diff --git a/src/Orchard.Web/Core/Settings/Descriptor/ShellDescriptorManager.cs b/src/Orchard.Web/Core/Settings/Descriptor/ShellDescriptorManager.cs
index faf80b3ec..4ffd7846e 100644
--- a/src/Orchard.Web/Core/Settings/Descriptor/ShellDescriptorManager.cs
+++ b/src/Orchard.Web/Core/Settings/Descriptor/ShellDescriptorManager.cs
@@ -1,11 +1,13 @@
 using System;
 using System.Collections.Generic;
 using System.Linq;
+using Orchard.Caching;
 using Orchard.Core.Settings.Descriptor.Records;
 using Orchard.Data;
 using Orchard.Environment.Configuration;
 using Orchard.Environment.Descriptor;
 using Orchard.Environment.Descriptor.Models;
+using Orchard.Locking;
 using Orchard.Logging;
 
 namespace Orchard.Core.Settings.Descriptor {
@@ -13,14 +15,28 @@ namespace Orchard.Core.Settings.Descriptor {
         private readonly IRepository<ShellDescriptorRecord> _shellDescriptorRepository;
         private readonly IShellDescriptorManagerEventHandler _events;
         private readonly ShellSettings _shellSettings;
-
+        private readonly ILockingProvider _lockingProvider;
+        private readonly ICacheManager _cacheManager;
+        private readonly ISignals _signals;
+        
         public ShellDescriptorManager(
             IRepository<ShellDescriptorRecord> shellDescriptorRepository,
             IShellDescriptorManagerEventHandler events,
-            ShellSettings shellSettings) {
+            ShellSettings shellSettings,
+            ILockingProvider lockingProvider,
+            ICacheManager cacheManager,
+            ISignals signals) {
+
             _shellDescriptorRepository = shellDescriptorRepository;
             _events = events;
             _shellSettings = shellSettings;
+            _lockingProvider = lockingProvider;
+            _cacheManager = cacheManager;
+            _signals = signals;
+
+            _lockString = string.Join(".",
+                _shellSettings["Name"] ?? "",
+                "ShellDescriptorManager");
         }
 
         public ShellDescriptor GetShellDescriptor() {
@@ -50,47 +66,72 @@ namespace Orchard.Core.Settings.Descriptor {
             return descriptor;
         }
 
+        private const string EvictSignalName =
+            "ShellDescriptorRecord_EvictCache";
+        private const string DescriptorCacheName =
+            "Orchard.Core.Settings.Descriptor.ShellDescriptorManager.ShellDescriptorRecord";
         private ShellDescriptorRecord GetDescriptorRecord() {
-            return _shellDescriptorRepository.Get(x => x != null);
+            // fetching the ShellDescriptorRecord also causes NHibernate to launch
+            // SELECT queries to fetch the ShellFeatureRecords and the ShellParameterRecords.
+            // If we cache all that, we save those three select queries on every request.
+            // We should be careful in the eviction policy when the ShellDescriptorRecord
+            // gets updated.
+            return _cacheManager.Get(DescriptorCacheName, true, ctx => {
+                ctx.Monitor(_signals.When(EvictSignalName));
+                return _shellDescriptorRepository.Get(x => x != null);
+            });
         }
 
-        public void UpdateShellDescriptor(int priorSerialNumber, IEnumerable<ShellFeature> enabledFeatures, IEnumerable<ShellParameter> parameters) {
-            ShellDescriptorRecord shellDescriptorRecord = GetDescriptorRecord();
-            var serialNumber = shellDescriptorRecord == null ? 0 : shellDescriptorRecord.SerialNumber;
-            if (priorSerialNumber != serialNumber)
-                throw new InvalidOperationException(T("Invalid serial number for shell descriptor").ToString());
+        private string _lockString;
 
