Index: etc/rc
===================================================================
RCS file: /cvsroot/src/etc/rc,v
retrieving revision 1.175
diff -u -p -r1.175 rc
--- etc/rc	8 Sep 2020 16:10:53 -0000	1.175
+++ etc/rc	17 Aug 2026 20:16:25 -0000
@@ -140,20 +140,35 @@ rc_real_work()
 	) &
 
 	#
-	# Get a list of all rc.d scripts, and use rcorder to choose
-	# what order to execute them.
+	# Get a list of all rc.d scripts and the order in which to
+	# execute them.  We first use rcorder to select the overall
+	# total order, and then filter out the scripts that will not
+	# do any work using the "doeswork" directive.  If the script
+	# does no work, it is elided from the list.  This pared down
+	# list is then cached so subsequent boots can perform fewer
+	# checks, this improving boot time.  The cache is invalidated
+	# implicitly if any of the $rc_directories or if /etc/rc.conf
+	# is newer than /etc/rcorder.cache.
+	#
+	if ! _rc_order_cache_is_valid; then
+		_rc_update_rcorder_cache=YES
+		_rc_order_build_list
+	else
+		_rc_update_rcorder_cache=NO
+	fi
+
+	#
+	# $_rc_ordered_script_list now contains the rc.d scripts
+	# to process.
+	#
+	files="$_rc_ordered_script_list"
+
 	#
 	# For testing, allow RC_FILES_OVERRIDE from the environment to
 	# override this.
 	#
-	print_rc_metadata "cmd-name:rcorder"
-	scripts=$(for rcd in ${rc_directories:-/etc/rc.d}; do
-		test -d ${rcd} && echo ${rcd}/*;
-	done)
-	files=$(rcorder -s nostart ${rc_rcorder_flags} ${scripts})
-	print_rc_metadata "cmd-status:rcorder:$?"
-
 	if [ -n "${RC_FILES_OVERRIDE}" ]; then
+		_rc_update_rcorder_cache=NO
 		files="${RC_FILES_OVERRIDE}"
 	fi
 
@@ -166,6 +181,10 @@ rc_real_work()
 		print_rc_metadata "cmd-status:$_rc_elem:$?"
 	done
 
+	if [ $_rc_update_rcorder_cache = YES ]; then
+		_rc_order_save_cache
+	fi
+
 	print_rc_metadata "end:$(date)"
 	exit 0
 )
Index: etc/rc.subr
===================================================================
RCS file: /cvsroot/src/etc/rc.subr,v
retrieving revision 1.111
diff -u -p -r1.111 rc.subr
--- etc/rc.subr	22 May 2022 11:27:33 -0000	1.111
+++ etc/rc.subr	17 Aug 2026 20:16:25 -0000
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 # $NetBSD: rc.subr,v 1.111 2022/05/22 11:27:33 andvar Exp $
 #
-# Copyright (c) 1997-2011 The NetBSD Foundation, Inc.
+# Copyright (c) 1997-2011, 2026 The NetBSD Foundation, Inc.
 # All rights reserved.
 #
 # This code is derived from software contributed to The NetBSD Foundation
@@ -567,6 +567,11 @@ wait_for_pids()
 #
 #	rcvar		Display what rc.conf variable is used (if any).
 #
+#	doeswork	Returns 0 if the script does work that's needed
+#			for boot, non-zero otherwise.  Scripts are considered
+#			to do work if either their rcvar is set to YES or
+#			if they do not have a defined rcvar.
+#
 #	Variables available to methods, and after run_rc_command() has
 #	completed:
 #
@@ -617,7 +622,7 @@ run_rc_command()
 		;;
 	esac
 
-	_keywords="start stop restart rcvar"
+	_keywords="start stop restart rcvar doeswork"
 	if [ -n "$extra_commands" ]; then
 		_keywords="${_keywords} ${extra_commands}"
 	fi
@@ -664,7 +669,8 @@ run_rc_command()
 					# and return if that failed or warn
 					# user and exit when interactive
 					#
-	if [ -n "${rcvar}" ] && [ "$rc_arg" != "rcvar" ]; then
+	if [ -n "${rcvar}" ] && [ "$rc_arg" != "rcvar" ] && \
+	   [ "$rc_arg" != "doeswork" ]; then
 		if ! checkyesno ${rcvar}; then
 					# check whether interactive or not
 			if [ -n "$_run_rc_script" ]; then
@@ -902,6 +908,18 @@ $command $rc_flags $command_args"
 			fi
 			;;
 
+		doeswork)
+			if [ -n "$rcvar" ]; then
+				if checkyesno ${rcvar}; then
+					return 0
+				else
+					return 1
+				fi
+			else
+				return 0
+			fi
+			;;
+
 		*)
 			rc_usage "$_keywords"
 			;;
@@ -1485,4 +1503,123 @@ kat() {
 	done
 }
 
