diff --git a/lib/chef-cli/cookbook_profiler/git.rb b/lib/chef-cli/cookbook_profiler/git.rb
index ba0a52f2..449fea9a 100644
--- a/lib/chef-cli/cookbook_profiler/git.rb
+++ b/lib/chef-cli/cookbook_profiler/git.rb
@@ -23,10 +23,17 @@ class Git
 
       include Helpers
 
+      @@git_memo = {}
+
       attr_reader :cookbook_path
 
+      def self.uncache
+        @@git_memo = {}
+      end
+
       def initialize(cookbook_path)
         @cookbook_path = cookbook_path
+        @repo_path = nil
         @unborn_branch = nil
         @unborn_branch_ref = nil
       end
@@ -111,8 +118,24 @@ def git!(subcommand, options = {})
       end
 
       def git(subcommand, options = {})
-        options = { cwd: cookbook_path }.merge(options)
-        system_command("git #{subcommand}", options)
+        # memoize commands per-repo
+        repo_path = get_repo_path
+        memo_key = [repo_path, subcommand, options]
+        if @@git_memo.key?(memo_key)
+          rv = @@git_memo[memo_key]
+        else
+          options = { cwd: cookbook_path }.merge(options)
+          rv = system_command("git #{subcommand}", options)
+          @@git_memo[memo_key] = rv
+        end
+        rv
+      end
+
+      def get_repo_path
+        unless @repo_path
+          @repo_path = system_command("git rev-parse --show-toplevel", { cwd: cookbook_path }).stdout.strip
+        end
+        @repo_path
       end
 
       def detect_current_branch
diff --git a/spec/unit/cookbook_profiler/git_spec.rb b/spec/unit/cookbook_profiler/git_spec.rb
index 1a45f6b3..9a960b00 100644
--- a/spec/unit/cookbook_profiler/git_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/unit/cookbook_profiler/git_spec.rb
@@ -25,7 +25,8 @@
 
   include ChefCLI::Helpers
 
-  let(:git_profiler) do
+  let!(:git_profiler) do
+    ChefCLI::CookbookProfiler::Git.uncache
     ChefCLI::CookbookProfiler::Git.new(cookbook_path)
   end
 
diff --git a/spec/unit/policyfile_lock_build_spec.rb b/spec/unit/policyfile_lock_build_spec.rb
index cd008ee8..a500cb6e 100644
--- a/spec/unit/policyfile_lock_build_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/unit/policyfile_lock_build_spec.rb
@@ -50,6 +50,10 @@ def expect_hash_equal(actual, expected)
     ChefCLI::Policyfile::StorageConfig.new( cache_path: cache_path, relative_paths_root: relative_paths_root )
   end
 
+  let!(:git_memo) do
+    ChefCLI::CookbookProfiler::Git.uncache
+  end
+
   context "when a cached cookbook omits the cache key" do
 
     let(:policyfile_lock) do