diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 989023f251..46c5b9351c 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -14,6 +14,18 @@ version = "1.2.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "aae1277d39aeec15cb388266ecc24b11c80469deae6067e17a1a7aa9e5c1f234"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "ahash"
+version = "0.8.2"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "bf6ccdb167abbf410dcb915cabd428929d7f6a04980b54a11f26a39f1c7f7107"
+dependencies = [
+ "cfg-if",
+ "getrandom",
+ "once_cell",
+ "version_check",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "aho-corasick"
 version = "0.7.20"
@@ -989,9 +1001,12 @@ dependencies = [
 name = "linkerd-distribute"
 version = "0.1.0"
 dependencies = [
+ "ahash",
  "indexmap",
  "linkerd-stack",
+ "parking_lot",
  "rand",
+ "tokio",
  "tokio-test",
  "tower-test",
  "tracing",
diff --git a/linkerd/distribute/Cargo.toml b/linkerd/distribute/Cargo.toml
index 9b25a26b03..5c793030b9 100644
--- a/linkerd/distribute/Cargo.toml
+++ b/linkerd/distribute/Cargo.toml
@@ -6,9 +6,12 @@ license = "Apache-2.0"
 publish = false
 
 [dependencies]
+ahash = "0.8"
 indexmap = "1"
 linkerd-stack = { path = "../stack" }
+parking_lot = "0.12"
 rand = { version = "0.8", features = ["small_rng"] }
+tokio = { version = "1", features = ["macros"] }
 tracing = "0.1"
 
 [dev-dependencies]
diff --git a/linkerd/distribute/src/cache.rs b/linkerd/distribute/src/cache.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..34359c5009
--- /dev/null
+++ b/linkerd/distribute/src/cache.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,87 @@
+use super::{params, NewDistribute};
+use linkerd_stack::{layer, NewService, Param};
+use parking_lot::Mutex;
+use std::{fmt::Debug, hash::Hash, sync::Arc};
+
+/// A [`NewService`] that produces [`NewDistribute`]s using a shared cache of
+/// backends.
+///
+/// On each call to [`NewService::new_service`], the cache extracts a new set of
+/// [`params::Backends`] from the target to determine which
+/// services should be added/removed from the cache.
+#[derive(Debug)]
+pub struct BackendCache<K, N, S>(Arc<Inner<K, N, S>>);
+
+#[derive(Debug)]
+struct Inner<K, N, S> {
+    new_backend: N,
+    backends: Mutex<ahash::AHashMap<K, S>>,
+}
+
+// === impl BackendCache ===
+
+impl<K, N, S> BackendCache<K, N, S> {
+    pub fn new(new_backend: N) -> Self {
+        Self(Arc::new(Inner {
+            new_backend,
+            backends: Default::default(),
+        }))
+    }
+
+    pub fn layer() -> impl layer::Layer<N, Service = Self> + Clone {
+        layer::mk(Self::new)
+    }
+}
+
+impl<T, K, N> NewService<T> for BackendCache<K, N, N::Service>
+where
+    T: Param<params::Backends<K>>,
+    K: Eq + Hash + Clone + Debug,
+    N: NewService<K>,
+    N::Service: Clone,
+{
+    type Service = NewDistribute<K, N::Service>;
+
+    fn new_service(&self, target: T) -> Self::Service {
+        let params::Backends(backends) = target.param();
+
+        let mut cache = self.0.backends.lock();
+
+        // Remove all backends that aren't in the updated set of addrs.
+        cache.retain(|backend, _| {
+            if backends.contains(backend) {
+                true
+            } else {
+                tracing::debug!(?backend, "Removing");
+                false
+            }
+        });
+
+        // If there are additional addrs, cache a new service for each.
+        debug_assert!(backends.len() >= cache.len());
+        if backends.len() > cache.len() {
+            cache.reserve(backends.len());
+            for backend in &*backends {
+                // Skip rebuilding targets we already have a stack for.
+                if cache.contains_key(backend) {
+                    tracing::trace!(?backend, "Retaining");
+                    continue;
+                }
+
+                tracing::debug!(?backend, "Adding");
+                cache.insert(
+                    backend.clone(),
+                    self.0.new_backend.new_service(backend.clone()),
+                );
+            }
+        }
+
+        NewDistribute::from(cache.clone())
+    }
+}
+
+impl<K, N, S> Clone for BackendCache<K, N, S> {
+    fn clone(&self) -> Self {
+        Self(self.0.clone())
+    }
+}
diff --git a/linkerd/distribute/src/lib.rs b/linkerd/distribute/src/lib.rs
index c71452e9a3..bed753f1d5 100644
--- a/linkerd/distribute/src/lib.rs
+++ b/linkerd/distribute/src/lib.rs
@@ -3,12 +3,14 @@
 #![deny(rust_2018_idioms, clippy::disallowed_methods, clippy::disallowed_types)]
 #![forbid(unsafe_code)]
 
