diff --git a/classes/Memcached_DataObject.php b/classes/Memcached_DataObject.php
index a3c2de8e64..867b40cf3c 100644
--- a/classes/Memcached_DataObject.php
+++ b/classes/Memcached_DataObject.php
@@ -340,6 +340,7 @@ class Memcached_DataObject extends Safe_DataObject
         $start = microtime(true);
         $result = null;
         if (Event::handle('StartDBQuery', array($this, $string, &$result))) {
+            common_perf_counter('query', $string);
             $result = parent::_query($string);
             Event::handle('EndDBQuery', array($this, $string, &$result));
         }
diff --git a/index.php b/index.php
index 37c157b01f..7f2afffb5a 100644
--- a/index.php
+++ b/index.php
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@
  */
 
 $_startTime = microtime(true);
+$_perfCounters = array();
 
 define('INSTALLDIR', dirname(__FILE__));
 define('STATUSNET', true);
@@ -45,6 +46,8 @@ define('LACONICA', true); // compatibility
 
 require_once INSTALLDIR . '/lib/common.php';
 
+register_shutdown_function('common_log_perf_counters');
+
 $user = null;
 $action = null;
 
diff --git a/lib/cache.php b/lib/cache.php
index dc667654ab..bf0603c62d 100644
--- a/lib/cache.php
+++ b/lib/cache.php
@@ -164,6 +164,7 @@ class Cache
     {
         $value = false;
 
+        common_perf_counter('Cache::get', $key);
         if (Event::handle('StartCacheGet', array(&$key, &$value))) {
             if (array_key_exists($key, $this->_items)) {
                 $value = unserialize($this->_items[$key]);
@@ -188,6 +189,7 @@ class Cache
     {
         $success = false;
 
+        common_perf_counter('Cache::set', $key);
         if (Event::handle('StartCacheSet', array(&$key, &$value, &$flag,
                                                  &$expiry, &$success))) {
 
@@ -214,6 +216,7 @@ class Cache
     function increment($key, $step=1)
     {
         $value = false;
+        common_perf_counter('Cache::increment', $key);
         if (Event::handle('StartCacheIncrement', array(&$key, &$step, &$value))) {
             // Fallback is not guaranteed to be atomic,
             // and may original expiry value.
@@ -239,6 +242,7 @@ class Cache
     {
         $success = false;
 
+        common_perf_counter('Cache::delete', $key);
         if (Event::handle('StartCacheDelete', array(&$key, &$success))) {
             if (array_key_exists($key, $this->_items)) {
                 unset($this->_items[$key]);
diff --git a/lib/default.php b/lib/default.php
index 405213fbea..2ddc47bd17 100644
--- a/lib/default.php
+++ b/lib/default.php
@@ -39,6 +39,8 @@ $default =
               'logo' => null,
               'ssllogo' => null,
               'logdebug' => false,
+              'logperf' => false, // Enable to dump performance counters to syslog
+              'logperf_detail' => false, // Enable to dump every counter hit
               'fancy' => false,
               'locale_path' => INSTALLDIR.'/locale',
               'language' => 'en',
diff --git a/lib/util.php b/lib/util.php
index da36121ffd..85f49e4c59 100644
--- a/lib/util.php
+++ b/lib/util.php
@@ -2184,3 +2184,40 @@ function common_nicknamize($str)
     $str = preg_replace('/\W/', '', $str);
     return strtolower($str);
 }
+
+function common_perf_counter($key, $val=null)
+{
+    global $_perfCounters;
+    if (isset($_perfCounters)) {
+        if (common_config('site', 'logperf')) {
+            if (array_key_exists($key, $_perfCounters)) {
+                $_perfCounters[$key][] = $val;
+            } else {
+                $_perfCounters[$key] = array($val);
+            }
+            if (common_config('site', 'logperf_detail')) {
+                common_log(LOG_DEBUG, "PERF COUNTER HIT: $key $val");
+            }
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+function common_log_perf_counters()
+{
+    if (common_config('site', 'logperf')) {
+        global $_startTime, $_perfCounters;
+
+        if (isset($_startTime)) {
+            $endTime = microtime(true);
+            $diff = round(($endTime - $_startTime) * 1000);
+            common_log(LOG_DEBUG, "PERF runtime: ${diff}ms");
+        }
+        $counters = $_perfCounters;
+        ksort($counters);
+        foreach ($counters as $key => $values) {
+            $count = count($values);
+            $unique = count(array_unique($values));
+            common_log(LOG_DEBUG, "PERF COUNTER: $key $count ($unique unique)");
+        }
+    }
+}