColNames,
 		}
 	}
-	return colToFieldIndex, nil
+
+	if m.Cache != nil {
+		entry := &fieldCacheEntry{
+			mapping: colToFieldIndex,
+			err:     err,
+		}
+		m.Cache.Store(ck, entry)
+	}
+	return colToFieldIndex, err
 }
 
 func fieldByName(val reflect.Value, fieldName string) *reflect.Value {
diff --git a/mapping_test.go b/mapping_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..030c14db
--- /dev/null
+++ b/mapping_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,140 @@
+package gorp
+
+import (
+	"reflect"
+	"sync"
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+)
+
+type testUser struct {
+	ID             uint64    `db:"id"`
+	Username       string    `db:"user_name"`
+	HashedPassword []byte    `db:"hashed_password"`
+	EMail          string    `db:"email"`
+	CreatedAt      time.Time `db:"created_at"`
+	UpdatedAt      time.Time `db:"updated_at"`
+}
+
+type testCoolUser struct {
+	testUser
+	IsCool      bool     `db:"is_cool"`
+	BestFriends []string `db:"best_friends"`
+}
+
+func BenchmarkColumnToFieldIndex(b *testing.B) {
+	structType := reflect.TypeOf(testUser{})
+	dbmap := &DbMap{Cache: &sync.Map{}}
+	b.ResetTimer()
+	for n := 0; n < b.N; n++ {
+		_, err := columnToFieldIndex(dbmap,
+			structType,
+			"some_table",
+			[]string{
+				"user_name",
+				"email",
+				"created_at",
+				"updated_at",
+				"id",
+			})
+		if err != nil {
+			panic(err)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+func TestColumnToFieldIndexBasic(t *testing.T) {
+	structType := reflect.TypeOf(testUser{})
+	dbmap := &DbMap{}
+	cols, err := columnToFieldIndex(dbmap,
+		structType,
+		"some_table",
+		[]string{
+			"email",
+		})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if len(cols) != 1 {
+		t.Fatal("cols should have 1 result", cols)
+	}
+	if cols[0][0] != 3 {
+		t.Fatal("cols[0][0] should map to email field in testUser", cols)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestColumnToFieldIndexSome(t *testing.T) {
+	structType := reflect.TypeOf(testUser{})
+	dbmap := &DbMap{}
+	cols, err := columnToFieldIndex(dbmap,
+		structType,
+		"some_table",
+		[]string{
+			"id",
+			"email",
+			"created_at",
+		})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if len(cols) != 3 {
+		t.Fatal("cols should have 3 results", cols)
+	}
+	if cols[0][0] != 0 {
+		t.Fatal("cols[0][0] should map to id field in testUser", cols)
+	}
+	if cols[1][0] != 3 {
+		t.Fatal("cols[1][0] should map to email field in testUser", cols)
+	}
+	if cols[2][0] != 4 {
+		t.Fatal("cols[2][0] should map to created_at field in testUser", cols)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestColumnToFieldIndexEmbedded(t *testing.T) {
+	structType := reflect.TypeOf(testCoolUser{})
+	dbmap := &DbMap{}
+	cols, err := columnToFieldIndex(dbmap,
+		structType,
+		"some_table",
+		[]string{
+			"id",
+			"email",
+			"is_cool",
+		})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if len(cols) != 3 {
+		t.Fatal("cols should have 3 results", cols)
+	}
+	if cols[0][0] != 0 && cols[0][1] != 0 {
+		t.Fatal("cols[0][0] should map to id field in testCoolUser", cols)
+	}
+	if cols[1][0] != 0 && cols[1][1] != 3 {
+		t.Fatal("cols[1][0] should map to email field in testCoolUser", cols)
+	}
+	if cols[2][0] != 1 {
+		t.Fatal("cols[2][0] should map to is_cool field in testCoolUser", cols)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestColumnToFieldIndexEmbeddedFriends(t *testing.T) {
+	structType := reflect.TypeOf(testCoolUser{})
+	dbmap := &DbMap{}
+	cols, err := columnToFieldIndex(dbmap,
+		structType,
+		"some_table",
+		[]string{
+			"best_friends",
+		})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if len(cols) != 1 {
+		t.Fatal("cols should have 1 results", cols)
+	}
+	if cols[0][0] != 2 {
+		t.Fatal("cols[0][0] should map to BestFriends field in testCoolUser", cols)
+	}
+}