diff --git a/internal/util/token_count_tiktoken.go b/internal/util/token_count_tiktoken.go
index f9cecf9..92e48e1 100644
--- a/internal/util/token_count_tiktoken.go
+++ b/internal/util/token_count_tiktoken.go
@@ -4,19 +4,26 @@ package util
 
 import (
 	"strings"
+	"sync"
 
 	tiktoken "github.com/hupe1980/go-tiktoken"
 )
 
+var (
+	tokenEncodingPools       sync.Map
+	tokenEncodingUnsupported sync.Map
+)
+
 func countWithTokenizer(text, model string) int {
 	text = strings.TrimSpace(text)
 	if text == "" {
 		return 0
 	}
-	encoding, err := tiktoken.NewEncodingForModel(tokenizerModelForCount(model))
-	if err != nil {
+	encoding, release := tokenizerEncodingForCount(tokenizerModelForCount(model))
+	if encoding == nil {
 		return 0
 	}
+	defer release()
 	ids, _, err := encoding.Encode(text, nil, nil)
 	if err != nil {
 		return 0
@@ -24,6 +31,53 @@ func countWithTokenizer(text, model string) int {
 	return len(ids)
 }
 
+func tokenizerEncodingForCount(model string) (*tiktoken.Encoding, func()) {
+	model = strings.TrimSpace(model)
+	if model == "" {
+		model = defaultTokenizerModel
+	}
+	if _, ok := tokenEncodingUnsupported.Load(model); ok {
+		return nil, func() {}
+	}
+	if rawPool, ok := tokenEncodingPools.Load(model); ok {
+		pool, _ := rawPool.(*sync.Pool)
+		return getEncodingFromPool(pool)
+	}
+
+	encoding, err := tiktoken.NewEncodingForModel(model)
+	if err != nil {
+		tokenEncodingUnsupported.Store(model, struct{}{})
+		return nil, func() {}
+	}
+	pool := &sync.Pool{
+		New: func() any {
+			encoding, err := tiktoken.NewEncodingForModel(model)
+			if err != nil {
+				return nil
+			}
+			return encoding
+		},
+	}
+	actualPool, _ := tokenEncodingPools.LoadOrStore(model, pool)
+	pool, _ = actualPool.(*sync.Pool)
+	return encoding, func() {
+		pool.Put(encoding)
+	}
+}
+
+func getEncodingFromPool(pool *sync.Pool) (*tiktoken.Encoding, func()) {
+	if pool == nil {
+		return nil, func() {}
+	}
+	encoding, _ := pool.Get().(*tiktoken.Encoding)
+	if encoding == nil {
+		return nil, func() {}
+	}
+	return encoding, func() {
+		pool.Put(encoding)
+	}
+}
+
 func tokenizerModelForCount(model string) string {
 	model = strings.ToLower(strings.TrimSpace(model))
 	if model == "" {
diff --git a/internal/util/token_count_tiktoken_test.go b/internal/util/token_count_tiktoken_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..811c03d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/util/token_count_tiktoken_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+//go:build !386 && !arm && !mips && !mipsle && !wasm
+
+package util
+
+import "testing"
+
+func TestTokenizerEncodingForCountCachesSupportedModel(t *testing.T) {
+	encoding, release := tokenizerEncodingForCount(defaultTokenizerModel)
+	if encoding == nil {
+		t.Fatalf("expected tokenizer encoding for %q", defaultTokenizerModel)
+	}
+	release()
+
+	if _, ok := tokenEncodingPools.Load(defaultTokenizerModel); !ok {
+		t.Fatalf("expected tokenizer encoding pool for %q", defaultTokenizerModel)
+	}
+
+	encoding, release = tokenizerEncodingForCount(defaultTokenizerModel)
+	if encoding == nil {
+		t.Fatalf("expected cached tokenizer encoding for %q", defaultTokenizerModel)
+	}
+	release()
+}
+
+func TestTokenizerEncodingForCountCachesUnsupportedModel(t *testing.T) {
+	const model = "__ds2api_unsupported_tokenizer_model__"
+	encoding, release := tokenizerEncodingForCount(model)
+	release()
+	if encoding != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("expected nil encoding for unsupported model %q", model)
+	}
+	if _, ok := tokenEncodingUnsupported.Load(model); !ok {
+		t.Fatalf("expected unsupported tokenizer model to be cached")
+	}
+}