diff --git a/src/nimblepkg/declarativeparser.nim b/src/nimblepkg/declarativeparser.nim
index 13ea08956..267f268bb 100644
--- a/src/nimblepkg/declarativeparser.nim
+++ b/src/nimblepkg/declarativeparser.nim
@@ -683,6 +683,10 @@ proc toRequiresInfo*(pkgInfo: PackageInfo, options: Options, nimBin: Option[stri
     display("Warning", msg, Warning, HighPriority)
     raise newNimbleError[BabelPackageError](msg)
 
+  # Skip re-parsing installed packages that have cached requires in metadata
+  if pkgInfo.source == psInstalled and pkgInfo.requires.len > 0 and pkgInfo.infoKind >= pikRequires:
+    return pkgInfo
+
   let nimbleFileInfo = nimbleFileInfo.get(extractRequiresInfo(pkgInfo.myPath, options))
   result.requires = getRequires(nimbleFileInfo, result.activeFeatures)
   if pkgInfo.basicInfo.name.isNim:
diff --git a/src/nimblepkg/install.nim b/src/nimblepkg/install.nim
index 3361d2419..0da84bc09 100644
--- a/src/nimblepkg/install.nim
+++ b/src/nimblepkg/install.nim
@@ -322,6 +322,26 @@ proc installFromDirDownloadInfo(nimBin: Option[string], downloadDir: string, url
       if pv.ver.kind == verSpecial:
         pkgInfo.metadata.specialVersions.incl pv.ver.spe
 
+      # Cache parsed requires/features to avoid re-parsing installed packages at runtime
+      let nimbleFileInfo = extractRequiresInfo(pkgInfo.myPath, options)
+      proc serializeRequires(dep: PkgTuple): string =
+        ## Serializes a PkgTuple to a string that parseRequires can parse.
+        ## Matches toJsonHook behavior: no space for verSpecial, space for others.
+        case dep.ver.kind
+        of verAny: dep.name
+        of verSpecial: dep.name & $dep.ver
+        else: dep.name & " " & $dep.ver
+      pkgInfo.metaData.requires = pkgInfo.requires.map(serializeRequires)
+      for feature, reqs in pkgInfo.features:
+        pkgInfo.metaData.features[feature] = reqs.map(serializeRequires)
+      pkgInfo.metaData.srcDir = pkgInfo.srcDir
+      pkgInfo.metaData.paths = pkgInfo.paths
+      for hook in pkgInfo.preHooks:
+        pkgInfo.metaData.preHooks.add hook
+      for hook in pkgInfo.postHooks:
+        pkgInfo.metaData.postHooks.add hook
+      pkgInfo.metaData.nestedRequires = nimbleFileInfo.nestedRequires
+
       saveMetaData(pkgInfo.metaData, pkgDestDir)
 
       # Run after-install hook
diff --git a/src/nimblepkg/packageinfo.nim b/src/nimblepkg/packageinfo.nim
index 5e2785384..4c49cefbe 100644
--- a/src/nimblepkg/packageinfo.nim
+++ b/src/nimblepkg/packageinfo.nim
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 
 # Stdlib imports
 import system except TResult
-import hashes, strutils, os, sets, tables, times, httpclient, strformat
+import hashes, strutils, os, sets, tables, times, httpclient, strformat, sequtils
 from net import SslError
 
 import zippy
@@ -304,6 +304,25 @@ proc getInstalledPackageMin*(options: Options, pkgDir, nimbleFilePath: string):
     fillMetaData(result, pkgDir, true, options)
   except MetaDataError:
     discard
+  
+  # Populate cached requires/features from metadata to avoid re-parsing
+  if result.metaData.requires.len > 0:
+    try:
+      result.requires = result.metaData.requires.map(parseRequires)
+      for feature, reqs in result.metaData.features:
+        result.features[feature] = reqs.map(parseRequires)
+      result.srcDir = result.metaData.srcDir
+      result.paths = result.metaData.paths
+      for hook in result.metaData.preHooks:
+        result.preHooks.incl hook
+      for hook in result.metaData.postHooks:
+        result.postHooks.incl hook
+      result.infoKind = if result.metaData.nestedRequires: pikFull else: pikRequires
+    except NimbleError:
+      # Corrupted or old-format cache data; ignore and let normal parsing handle it
+      result.requires = @[]
+      result.features = initTable[string, seq[PkgTuple]]()
+      result.infoKind = pikMinimal
 
