diff --git a/src/gil.rs b/src/gil.rs
index 4aadc33fb1a..227438e6f33 100644
--- a/src/gil.rs
+++ b/src/gil.rs
@@ -282,7 +282,8 @@ impl Drop for GILGuard {
 #[cfg(not(pyo3_disable_reference_pool))]
 /// Thread-safe storage for objects which were dec_ref while the GIL was not held.
 struct PendingDecRef {
-    obj: NonNull<ffi::PyObject>,
+    objs: [NonNull<ffi::PyObject>; 32],
+    cnt: usize,
     next: *mut PendingDecRef,
 }
 
@@ -291,20 +292,70 @@ static POOL: AtomicPtr<PendingDecRef> = AtomicPtr::new(null_mut());
 
 #[cfg(not(pyo3_disable_reference_pool))]
 fn enqueue_decref(obj: NonNull<ffi::PyObject>) {
-    let val = PendingDecRef {
-        obj,
-        next: null_mut(),
-    };
+    let old_top = POOL.swap(null_mut(), Ordering::AcqRel);
+
+    if !old_top.is_null() {
+        // SAFETY: We have exclusive ownership of the instance now.
+        let val = unsafe { &mut *old_top };
+
+        if val.cnt < 32 {
+            val.objs[val.cnt] = obj;
+            val.cnt += 1;
+
+            let mut last_next = &mut val.next;
+
+            while !last_next.is_null() {
+                last_next = unsafe { &mut (**last_next).next };
+            }
+
+            POOL.fetch_update(Ordering::AcqRel, Ordering::Relaxed, |new_top| {
+                *last_next = new_top;
+                Some(old_top)
+            })
+            .unwrap();
+        } else {
+            // We have ownership but not capacity, i.e. we allocate a new block and prepend it locally before publishing.
+            let mut objs = [NonNull::dangling(); 32];
+            objs[0] = obj;
+
+            let mut val = PendingDecRef {
+                objs,
+                cnt: 1,
+                next: old_top,
+            };
+
+            let mut last_next = &mut val.next;
+
+            while !last_next.is_null() {
+                last_next = unsafe { &mut (**last_next).next };
+            }
+
+            POOL.fetch_update(Ordering::AcqRel, Ordering::Relaxed, |new_top| {
+                *last_next = new_top;
+                Some(old_top)
+            })
+            .unwrap();
+        }
+    } else {
+        let mut objs = [NonNull::dangling(); 32];
+        objs[0] = obj;
+
+        let val = PendingDecRef {
+            objs,
+            cnt: 1,
+            next: null_mut(),
+        };
 
-    let top = Box::into_raw(Box::new(val));
+        let top = Box::into_raw(Box::new(val));
 
-    let next = unsafe { &mut (*top).next };
+        let next = unsafe { &mut (*top).next };
 
-    POOL.fetch_update(Ordering::AcqRel, Ordering::Relaxed, |new_top| {
-        *next = new_top;
-        Some(top)
-    })
-    .unwrap();
+        POOL.fetch_update(Ordering::AcqRel, Ordering::Relaxed, |new_top| {
+            *next = new_top;
+            Some(top)
+        })
+        .unwrap();
+    }
 }
 
 fn update_counts(_py: Python<'_>) {
@@ -314,7 +365,9 @@ fn update_counts(_py: Python<'_>) {
         // SAFETY: Was enqueued using `Box::into_raw`.
         let val = unsafe { Box::from_raw(top) };
 
-        unsafe { ffi::Py_DECREF(val.obj.as_ptr()) };
+        for obj in &val.objs[..val.cnt] {
+            unsafe { ffi::Py_DECREF(obj.as_ptr()) };
+        }
 
         top = val.next;
     }
@@ -581,11 +634,13 @@ mod tests {
             // SAFETY: Was enqueued using `Box::into_raw`.
             let val = unsafe { Box::from_raw(top) };
 
-            if val.obj.as_ptr() == obj.as_ptr() {
-                found = true;
-            }
+            for obj1 in &val.objs[..val.cnt] {
+                if obj1.as_ptr() == obj.as_ptr() {
+                    found = true;
+                }
 
-            unsafe { ffi::Py_DECREF(val.obj.as_ptr()) };
+                unsafe { ffi::Py_DECREF(obj1.as_ptr()) };
+            }
 
             top = val.next;
         }