diff --git a/cjs/shared/matches.js b/cjs/shared/matches.js
index e4deed74..86785ccd 100644
--- a/cjs/shared/matches.js
+++ b/cjs/shared/matches.js
@@ -108,14 +108,29 @@ const prepareMatch = (element, selectors) => CSSselect.compile(
 );
 exports.prepareMatch = prepareMatch;
 
-const matches = (element, selectors) => CSSselect.is(
-  element,
-  selectors,
-  {
-    strict: true,
-    context: selectors.includes(':scope') ? element : void 0,
-    xmlMode: !ignoreCase(element),
-    adapter
+// matches() is called once per element and selector pair, so the selector
+// is compiled once and kept, instead of parsed again on every call.
+// :scope depends on the element, so those are compiled each time.
+const compiled = new Map;
+const MAX_COMPILED = 1024;
+
+/** @returns {boolean} */
+const matches = (element, selectors) => {
+  const xmlMode = !ignoreCase(element);
+  if (selectors.includes(':scope'))
+    return CSSselect.is(
+      element,
+      selectors,
+      {strict: true, context: element, xmlMode, adapter}
+    );
+  const key = (xmlMode ? 'x' : 'h') + selectors;
+  let test = compiled.get(key);
+  if (!test) {
+    if (compiled.size === MAX_COMPILED)
+      compiled.delete(compiled.keys().next().value);
+    test = CSSselect.compile(selectors, {strict: true, xmlMode, adapter});
+    compiled.set(key, test);
   }
-);
+  return test(element);
+};
 exports.matches = matches;
diff --git a/esm/shared/matches.js b/esm/shared/matches.js
index dbc3339a..3012e470 100644
--- a/esm/shared/matches.js
+++ b/esm/shared/matches.js
@@ -106,13 +106,28 @@ export const prepareMatch = (element, selectors) => CSSselect.compile(
   }
 );
 
-export const matches = (element, selectors) => CSSselect.is(
-  element,
-  selectors,
-  {
-    strict: true,
-    context: selectors.includes(':scope') ? element : void 0,
-    xmlMode: !ignoreCase(element),
-    adapter
+// matches() is called once per element and selector pair, so the selector
+// is compiled once and kept, instead of parsed again on every call.
+// :scope depends on the element, so those are compiled each time.
+const compiled = new Map;
+const MAX_COMPILED = 1024;
+
+/** @returns {boolean} */
+export const matches = (element, selectors) => {
+  const xmlMode = !ignoreCase(element);
+  if (selectors.includes(':scope'))
+    return CSSselect.is(
+      element,
+      selectors,
+      {strict: true, context: element, xmlMode, adapter}
+    );
+  const key = (xmlMode ? 'x' : 'h') + selectors;
+  let test = compiled.get(key);
+  if (!test) {
+    if (compiled.size === MAX_COMPILED)
+      compiled.delete(compiled.keys().next().value);
+    test = CSSselect.compile(selectors, {strict: true, xmlMode, adapter});
+    compiled.set(key, test);
   }
-);
+  return test(element);
+};
diff --git a/test/html/document.js b/test/html/document.js
index b5e15062..eedd4f17 100644
--- a/test/html/document.js
+++ b/test/html/document.js
@@ -92,6 +92,18 @@ emptyClass.getElementById('b').className = 'x';
 emptyClass.getElementById('b').classList.remove('x');
 assert(emptyClass.querySelectorAll('[class=""]').map(({id}) => id).join(','), 'b,c', '[class=""] follows class mutations');
 
+const {document: compiled} = parseHTML('<div><p class="a"></p></div>');
+const compiledP = compiled.querySelector('p');
+assert(compiledP.matches('div .a'), true, 'matches() compiles a selector');
+compiledP.className = 'b';
+assert(compiledP.matches('div .a'), false, 'a compiled selector follows mutations');
+const compiledXML = (new DOMParser).parseFromString('<div><p class="a"/></div>', 'text/xml');
+assert(compiledXML.querySelector('p').matches('DIV P'), false, 'compiled selectors are kept per document kind');
+assert(compiledP.matches('DIV P'), true, 'compiled selectors are kept per document kind');
+for (let i = 0; i < 1100; i++)
+  compiledP.matches(`.b, .c${i}`);
+assert(compiledP.matches('div .b'), true, 'the oldest compiled selectors are dropped');
+
 assert((new DOMParser).parseFromString('...', 'text/html').firstElementChild.localName, 'html');
 
 const issue187 = (new DOMParser).parseFromString(`<!DOCTYPE html><html><head></head><body></body></html>`, 'text/html').defaultView.window.document;