diff --git a/core/includes/bootstrap.inc b/core/includes/bootstrap.inc
index e26cb36..0a1e3bb 100644
--- a/core/includes/bootstrap.inc
+++ b/core/includes/bootstrap.inc
@@ -845,7 +845,7 @@ function drupal_settings_initialize() {
 function drupal_get_filename($type, $name, $filename = NULL) {
   // The location of files will not change during the request, so do not use
   // drupal_static().
-  static $files = array(), $dirs = array();
+  static $files = array(), $dirs = array(); $bad = array();
 
   // Profiles are converted into modules in system_rebuild_module_data().
   // @todo Remove false-exposure of profiles as modules.
@@ -863,58 +863,85 @@ function drupal_get_filename($type, $name, $filename = NULL) {
   elseif (isset($files[$type][$name])) {
     // nothing
   }
-  // Verify that we have an active database connection, before querying
-  // the database. This is required because this function is called both
-  // before we have a database connection (i.e. during installation) and
-  // when a database connection fails.
   else {
-    try {
-      if (function_exists('db_query')) {
-        $file = db_query("SELECT filename FROM {system} WHERE name = :name AND type = :type", array(':name' => $name, ':type' => $type))->fetchField();
-        if ($file && file_exists(DRUPAL_ROOT . '/' . $file)) {
-          $files[$type][$name] = $file;
-        }
-      }
+    // Check the bootstrap cache for the existing files data.
+    // If we have an entry in the cache then use it and save a call to the db.
+    // This is install safe as the default cache backend will return false.
+    $cache = cache('bootstrap')->get('drupal_get_filename');
+
+    // Check if we got something from the cache that matches the type and name.
+    if (isset($cache->data) && isset($cache->data[$type][$name])) {
+      $files[$type][$name] = $cache->data[$type][$name];
     }
-    catch (Exception $e) {
-      // The database table may not exist because Drupal is not yet installed,
-      // or the database might be down. We have a fallback for this case so we
-      // hide the error completely.
-    }
-    // Fallback to searching the filesystem if the database could not find the
-    // file or the file returned by the database is not found.
-    if (!isset($files[$type][$name])) {
-      // We have a consistent directory naming: modules, themes...
-      $dir = $type . 's';
-      if ($type == 'theme_engine') {
-        $dir = 'themes/engines';
-        $extension = 'engine';
-      }
-      elseif ($type == 'theme') {
-        $extension = 'info';
-      }
-      // Profiles are converted into modules in system_rebuild_module_data().
-      // @todo Remove false-exposure of profiles as modules.
-      elseif ($original_type == 'profile') {
-        $dir = 'profiles';
-        $extension = 'profile';
-      }
-      else {
-        $extension = $type;
+    else {
+      // Verify that we have an active database connection, before querying
+      // the database. This is required because this function is called both
+      // before we have a database connection (i.e. during installation) and
+      // when a database connection fails.
+      try {
+        if (function_exists('db_query')) {
+          $file = db_query("SELECT filename FROM {system} WHERE name = :name AND type = :type", array(':name' => $name, ':type' => $type))->fetchField();
+          if ($file && file_exists(DRUPAL_ROOT . '/' . $file)) {
+            $files[$type][$name] = $file;
+
+            cache('bootstrap')->set('drupal_get_filename', $files);
+          }
+        }
       }
+      catch (Exception $e) {
+        // The database table may not exist because Drupal is not yet installed,
+        // or the database might be down. We have a fallback for this case so we
+        // hide the error completely.
+      }   
+      // Fallback to searching the filesystem if the database could not find the
+      // file or the file returned by the database is not found.
+      if (!isset($files[$type][$name])) {
+        // We have a consistent directory naming: modules, themes...
+        $dir = $type . 's';
+        if ($type == 'theme_engine') {
+          $dir = 'themes/engines';
+          $extension = 'engine';
+        }
+        elseif ($type == 'theme') {
+          $extension = 'info';
+        }
+        // Profiles are converted into modules in system_rebuild_module_data().
+        // @todo Remove false-exposure of profiles as modules.
+        elseif ($original_type == 'profile') {
+          $dir = 'profiles';
+          $extension = 'profile';
+        }
+        else {
+          $extension = $type;
+        }
 
-      if (!isset($dirs[$dir][$extension])) {
-        $dirs[$dir][$extension] = TRUE;
-        if (!function_exists('drupal_system_listing')) {
-          require_once DRUPAL_ROOT . '/core/includes/common.inc';
+        // See if we have a cached list of files missing from the file system.
+        if (empty($bad)) {
+          $cache = cache('bootstrap')->get('drupal_get_filename_missing');
+          if (!empty($cache->data)) {
+            $bad = $cache->data;
+          }
         }
-        // Scan the appropriate directories for all files with the requested
-        // extension, not just the file we are currently looking for. This
-        // prevents unnecessary scans from being repeated when this function is
-        // called more than once in the same page request.
-        $matches = drupal_system_listing("/^" . DRUPAL_PHP_FUNCTION_PATTERN . "\.$extension$/", $dir, 'name', 0);
-        foreach ($matches as $matched_name => $file) {
-          $files[$type][$matched_name] = $file->uri;
+
+        if (!isset($dirs[$dir][$extension]) && !isset($bad[$type][$name])) {
+          $dirs[$dir][$extension] = TRUE;
+          if (!function_exists('drupal_system_listing')) {
+            require_once DRUPAL_ROOT . '/core/includes/common.inc';
+          }
+          // Scan the appropriate directories for all files with the requested
+          // extension, not just the file we are currently looking for. This
+          // prevents unnecessary scans from being repeated when this function is
+          // called more than once in the same page request.
+          $matches = drupal_system_listing("/^" . DRUPAL_PHP_FUNCTION_PATTERN . "\.$extension$/", $dir, 'name', 0);
+
+          if (count($matches) > 0) {
+            foreach ($matches as $matched_name => $file) {
+              $files[$type][$matched_name] = $file->uri;
+            }
+
+            // Update the cache entry if we found files locally
+            cache('bootstrap')->set('drupal_get_filename', $files); 
+          }
         }
       }
     }
@@ -923,6 +950,12 @@ function drupal_get_filename($type, $name, $filename = NULL) {
   if (isset($files[$type][$name])) {
     return $files[$type][$name];
   }
+  elseif (!isset($bad[$type][$name])) {
+    // Add the missing file to a temporary cache and throw a watchdog alert.
+    $bad[$type][$name] = TRUE;
+    $cache = cache('bootstrap')->set('drupal_get_filename_missing', $bad, -1);
+    watchdog('system', 'The following @type is missing from the file system: @name.', array('@type' => $type, '@name' => $name), WATCHDOG_ALERT);
+  }
 }
 
 /**