diff --git a/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/remote/RemoteExecutionService.java b/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/remote/RemoteExecutionService.java
index f38c1e3dd1f620..d368e5981ad4be 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/remote/RemoteExecutionService.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/remote/RemoteExecutionService.java
@@ -143,6 +143,8 @@
 import java.util.SortedMap;
 import java.util.TreeMap;
 import java.util.TreeSet;
+import java.util.concurrent.CompletableFuture;
+import java.util.concurrent.CompletionException;
 import java.util.concurrent.ConcurrentLinkedQueue;
 import java.util.concurrent.Executor;
 import java.util.concurrent.Phaser;
@@ -156,6 +158,7 @@
  * cache and execution with spawn specific types.
  */
 public class RemoteExecutionService {
+
   private final Reporter reporter;
   private final boolean verboseFailures;
   private final Path execRoot;
@@ -164,11 +167,14 @@ public class RemoteExecutionService {
   private final String commandId;
   private final DigestUtil digestUtil;
   private final RemoteOptions remoteOptions;
-  @Nullable private final RemoteCache remoteCache;
-  @Nullable private final RemoteExecutionClient remoteExecutor;
+  @Nullable
+  private final RemoteCache remoteCache;
+  @Nullable
+  private final RemoteExecutionClient remoteExecutor;
   private final TempPathGenerator tempPathGenerator;
-  @Nullable private final Path captureCorruptedOutputsDir;
-  private final Cache<Object, MerkleTree> merkleTreeCache;
+  @Nullable
+  private final Path captureCorruptedOutputsDir;
+  private final Cache<Object, CompletableFuture<MerkleTree>> merkleTreeCache;
   private final Set<String> reportedErrors = new HashSet<>();
   private final Phaser backgroundTaskPhaser = new Phaser(1);
 
@@ -344,7 +350,7 @@ public boolean mayBeExecutedRemotely(Spawn spawn) {
   }
 
   @VisibleForTesting
-  Cache<Object, MerkleTree> getMerkleTreeCache() {
+  Cache<Object, CompletableFuture<MerkleTree>> getMerkleTreeCache() {
     return merkleTreeCache;
   }
 
@@ -418,11 +424,30 @@ private MerkleTree buildMerkleTreeVisitor(
       MetadataProvider metadataProvider,
       ArtifactPathResolver artifactPathResolver)
       throws IOException, ForbiddenActionInputException {
-    MerkleTree result = merkleTreeCache.getIfPresent(nodeKey);
-    if (result == null) {
-      result = uncachedBuildMerkleTreeVisitor(walker, metadataProvider, artifactPathResolver);
-      merkleTreeCache.put(nodeKey, result);
+    // Deduplicate concurrent computations for the same node. It's not possible to use
+    // MerkleTreeCache#get(key, loader) because the loading computation may cause other nodes to be
+    // recursively looked up, which is not allowed. Instead, use a future as described at
+    // https://github.com/ben-manes/caffeine/wiki/Faq#recursive-computations.
+    var freshFuture = new CompletableFuture<MerkleTree>();
+    var priorFuture = merkleTreeCache.asMap().putIfAbsent(nodeKey, freshFuture);
+    if (priorFuture != null) {
+      try {
+        return priorFuture.join();
+      } catch (CompletionException e) {
+        Throwable cause = checkNotNull(e.getCause());
+        if (cause instanceof IOException) {
+          throw (IOException) cause;
+        } else if (cause instanceof ForbiddenActionInputException) {
+          throw (ForbiddenActionInputException) cause;
+        } else {
+          checkState(cause instanceof RuntimeException);
+          throw (RuntimeException) cause;
+        }
+      }
     }
+    MerkleTree result = uncachedBuildMerkleTreeVisitor(walker, metadataProvider,
+        artifactPathResolver);
+    freshFuture.complete(result);
     return result;
   }