diff --git a/lib/less/import-manager.js b/lib/less/import-manager.js
index 79d2f3fec..8c6460a21 100644
--- a/lib/less/import-manager.js
+++ b/lib/less/import-manager.js
@@ -109,9 +109,21 @@ module.exports = function(environment) {
             } else if (importOptions.inline) {
                 fileParsedFunc(null, contents, resolvedFilename);
             } else {
-                new Parser(newEnv, importManager, newFileInfo).parse(contents, function (e, root) {
-                    fileParsedFunc(e, root, resolvedFilename);
-                });
+                var importsCache = require('./imports-cache');
+                var entry = importsCache.get(resolvedFilename);
+                if (entry && entry.root) {
+                    fileParsedFunc(null, entry.root, resolvedFilename);
+                }
+                else {
+                    new Parser(newEnv, importManager, newFileInfo).parse(contents, function (e, root) {
+
+                        importsCache.set(resolvedFilename, {
+                            contents: contents,
+                            root: root
+                        });
+                        fileParsedFunc(e, root, resolvedFilename);
+                    });
+                }
             }
         };
 
diff --git a/lib/less/imports-cache.js b/lib/less/imports-cache.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a2773ff4f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/less/imports-cache.js
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+
+
+// When the cache is disabled, it will stay empty
+
+var cache = {};
+var enabled = false;
+
+module.exports = {
+
+    isEnabled: function() {
+       return enabled;
+    },
+    enable: function() {
+       enabled = true;
+    },
+    disable: function() {
+       enabled = false;
+       this.clean();
+    },
+    
+    set: function (key, value) {
+        if ( enabled ) {
+            cache[key] = value;
+        }
+    },
+    get: function (key) {
+        return cache[key];
+    },
+    remove: function(key) {
+        delete cache[key];
+    },
+    clean: function(key) {
+        cache = {};
+    }
+};
+
diff --git a/lib/less/index.js b/lib/less/index.js
index 2e24061e9..6b3fbdbf2 100644
--- a/lib/less/index.js
+++ b/lib/less/index.js
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ module.exports = function(environment, fileManagers) {
         ParseTree: (ParseTree = require('./parse-tree')(SourceMapBuilder)),
         ImportManager: (ImportManager = require('./import-manager')(environment)),
         render: require("./render")(environment, ParseTree, ImportManager),
+        invalidateImportsCacheFile: require("./imports-cache").remove,
         parse: require("./parse")(environment, ParseTree, ImportManager),
         LessError: require('./less-error'),
         transformTree: require('./transform-tree'),
diff --git a/lib/less/render.js b/lib/less/render.js
index 95a191dd4..8be4c4ba0 100644
--- a/lib/less/render.js
+++ b/lib/less/render.js
@@ -1,5 +1,9 @@
 var PromiseConstructor;
 
+var importsCache = require('./imports-cache');
+
+
+
 module.exports = function(environment, ParseTree, ImportManager) {
     var render = function (input, options, callback) {
         if (typeof options === 'function') {
@@ -7,6 +11,20 @@ module.exports = function(environment, ParseTree, ImportManager) {
             options = {};
         }
 
+        // importsCache can be enabled or disabled per render phase
+        if ( options.withImportsCaching ) {
+           importsCache.enable();
+           // If you invalidate cache yourself, you will have to call 
+           // less.invalidateImportsCacheFile(filePath) everytime a less file is modified
+           if ( !options.withManualImportsCachingInvalidation ) {
+               importsCache.clean();
+           } 
+        } 
+        else {
+           importsCache.disable();
+        }
+
+
         if (!callback) {
             if (!PromiseConstructor) {
                 PromiseConstructor = typeof Promise === 'undefined' ? require('promise') : Promise;