diff --git a/lib/util/git/behind-base-branch-cache.spec.ts b/lib/util/git/behind-base-branch-cache.spec.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..e711c11cc25c11
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/util/git/behind-base-branch-cache.spec.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+import { mocked } from '../../../test/util';
+import * as _repositoryCache from '../cache/repository';
+import type { BranchCache, RepoCacheData } from '../cache/repository/types';
+import { getCachedBehindBaseResult } from './behind-base-branch-cache';
+
+jest.mock('../cache/repository');
+const repositoryCache = mocked(_repositoryCache);
+
+describe('util/git/behind-base-branch-cache', () => {
+  let repoCache: RepoCacheData = {};
+
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    repoCache = {};
+    repositoryCache.getCache.mockReturnValue(repoCache);
+  });
+
+  describe('getCachedBehindBaseResult', () => {
+    it('returns null if cache is not populated', () => {
+      expect(getCachedBehindBaseResult('foo', '111')).toBeNull();
+    });
+
+    it('returns null if branch not found', () => {
+      expect(getCachedBehindBaseResult('foo', '111')).toBeNull();
+    });
+
+    it('returns true if target SHA has changed', () => {
+      repoCache.branches = [
+        { branchName: 'foo', sha: 'aaa', parentSha: '222' } as BranchCache,
+      ];
+      expect(getCachedBehindBaseResult('foo', '111')).toBeTrue();
+    });
+
+    it('returns false if target SHA has not changed', () => {
+      repoCache.branches = [
+        { branchName: 'foo', sha: 'aaa', parentSha: '111' } as BranchCache,
+      ];
+      expect(getCachedBehindBaseResult('foo', '111')).toBeFalse();
+    });
+  });
+});
diff --git a/lib/util/git/behind-base-branch-cache.ts b/lib/util/git/behind-base-branch-cache.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..5b9677dbe6793d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/util/git/behind-base-branch-cache.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+import { getCache } from '../cache/repository';
+
+// Compare cached parent Sha of a branch to the fetched base-branch sha to determine whether the branch is behind the base
+// Since cache is updated after each run, this will be sufficient to determine whether a branch is behind its parent.
+export function getCachedBehindBaseResult(
+  branchName: string,
+  currentBaseBranchSha: string
+): boolean | null {
+  const cache = getCache();
+  const { branches = [] } = cache;
+  const cachedBranch = branches?.find(
+    (branch) => branch.branchName === branchName
+  );
+
+  if (!cachedBranch) {
+    return null;
+  }
+
+  return currentBaseBranchSha !== cachedBranch.parentSha;
+}
diff --git a/lib/util/git/index.spec.ts b/lib/util/git/index.spec.ts
index f6ecee0d1affab..11e5182a856e81 100644
--- a/lib/util/git/index.spec.ts
+++ b/lib/util/git/index.spec.ts
@@ -7,6 +7,8 @@ import {
   CONFIG_VALIDATION,
   INVALID_PATH,
 } from '../../constants/error-messages';
+import * as _repoCache from '../cache/repository';
+import type { BranchCache } from '../cache/repository/types';
 import { newlineRegex, regEx } from '../regex';
 import * as _conflictsCache from './conflicts-cache';
 import * as _modifiedCache from './modified-cache';
@@ -17,6 +19,8 @@ import { setNoVerify } from '.';
 jest.mock('./conflicts-cache');
 jest.mock('./modified-cache');
 jest.mock('delay');
+jest.mock('../cache/repository');
+const repoCache = mocked(_repoCache);
 const conflictsCache = mocked(_conflictsCache);
 const modifiedCache = mocked(_modifiedCache);
 
@@ -239,16 +243,27 @@ describe('util/git/index', () => {
 
   describe('isBranchBehindBase()', () => {
     it('should return false if same SHA as master', async () => {
+      repoCache.getCache.mockReturnValueOnce({});
       expect(
         await git.isBranchBehindBase('renovate/future_branch')
       ).toBeFalse();
     });
 
     it('should return true if SHA different from master', async () => {
+      repoCache.getCache.mockReturnValueOnce({});
       expect(await git.isBranchBehindBase('renovate/past_branch')).toBeTrue();
     });
 
     it('should return result even if non-default and not under branchPrefix', async () => {
+      const parentSha = await git.getBranchParentSha('develop');
+      repoCache.getCache.mockReturnValueOnce({}).mockReturnValueOnce({
+        branches: [
+          {
+            branchName: 'develop',
+            parentSha: parentSha,
+          } as BranchCache,
+        ],
+      });
       expect(await git.isBranchBehindBase('develop')).toBeTrue();
       expect(await git.isBranchBehindBase('develop')).toBeTrue(); // cache
     });
diff --git a/lib/util/git/index.ts b/lib/util/git/index.ts
index e522315210c130..4e99a4527d35ce 100644
--- a/lib/util/git/index.ts
+++ b/lib/util/git/index.ts
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ import type { GitProtocol } from '../../types/git';
 import { Limit, incLimitedValue } from '../../workers/global/limits';
 import { newlineRegex, regEx } from '../regex';
 import { parseGitAuthor } from './author';
+import { getCachedBehindBaseResult } from './behind-base-branch-cache';
 import { getNoVerify, simpleGitConfig } from './config';
 import {
   getCachedConflictResult,
@@ -550,6 +551,13 @@ export function getBranchList(): string[] {
 }
 
 export async function isBranchBehindBase(branchName: string): Promise<boolean> {
+  const { currentBranchSha } = config;
+
+  let isBehind = getCachedBehindBaseResult(branchName, currentBranchSha);
+  if (isBehind !== null) {
+    return isBehind;
+  }
+
   await syncGit();
   try {
     const { currentBranchSha, currentBranch } = config;
@@ -559,7 +567,7 @@ export async function isBranchBehindBase(branchName: string): Promise<boolean> {
       '--contains',
       config.currentBranchSha,
     ]);
-    const isBehind = !branches.all.map(localName).includes(branchName);
+    isBehind = !branches.all.map(localName).includes(branchName);
     logger.debug(
       { isBehind, currentBranch, currentBranchSha },
       `isBranchBehindBase=${isBehind}`