 proc getInstalledPkgsMin*(libsDir: string, options: Options): seq[PackageInfo] =
   ## Gets a list of installed packages. The resulting package info is
diff --git a/src/nimblepkg/packageinfotypes.nim b/src/nimblepkg/packageinfotypes.nim
index 742c3a1b6..ae6f671e1 100644
--- a/src/nimblepkg/packageinfotypes.nim
+++ b/src/nimblepkg/packageinfotypes.nim
@@ -35,6 +35,17 @@ type
       # Special versions are aliases with which a single package can be
       # referred. For example a package can be versions `0.1.0`, `#head` and
       # `#master` at the same time.
+    # Cached fields from declarative/VM parser to avoid re-parsing installed packages
+    requires*: seq[string]
+      # String-form requires as extracted by the declarative parser (or VM fallback)
+    features*: Table[string, seq[string]]
+      # String-form features as extracted by the declarative parser
+    srcDir*: string
+    paths*: seq[string]
+    preHooks*: seq[string]
+    postHooks*: seq[string]
+    nestedRequires*: bool
+      # True if the package has requires nested in control flow (needs VM parser)
 
   PackageBasicInfo* = tuple
     name: string
diff --git a/src/nimblepkg/packagemetadatafile.nim b/src/nimblepkg/packagemetadatafile.nim
index ca8260b5f..bd899a427 100644
--- a/src/nimblepkg/packagemetadatafile.nim
+++ b/src/nimblepkg/packagemetadatafile.nim
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 # Copyright (C) Dominik Picheta. All rights reserved.
 # BSD License. Look at license.txt for more info.
 
-import os, strformat, sets, sequtils
+import os, strformat, sets, sequtils, tables
 import common, version, packageinfotypes, cli, tools, sha1hashes, options
 import compat/json
 
@@ -42,6 +42,58 @@ proc initFromJson(specialVersions: var HashSet[Version], jsonNode: JsonNode,
   else:
     assert false, "The `jsonNode` must be of kind JArray."
 
+proc `%`(features: Table[string, seq[string]]): JsonNode =
+  result = newJObject()
+  for k, v in features:
+    result[k] = %v
+
+proc initFromJson(features: var Table[string, seq[string]], jsonNode: JsonNode,
+                  jsonPath: var string) =
+  features = initTable[string, seq[string]]()
+  if jsonNode.kind == JObject:
+    for k, v in jsonNode:
+      var seqVal: seq[string]
+      if v.kind == JArray:
+        for item in v:
+          if item.kind == JString:
+            seqVal.add item.str
+      features[k] = seqVal
+
+proc initFromJson(dst: var PackageMetaData, jsonNode: JsonNode, jsonPath: var string) =
+  ## Custom initFromJson that tolerates missing fields for backward compatibility.
+  if jsonNode.kind != JObject: return
+  for key, val in jsonNode:
+    case key
+    of "url": dst.url = val.getStr
+    of "downloadMethod":
+      if val.kind == JString:
+        case val.str
+        of "git": dst.downloadMethod = git
+        of "hg": dst.downloadMethod = hg
+    of "vcsRevision": initFromJson(dst.vcsRevision, val, jsonPath)
+    of "files":
+      if val.kind == JArray:
+        for item in val: dst.files.add item.getStr
+    of "binaries":
+      if val.kind == JArray:
+        for item in val: dst.binaries.add item.getStr
+    of "specialVersions": initFromJson(dst.specialVersions, val, jsonPath)
+    of "requires":
+      if val.kind == JArray:
+        for item in val: dst.requires.add item.getStr
+    of "features": initFromJson(dst.features, val, jsonPath)
+    of "srcDir": dst.srcDir = val.getStr
+    of "paths":
+      if val.kind == JArray:
+        for item in val: dst.paths.add item.getStr
+    of "preHooks":
+      if val.kind == JArray:
+        for item in val: dst.preHooks.add item.getStr
+    of "postHooks":
+      if val.kind == JArray:
+        for item in val: dst.postHooks.add item.getStr
+    of "nestedRequires": dst.nestedRequires = val.getBool
+
 proc saveMetaData*(metaData: PackageMetaData, dirName: string,
                    changeRoots = true) =
   ## Saves some important data to file in the package installation directory.