diff --git a/autotests/CMakeLists.txt b/autotests/CMakeLists.txt
--- a/autotests/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/autotests/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -36,5 +36,6 @@
 endforeach()
 
 ecm_add_test(klanguagenametest.cpp LINK_LIBRARIES Qt5::Test KF5::ConfigWidgets)
+ecm_add_test(kcolorschemetest.cpp LINK_LIBRARIES Qt5::Test KF5::ConfigWidgets)
 
 ecm_add_test(krecentfilesactiontest.cpp TEST_NAME "krecentfilesaction_test" LINK_LIBRARIES Qt5::Test KF5::ConfigWidgets)
diff --git a/autotests/kcolorschemetest.cpp b/autotests/kcolorschemetest.cpp
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/autotests/kcolorschemetest.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,58 @@
+/*
+    Copyright (c) 2019 Milian Wolff <mail@milianw.de>
+
+    This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
+    modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
+    License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
+    version 2.1 of the License, or (at your option) version 3, or any
+    later version accepted by the membership of KDE e.V. (or its
+    successor approved by the membership of KDE e.V.), which shall
+    act as a proxy defined in Section 6 of version 3 of the license.
+
+    This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+    but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+    MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU
+    Lesser General Public License for more details.
+
+    You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
+    License along with this library. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+*/
+
+#include <QObject>
+#include <QtTest>
+
+#include "kcolorscheme.h"
+#include "kcolorschememanager.h"
+
+class KColorSchemeTest : public QObject
+{
+    Q_OBJECT
+
+private Q_SLOTS:
+    void benchConstruction_data()
+    {
+        KColorSchemeManager manager;
+        QVERIFY(manager.model()->rowCount() > 0);
+        const auto anyScheme = manager.model()->index(0, 0).data(Qt::UserRole).toString();
+        QVERIFY(QFile::exists(anyScheme));
+
+        QTest::addColumn<QString>("file");
+
+        QTest::newRow("default") << QString();
+        QTest::newRow("explicit") << anyScheme;
+    }
+
+    void benchConstruction()
+    {
+        QFETCH(QString, file);
+        qApp->setProperty("KDE_COLOR_SCHEME_PATH", file);
+
+        QBENCHMARK {
+            KColorScheme scheme(QPalette::Active);
+        }
+    }
+};
+
+QTEST_MAIN(KColorSchemeTest)
+
+#include "kcolorschemetest.moc"
diff --git a/src/kcolorscheme.cpp b/src/kcolorscheme.cpp
--- a/src/kcolorscheme.cpp
+++ b/src/kcolorscheme.cpp
@@ -252,9 +252,15 @@
 //END default colors
 
 KSharedConfigPtr defaultConfig() {
+    // cache the value we'll return, since usually it's going to be the same value
+    static thread_local KSharedConfigPtr config;
     // Read from the application's color scheme file (as set by KColorSchemeManager).
     // If unset, this is equivalent to openConfig() and the system scheme is used.
-    return KSharedConfig::openConfig(qApp->property("KDE_COLOR_SCHEME_PATH").toString());
+    const auto colorSchemePath = qApp->property("KDE_COLOR_SCHEME_PATH").toString();
+    if (!config || config->name() != colorSchemePath) {
+        config = KSharedConfig::openConfig(colorSchemePath);
+    }
+    return config;
 }
 
 //BEGIN KColorSchemePrivate