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