diff --git a/polymod/PolymodConfig.hx b/polymod/PolymodConfig.hx
index e7bc5b05..f94f840e 100644
--- a/polymod/PolymodConfig.hx
+++ b/polymod/PolymodConfig.hx
@@ -237,4 +237,21 @@ class PolymodConfig
     if (caseInsensitiveZipLoading == null) caseInsensitiveZipLoading = DefineUtil.getDefineBool('POLYMOD_ZIP_INSENSITIVE', true);
     return caseInsensitiveZipLoading;
   }
+
+  /**
+   * Whether the contents of text assets are cached, so that they're loaded faster.
+   * Don't enable this if mods need to modify these assets.
+   *
+   * Enable this option by setting the `POLYMOD_ENABLE_TEXT_CACHE` Haxe define at compile time,
+   * or by setting this value in your code.
+   *
+   * @default `false`
+   */
+  public static var enableTextCache(get, default):Null<Bool>;
+
+  static function get_enableTextCache():Null<Bool>
+  {
+    if (enableTextCache == null) enableTextCache = DefineUtil.getDefineBool('POLYMOD_ENABLE_TEXT_CACHE', false);
+    return enableTextCache;
+  }
 }
diff --git a/polymod/backends/PolymodAssetLibrary.hx b/polymod/backends/PolymodAssetLibrary.hx
index f251b9b3..6cc4ec39 100644
--- a/polymod/backends/PolymodAssetLibrary.hx
+++ b/polymod/backends/PolymodAssetLibrary.hx
@@ -182,14 +182,18 @@ class PolymodAssetLibrary
   public function mergeAndAppendText(id:String, modText:String):String
   {
     var cacheKey = PolymodConfig.mergeFolder + id;
-    if (_textCache.exists(cacheKey))
+    if (PolymodConfig.enableTextCache && _textCache.exists(cacheKey))
     {
       return _textCache.get(cacheKey);
     }
 
     modText = Util.mergeAndAppendText(modText, id, dirs, getTextDirectly, fileSystem, parseRules);
 
-    _textCache.set(cacheKey, modText);
+    if (PolymodConfig.enableTextCache)
+    {
+      _textCache.set(cacheKey, modText);
+    }
+
     return modText;
   }
 
@@ -247,14 +251,14 @@ class PolymodAssetLibrary
 
   public function getText(id:String):String
   {
-    if (_textCache.exists(id))
+    if (PolymodConfig.enableTextCache && _textCache.exists(id))
     {
       return _textCache.get(id);
     }
 
     var result = backend.getText(id);
 
-    if (result != null)
+    if (PolymodConfig.enableTextCache && result != null)
     {
       _textCache.set(id, result);
     }