diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index aecfebb..71e2c33 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -42,6 +42,12 @@ Howdy, Bazel user 🤠. Let's get you set up fast with some awesome tooling for
 
 There's a bunch of text here but only because we're trying to spell things out and make them easy. If you have issues, let us know; we'd love your help making things even better and more complete—and we'd love to help you!
 
+This rule optionally uses the `orjson` pip package to significantly speed up JSON processing. You can add this before running the refresh command to ensure orjson availability:
+
+```shell
+pip show orjson >/dev/null || pip install orjson --user
+```
+
 ### First, add this tool to your Bazel setup.
 
 #### If you have a MODULE.bazel file and are using the new [bzlmod](https://bazel.build/external/migration) system
diff --git a/refresh.template.py b/refresh.template.py
index 0dd4404..26a33fa 100644
--- a/refresh.template.py
+++ b/refresh.template.py
@@ -543,7 +543,11 @@ def _get_headers(compile_action, source_path: str):
             cache_last_modified = os.path.getmtime(cache_file_path) # Do before opening just as a basic hedge against concurrent write, even though we won't handle the concurrent delete case perfectly.
             try:
                 with open(cache_file_path) as cache_file:
-                    action_key, cached_headers = json.load(cache_file)
+                    try:
+                        from orjson import loads
+                        action_key, cached_headers = loads(cache_file.read())
+                    except ImportError:
+                        action_key, cached_headers = json.load(cache_file)
             except json.JSONDecodeError:
                 # Corrupted cache, which can happen if, for example, the user kills the program, since writes aren't atomic.
                 # But if it is the result of a bug, we want to print it before it's overwritten, so it can be reported
@@ -584,7 +588,12 @@ def _get_headers(compile_action, source_path: str):
     if output_file and should_cache:
         os.makedirs(os.path.dirname(cache_file_path), exist_ok=True)
         with open(cache_file_path, 'w') as cache_file:
-            json.dump((compile_action.actionKey, list(headers)), cache_file)
+            cache = (compile_action.actionKey, list(headers))
+            try:
+                from orjson import dumps
+                cache_file.write(dumps(cache))
+            except ImportError:
+                json.dump(cache, cache_file)
     elif not headers and cached_headers: # If we failed to get headers, we'll fall back on a stale cache.
         headers = set(cached_headers)
 
@@ -592,8 +601,18 @@ def _get_headers(compile_action, source_path: str):
         headers = {header for header in headers if _file_is_in_main_workspace_and_not_external(header)}
 
     return headers
+
 _get_headers.has_logged = False
 
+def _cache_compile_action(compile_action, cache_file_path, headers):
+    cache = (compile_action.actionKey, list(headers))
+    try:
+        from orjson import dumps
+        with open(cache_file_path, 'wb') as cache_file:
+            cache_file.write(dumps(cache))
+    except ImportError:
+        with open(cache_file_path, 'w') as cache_file:
+            json.dump(cache, cache_file)
 
 def _get_files(compile_action):
     """Gets the ({source files}, {header files}) clangd should be told the command applies to."""
@@ -1305,6 +1324,24 @@ def _ensure_cwd_is_workspace_root():
     # Although this can fail (OSError/FileNotFoundError/PermissionError/NotADirectoryError), there's no easy way to recover, so we'll happily crash.
     os.chdir(workspace_root)
 
+def _write_compile_commands(compile_command_entries: typing.List[str]):
+    file_name = 'compile_commands.json'
+    try:
+        # orjson is much faster than the standard library's json module (1.9 seconds vs 6.6 seconds for a ~140 MB file).
+        from orjson import dumps, OPT_INDENT_2
+        with open(file_name, 'wb') as output_file:
+            output_file.write(dumps(
+                compile_command_entries,
+                option=OPT_INDENT_2
+            ))
+    except ImportError:
+        with open(file_name, 'w') as output_file:
+            json.dump(
+                compile_command_entries,
+                output_file,
+                indent=2, # Yay, human readability!
+                check_circular=False # For speed.
+            )
 
 def main():
     _ensure_cwd_is_workspace_root()
@@ -1326,11 +1363,4 @@ def main():
     There should be actionable warnings, above, that led to this.""")
         sys.exit(1)
 
-    # Chain output into compile_commands.json
-    with open('compile_commands.json', 'w') as output_file:
-        json.dump(
-            compile_command_entries,
-            output_file,
-            indent=2, # Yay, human readability!
-            check_circular=False # For speed.
-        )
+    _write_compile_commands(compile_command_entries)