diff --git a/chart/kubeapps/values.yaml b/chart/kubeapps/values.yaml
index 757ecfcd4db..6ec63be45b3 100644
--- a/chart/kubeapps/values.yaml
+++ b/chart/kubeapps/values.yaml
@@ -167,7 +167,7 @@ tillerProxy:
   resources:
     limits:
       cpu: 250m
-      memory: 128Mi
+      memory: 256Mi
     requests:
       cpu: 25m
       memory: 32Mi
diff --git a/pkg/chart/chart.go b/pkg/chart/chart.go
index 49617e42fd8..8bee5c71e1a 100644
--- a/pkg/chart/chart.go
+++ b/pkg/chart/chart.go
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ package chart
 
 import (
 	"bytes"
+	"crypto/sha256"
 	"crypto/tls"
 	"crypto/x509"
 	"encoding/json"
@@ -45,6 +46,17 @@ const (
 	defaultTimeoutSeconds = 180
 )
 
+type repoIndex struct {
+	checksum string
+	index    *repo.IndexFile
+}
+
+var repoIndexes map[string]*repoIndex
+
+func init() {
+	repoIndexes = map[string]*repoIndex{}
+}
+
 // Details contains the information to retrieve a Chart
 type Details struct {
 	// RepoURL is the URL of the repository. Defaults to stable repo.
@@ -145,6 +157,27 @@ func readResponseBody(res *http.Response) ([]byte, error) {
 	return body, nil
 }
 
+func checksum(data []byte) string {
+	hasher := sha256.New()
+	hasher.Write(data)
+	return string(hasher.Sum(nil))
+}
+
+// Cache the result of parsing the repo index since parsing this YAML
+// is an expensive operation. See https://github.com/kubeapps/kubeapps/issues/1052
+func getIndexFromCache(repoURL string, data []byte) (*repo.IndexFile, string) {
+	sha := checksum(data)
+	if repoIndexes[repoURL] == nil || repoIndexes[repoURL].checksum != sha {
+		// The repository is not in the cache or the content changed
+		return nil, sha
+	}
+	return repoIndexes[repoURL].index, sha
+}
+
+func storeIndexInCache(repoURL string, index *repo.IndexFile, sha string) {
+	repoIndexes[repoURL] = &repoIndex{sha, index}
+}
+
 func parseIndex(data []byte) (*repo.IndexFile, error) {
 	index := &repo.IndexFile{}
 	err := yaml.Unmarshal(data, index)
@@ -171,7 +204,16 @@ func fetchRepoIndex(netClient *HTTPClient, repoURL string, authHeader string) (*
 		return nil, err
 	}
 
-	return parseIndex(data)
+	index, sha := getIndexFromCache(repoURL, data)
+	if index == nil {
+		// index not found in the cache, parse it
+		index, err = parseIndex(data)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+		storeIndexInCache(repoURL, index, sha)
+	}
+	return index, nil
 }
 
 func resolveChartURL(index, chart string) (string, error) {
diff --git a/pkg/chart/chart_test.go b/pkg/chart/chart_test.go
index 61d458363e4..64731de3d32 100644
--- a/pkg/chart/chart_test.go
+++ b/pkg/chart/chart_test.go
@@ -242,3 +242,18 @@ func TestGetChartWithCustomUserAgent(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Errorf("It should return a Chart")
 	}
 }
+
+func TestGetIndexFromCache(t *testing.T) {
+	repoURL := "https://test.com"
+	data := []byte("foo")
+	index, sha := getIndexFromCache(repoURL, data)
+	if index != nil {
+		t.Error("Index should be empty since it's not in the cache yet")
+	}
+	fakeIndex := &repo.IndexFile{}
+	storeIndexInCache(repoURL, fakeIndex, sha)
+	index, _ = getIndexFromCache(repoURL, data)
+	if index != fakeIndex {
+		t.Error("It should return the stored index")
+	}
+}