diff --git a/lib/parsers/string.js b/lib/parsers/string.js
index 5523fb2c6a..47c9bfa8a0 100644
--- a/lib/parsers/string.js
+++ b/lib/parsers/string.js
@@ -1,13 +1,34 @@
 'use strict';
 
 const Iconv = require('iconv-lite');
+const LRU = require('lru-cache').default;
 
-exports.decode = function(buffer, encoding, start, end, options) {
+const decoderCache = new LRU({
+  max: 500,
+});
+
+exports.decode = function (buffer, encoding, start, end, options) {
   if (Buffer.isEncoding(encoding)) {
     return buffer.toString(encoding, start, end);
   }
 
-  const decoder = Iconv.getDecoder(encoding, options || {});
+  // Optimize for common case: encoding="short_string", options=undefined.
+  let decoder;
+  if (!options) {
+    decoder = decoderCache.get(encoding);
+    if (!decoder) {
+      decoder = Iconv.getDecoder(encoding);
+      decoderCache.set(encoding, decoder);
+    }
+  } else {
+    const decoderArgs = { encoding, options };
+    const decoderKey = JSON.stringify(decoderArgs);
+    decoder = decoderCache.get(decoderKey);
+    if (!decoder) {
+      decoder = Iconv.getDecoder(decoderArgs.encoding, decoderArgs.options);
+      decoderCache.set(decoderKey, decoder);
+    }
+  }
 
   const res = decoder.write(buffer.slice(start, end));
   const trail = decoder.end();
@@ -15,7 +36,7 @@ exports.decode = function(buffer, encoding, start, end, options) {
   return trail ? res + trail : res;
 };
 
-exports.encode = function(string, encoding, options) {
+exports.encode = function (string, encoding, options) {
   if (Buffer.isEncoding(encoding)) {
     return Buffer.from(string, encoding);
   }