-            Logger.Information("Updating shell descriptor for shell '{0}'...", _shellSettings.Name);
+        public void UpdateShellDescriptor(
+            int priorSerialNumber, IEnumerable<ShellFeature> enabledFeatures, IEnumerable<ShellParameter> parameters) {
+            // This is where the shell descriptor will be updated.
+            // Since we plan to cache it, this method will have to update the
+            // actual records in the database, and then evict the cache.
+            // We are going to put an application lock around this to prevent
+            // issues when for some weird reason several updates are being attempted
+            // concurrently.
+            _lockingProvider.Lock(_lockString, () => {
+                ShellDescriptorRecord shellDescriptorRecord = _shellDescriptorRepository.Get(x => x != null);
+                var serialNumber = shellDescriptorRecord == null ? 0 : shellDescriptorRecord.SerialNumber;
+                if (priorSerialNumber != serialNumber)
+                    throw new InvalidOperationException(T("Invalid serial number for shell descriptor").ToString());
 
-            if (shellDescriptorRecord == null) {
-                shellDescriptorRecord = new ShellDescriptorRecord { SerialNumber = 1 };
-                _shellDescriptorRepository.Create(shellDescriptorRecord);
-            }
-            else {
-                shellDescriptorRecord.SerialNumber++;
-            }
+                Logger.Information("Updating shell descriptor for shell '{0}'...", _shellSettings.Name);
 
-            shellDescriptorRecord.Features.Clear();
-            foreach (var feature in enabledFeatures) {
-                shellDescriptorRecord.Features.Add(new ShellFeatureRecord { Name = feature.Name, ShellDescriptorRecord = shellDescriptorRecord });
-            }
-            Logger.Debug("Enabled features for shell '{0}' set: {1}.", _shellSettings.Name, String.Join(", ", enabledFeatures.Select(feature => feature.Name)));
+                if (shellDescriptorRecord == null) {
+                    shellDescriptorRecord = new ShellDescriptorRecord { SerialNumber = 1 };
+                    _shellDescriptorRepository.Create(shellDescriptorRecord);
+                } else {
+                    shellDescriptorRecord.SerialNumber++;
+                }
+
+                shellDescriptorRecord.Features.Clear();
+                foreach (var feature in enabledFeatures) {
+                    shellDescriptorRecord.Features.Add(new ShellFeatureRecord { Name = feature.Name, ShellDescriptorRecord = shellDescriptorRecord });
+                }
+                Logger.Debug("Enabled features for shell '{0}' set: {1}.", _shellSettings.Name, String.Join(", ", enabledFeatures.Select(feature => feature.Name)));
 
 
-            shellDescriptorRecord.Parameters.Clear();
-            foreach (var parameter in parameters) {
-                shellDescriptorRecord.Parameters.Add(new ShellParameterRecord {
-                    Component = parameter.Component,
-                    Name = parameter.Name,
-                    Value = parameter.Value,
-                    ShellDescriptorRecord = shellDescriptorRecord
-                });
-            }
-            Logger.Debug("Parameters for shell '{0}' set: {1}.", _shellSettings.Name, String.Join(", ", parameters.Select(parameter => parameter.Name + "-" + parameter.Value)));
+                shellDescriptorRecord.Parameters.Clear();
+                foreach (var parameter in parameters) {
+                    shellDescriptorRecord.Parameters.Add(new ShellParameterRecord {
+                        Component = parameter.Component,
+                        Name = parameter.Name,
+                        Value = parameter.Value,
+                        ShellDescriptorRecord = shellDescriptorRecord
+                    });
+                }
 
-            Logger.Information("Shell descriptor updated for shell '{0}'.", _shellSettings.Name);
+                _signals.Trigger(EvictSignalName);
 
-            _events.Changed(GetShellDescriptorFromRecord(shellDescriptorRecord), _shellSettings.Name);
+                Logger.Debug("Parameters for shell '{0}' set: {1}.", _shellSettings.Name, String.Join(", ", parameters.Select(parameter => parameter.Name + "-" + parameter.Value)));
+
+                Logger.Information("Shell descriptor updated for shell '{0}'.", _shellSettings.Name);
+
+                _events.Changed(GetShellDescriptorFromRecord(GetDescriptorRecord()), _shellSettings.Name);
+            });
         }
     }
 }