diff --git a/pkg/v1/partial/uncompressed.go b/pkg/v1/partial/uncompressed.go
index 669dc0485..629c1ffb9 100644
--- a/pkg/v1/partial/uncompressed.go
+++ b/pkg/v1/partial/uncompressed.go
@@ -110,6 +110,9 @@ type uncompressedImageExtender struct {
 
 	lock     sync.Mutex
 	manifest *v1.Manifest
+
+	layers    []v1.Layer
+	layerOnce sync.Once
 }
 
 // Assert that our extender type completes the v1.Image interface
@@ -192,19 +195,28 @@ func (i *uncompressedImageExtender) ConfigFile() (*v1.ConfigFile, error) {
 
 // Layers implements v1.Image
 func (i *uncompressedImageExtender) Layers() ([]v1.Layer, error) {
-	diffIDs, err := DiffIDs(i)
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
-	}
-	ls := make([]v1.Layer, 0, len(diffIDs))
-	for _, h := range diffIDs {
-		l, err := i.LayerByDiffID(h)
+	var outerErr error
+	i.layerOnce.Do(func() {
+		diffIDs, err := DiffIDs(i)
 		if err != nil {
-			return nil, err
+			outerErr = err
+			return
+		}
+		i.layers = make([]v1.Layer, 0, len(diffIDs))
+		for _, h := range diffIDs {
+			l, err := i.LayerByDiffID(h)
+			if err != nil {
+				outerErr = err
+				return
+			}
+			i.layers = append(i.layers, l)
 		}
-		ls = append(ls, l)
+	})
+	if outerErr != nil {
+		return nil, outerErr
 	}
-	return ls, nil
+
+	return i.layers, nil
 }
 
 // LayerByDiffID implements v1.Image
diff --git a/pkg/v1/remote/write.go b/pkg/v1/remote/write.go
index 8939cd3b5..6fc5ff0ae 100644
--- a/pkg/v1/remote/write.go
+++ b/pkg/v1/remote/write.go
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ func Write(ref name.Reference, img v1.Image, options ...Option) error {
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
-	w := writer{
+	w := &writer{
 		ref:    ref,
 		client: &http.Client{Transport: tr},
 	}
@@ -67,6 +67,26 @@ func Write(ref name.Reference, img v1.Image, options ...Option) error {
 	// the digest for whatever reason, we can't dedupe and might re-upload.
 	var g errgroup.Group
 	uploaded := map[v1.Hash]bool{}
+
+	// precompute digests in parallel
+	// computing digests is expensive, and the next stage does it serially
+	// since digests are cached, there is no need to store them in an array
+	for _, l := range ls {
+		l := l
+
+		g.Go(func() error {
+			// Streaming layers calculate their digests while uploading them. Assume
+			// an error here indicates we need to upload the layer.
+			_, _ = l.Digest()
+			return nil
+		})
+	}
+	err = g.Wait()
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	g = errgroup.Group{}
 	for _, l := range ls {
 		l := l
 
@@ -346,6 +366,7 @@ func (w *writer) uploadOne(l v1.Layer) error {
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
+
 		digest := h.String()
 
 		if err := w.commitBlob(location, digest); err != nil {
@@ -448,7 +469,7 @@ func WriteIndex(ref name.Reference, ii v1.ImageIndex, options ...Option) error {
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
-	w := writer{
+	w := &writer{
 		ref:    ref,
 		client: &http.Client{Transport: tr},
 	}
@@ -504,7 +525,7 @@ func WriteLayer(ref name.Digest, layer v1.Layer, options ...Option) error {
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
-	w := writer{
+	w := &writer{
 		ref:    ref,
 		client: &http.Client{Transport: tr},
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/v1/remote/write_test.go b/pkg/v1/remote/write_test.go
index 7dce1c705..9903819bf 100644
--- a/pkg/v1/remote/write_test.go
+++ b/pkg/v1/remote/write_test.go
@@ -1269,3 +1269,30 @@ func TestTag(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Errorf("Validate() = %v", err)
 	}
 }
+
+func BenchmarkWrite(b *testing.B) {
+	// unfortunately the registry _and_ the img have caching behaviour, so we need a new registry
+	// and image every iteration of benchmarking.
+	for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ {
+		// set up the registry
+		s := httptest.NewServer(registry.New())
+		defer s.Close()
+
+		// load the image
+		img, err := random.Image(50*1024*1024, 10)
+		if err != nil {
+			b.Fatalf("random.Image(...): %v", err)
+		}
+
+		tagStr := strings.TrimPrefix(s.URL+"/test/image:tag", "http://")
+		tag, err := name.NewTag(tagStr)
+		if err != nil {
+			b.Fatalf("parsing tag (%s): %v", tagStr, err)
+		}
+
+		err = Write(tag, img)
+		if err != nil {
+			b.Fatalf("pushing tag one: %v", err)
+		}
+	}
+}