diff --git a/studio/backend/tests/test_inference_defaults_chat_template_kwargs.py b/studio/backend/tests/test_inference_defaults_chat_template_kwargs.py
index 4e54bf562d..4f8d6e2d2e 100644
--- a/studio/backend/tests/test_inference_defaults_chat_template_kwargs.py
+++ b/studio/backend/tests/test_inference_defaults_chat_template_kwargs.py
@@ -67,6 +67,30 @@ class TestLoadInferenceConfig:
         assert cfg["top_p"] == 1.0
         assert cfg["top_k"] == 0
 
+    def test_repeated_calls_reuse_cached_result(self):
+        """The passthrough request path calls ``load_inference_config``
+        on every chat-completion / Responses request. Cache the heavy
+        work (YAML reads + recursive ``rglob`` inside
+        ``_has_specific_yaml``) so the hot path doesn't pay the full
+        scan each time."""
+        from utils.inference.inference_config import (
+            _has_specific_yaml,
+            _load_inference_config_cached,
+        )
+
+        _load_inference_config_cached.cache_clear()
+        _has_specific_yaml.cache_clear()
+
+        ident = "unsloth/gpt-oss-120b-GGUF"
+        load_inference_config(ident)
+        load_inference_config(ident)
+        load_inference_config(ident)
+
+        # Three calls, one underlying miss; the rest served from cache.
+        info = _load_inference_config_cached.cache_info()
+        assert info.misses == 1, info
+        assert info.hits >= 2, info
+
 
 class TestTemperatureBumps:
     def test_devstral_temperature_lowered_to_card_value(self):
diff --git a/studio/backend/utils/inference/inference_config.py b/studio/backend/utils/inference/inference_config.py
index 5e01f405df..23e0a849ec 100644
--- a/studio/backend/utils/inference/inference_config.py
+++ b/studio/backend/utils/inference/inference_config.py
@@ -9,6 +9,8 @@ from model YAML configuration files, with fallback to default.yaml.
 Includes family-based lookup from inference_defaults.json for GGUF models.
 """
 
+from copy import deepcopy
+from functools import lru_cache
 from pathlib import Path
 from typing import Dict, Any, Optional
 import json
@@ -83,8 +85,16 @@ def get_family_inference_params(model_id: str) -> Dict[str, Any]:
     return {}
 
 
+@lru_cache(maxsize = 256)
 def _has_specific_yaml(model_identifier: str) -> bool:
-    """Check if a model has its own YAML config (not just default.yaml)."""
+    """Check if a model has its own YAML config (not just default.yaml).
+
+    Cached because the lookup walks ``defaults_dir`` recursively via
+    ``rglob`` on every miss, and every chat-completion / Responses
+    passthrough request asks the same question for the same loaded
+    model. The defaults directory is shipped with the package and does
+    not mutate at runtime, so an LRU cache is safe.
+    """
     from utils.models.model_config import _REVERSE_MODEL_MAPPING
 
     script_dir = Path(__file__).parent.parent.parent
@@ -144,6 +154,17 @@ def load_inference_config(model_identifier: str) -> Dict[str, Any]:
             "min_p": float
         }
     """
+    # The heavy work (YAML reads + recursive scan inside
+    # `_has_specific_yaml`) is memoised on the model identifier; this
+    # function is called from the hot path of every passthrough
+    # request. Callers are documented to treat the returned dict as
+    # immutable, but tests historically mutate it — so deepcopy the
+    # snapshot before returning to preserve that contract.
+    return deepcopy(_load_inference_config_cached(model_identifier))
+
+
+@lru_cache(maxsize = 256)
+def _load_inference_config_cached(model_identifier: str) -> Dict[str, Any]:
     # Load model defaults to get inference parameters
     model_defaults = load_model_defaults(model_identifier)