+#
+# Check to see if we should use the rcorder.cache.  We cache the
+# result in the global var _rc_order_cache_setting to avoid repeated
+# sub-shells and I/O.  Returns 0 if the cache should be used, non-
+# zero otherwise.
+#
+_rc_order_use_cache()
+{
+	if [ -z "$_rc_order_cache_setting" ]; then
+		_rc_order_cache_setting=$(load_rc_config rcorder_cache;
+			if checkyesno rcorder_cache; then
+				echo YES
+			else
+				echo NO
+			fi)
+	fi
+
+	if [ $_rc_order_cache_setting = YES ]; then
+		return 0
+	fi
+	return 1
+}
+
+#
+# Check to see if the rcorder.cache is valid.  Returns 0 (success)
+# if so, non-zero otherwise.  The global var $_rc_ordered_script_list
+# is populated with the cache's contents when the cache is valid.
+#
+_rc_order_cache_is_valid()
+{
+	local f
+	local allf
+
+	# Listed here in order of most-likely-to-change.
+	allf="/etc/rc.conf /etc/rc.conf.d /etc/rc.conf.d/*"
+	allf="$allf ${rc_directories:-/etc/rc.d} /etc/defaults/rc.conf"
+
+	if [ -f /etc/rcorder.cache ] && _rc_order_use_cache; then
+		for f in ${allf}; do
+			if [ $f -nt /etc/rcorder.cache ]; then
+				return 1
+			fi
+		done
+		allf=$(cat /etc/rcorder.cache)
+		
+		# Verify there is at least one valid file in the
+		# cache.
+		for f in ${allf}; do
+			if [ -f $f ]; then
+				_rc_ordered_script_list="$allf"
+				return 0
+			fi
+		done
+	fi
+	return 1
+}
+
+#
+# Build the ordered script list.  If we're going to rebuild the cache,
+# then prints status information on the console.  Sets the global var
+# $_rc_ordered_script_list to the updated ordered list.
+#
+_rc_order_build_list()
+{
+	local d
+	local f
+	local allf
+	local orderedf
+
+	print_rc_metadata "cmd-name:rcorder"
+	allf=$(for d in ${rc_directories:-/etc/rc.d}; do
+		test -d $d && echo ${d}/*;
+	done)
+	orderedf=$(rcorder -s nostart ${rc_rcorder_flags} ${allf})
+	print_rc_metadata "cmd-status:rcorder:$?"
+
+	if ! _rc_order_use_cache; then
+		_rc_ordered_script_list="$orderedf"
+		return
+	fi
+
+	echo -n "Updating /etc/rcorder.cache..."
+	_rc_ordered_script_list=""
+	for f in ${orderedf}; do
+		twiddle
+		if run_rc_script $f doeswork; then
+			_rc_ordered_script_list="$_rc_ordered_script_list $f"
+		fi
+	done
+	echo "done."
+}
+
+#
+# Save the rcorder.cache, in the global var $_rc_ordered_script_list,
+# to /etc/rcorder.cache.
+#
+_rc_order_save_cache()
+{
+	local f
+
+	if ! _rc_order_use_cache; then
+		return
+	fi
+
+	#
+	# Attempt to create an empty temporary /etc/rcorder.cache
+	# file, suppressing all error messages, and check for success.
+	# If not successful, we probably have a read-only root file
+	# system and thus should not proceed.
+	#
+	if (echo -n "" > /etc/rcorder.cache.tmp) 2>/dev/null; then
+		echo "Saving updated /etc/rcorder.cache."
+		for f in $_rc_ordered_script_list; do
+			echo "$f" >> /etc/rcorder.cache.tmp
+		done
+		mv /etc/rcorder.cache.tmp /etc/rcorder.cache
+	fi
+}
+
 _rc_subr_loaded=:
Index: etc/defaults/rc.conf
===================================================================
RCS file: /cvsroot/src/etc/defaults/rc.conf,v
retrieving revision 1.169
diff -u -p -r1.169 rc.conf
--- etc/defaults/rc.conf	16 Aug 2026 09:25:55 -0000	1.169
+++ etc/defaults/rc.conf	17 Aug 2026 20:16:25 -0000
@@ -45,6 +45,11 @@ rc_rcorder_flags=""
 # These directories must be part of the root file system.
 rc_directories=/etc/rc.d 
 
+# Cache the list of rc.d scripts that do useful work across reboots,
+# reducing subsequent boot times.
+#
+rcorder_cache=YES
+
 # If this is set to NO, shutdown(8) will not run /etc/rc.shutdown.
 #
 do_rcshutdown=YES
Index: etc/rc.d/rcorder_cache
===================================================================
RCS file: etc/rc.d/rcorder_cache
diff -N etc/rc.d/rcorder_cache
--- /dev/null	1 Jan 1970 00:00:00 -0000
+++ etc/rc.d/rcorder_cache	17 Aug 2026 20:16:25 -0000
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+#
+# $NetBSD$
+#
+
+# KEYWORD: nostart
+
+$_rc_subr_loaded . /etc/rc.subr
+
+name="rcorder_cache"
+rcvar=$name
+start_cmd="true"
+stop_cmd="true"
+reload_cmd="rcorder_cache_reload"
+restart_cmd="true"
+status_cmd="rcorder_cache_status"
+poll_cmd="true"
+doeswork_cmd="false"
+
+extra_commands="reload status"
+
+rcorder_cache_reload()
+{
+	_rc_order_build_list
+	_rc_order_save_cache
+}
+
+rcorder_cache_status()
+{
+	if [ -f /etc/rcorder.cache ] && checkyesno ${rcvar}; then
+		echo "/etc/rcorder.cache is in use."
+		return 0
+	else
+		echo "/etc/rcorder.cache is not in use."
+		return 1
+	fi
+}
+
+load_rc_config $name
+run_rc_command "$1"