diff --git a/core/modules/locale/locale.module b/core/modules/locale/locale.module
index 8520d9596bc238d5e32ad33d66218c0073f926e8..d1353220cf93da1a23268fa12708145f371dbe30 100644
--- a/core/modules/locale/locale.module
+++ b/core/modules/locale/locale.module
@@ -634,7 +634,14 @@ function locale_language_delete($language) {
  */
 function locale($string = NULL, $context = NULL, $langcode = NULL) {
   global $language;
-  $locale_t = &drupal_static(__FUNCTION__);
+
+  // Use the advanced drupal_static() pattern, since this is called very often.
+  static $drupal_static_fast;
+  if (!isset($drupal_static_fast)) {
+    $drupal_static_fast['locale'] = &drupal_static(__FUNCTION__);
+  }
+  $locale_t = &$drupal_static_fast['locale'];
+
 
   if (!isset($string)) {
     // Return all cached strings if no string was specified