+mod cache;
 mod params;
 mod service;
 mod stack;
 
 pub use self::{
-    params::{Distribution, WeightedKeys},
+    cache::BackendCache,
+    params::{Backends, Distribution, WeightedKeys},
     service::Distribute,
     stack::NewDistribute,
 };
diff --git a/linkerd/distribute/src/params.rs b/linkerd/distribute/src/params.rs
index 762c92b92e..727427e72c 100644
--- a/linkerd/distribute/src/params.rs
+++ b/linkerd/distribute/src/params.rs
@@ -1,5 +1,11 @@
+use ahash::AHashSet;
 use rand::distributions::{WeightedError, WeightedIndex};
-use std::sync::Arc;
+use std::{fmt::Debug, hash::Hash, sync::Arc};
+
+#[derive(Debug, Clone, PartialEq, Eq)]
+pub struct Backends<K>(pub(crate) Arc<AHashSet<K>>)
+where
+    K: Eq + Hash + Clone + Debug;
 
 /// A parameter type that configures how a [`Distribute`] should behave.
 ///
@@ -23,6 +29,26 @@ pub struct WeightedKeys<K> {
     index: WeightedIndex<u32>,
 }
 
+// === impl Backends ===
+
+impl<K> From<Arc<AHashSet<K>>> for Backends<K>
+where
+    K: Eq + Hash + Clone + Debug + Send + Sync + 'static,
+{
+    fn from(inner: Arc<AHashSet<K>>) -> Self {
+        Self(inner)
+    }
+}
+
+impl<K> FromIterator<K> for Backends<K>
+where
+    K: Eq + Hash + Clone + Debug + Send + Sync + 'static,
+{
+    fn from_iter<T: IntoIterator<Item = K>>(iter: T) -> Self {
+        Self(Arc::new(iter.into_iter().collect()))
+    }
+}
+
 // === impl Distribution ===
 
 impl<K> From<K> for Distribution<K> {
diff --git a/linkerd/distribute/src/service.rs b/linkerd/distribute/src/service.rs
index 706a0d8a0e..e0cd1ade87 100644
--- a/linkerd/distribute/src/service.rs
+++ b/linkerd/distribute/src/service.rs
@@ -150,6 +150,18 @@ impl<K: Clone, S: Clone> Clone for Distribute<K, S> {
     }
 }
 
+impl<K, S> Default for Distribute<K, S> {
+    /// Returns an empty distribution. This distribution will never become
+    /// ready.
+    fn default() -> Self {
+        Self {
+            backends: Default::default(),
+            selection: Selection::Empty,
+            ready_idx: None,
+        }
+    }
+}
+
 // === impl Selection ===
 
 impl<K> From<Distribution<K>> for Selection<K> {
diff --git a/linkerd/distribute/src/stack.rs b/linkerd/distribute/src/stack.rs
index e57a07c1c8..32351047fd 100644
--- a/linkerd/distribute/src/stack.rs
+++ b/linkerd/distribute/src/stack.rs
@@ -1,31 +1,32 @@
 use crate::{Distribute, Distribution};
+use ahash::AHashMap;
 use linkerd_stack::{NewService, Param};
-use std::{collections::HashMap, hash::Hash, sync::Arc};
+use std::{hash::Hash, sync::Arc};
 
 /// Builds `Distribute` services for a specific `Distribution`.
 #[derive(Clone, Debug)]
 pub struct NewDistribute<K, S> {
     /// All potential backends.
-    all_backends: Arc<HashMap<K, S>>,
+    all_backends: Arc<AHashMap<K, S>>,
 }
 
 // === impl NewDistribute ===
 
-impl<K, S> From<Arc<HashMap<K, S>>> for NewDistribute<K, S> {
-    fn from(all_backends: Arc<HashMap<K, S>>) -> Self {
+impl<K, S> From<Arc<AHashMap<K, S>>> for NewDistribute<K, S> {
+    fn from(all_backends: Arc<AHashMap<K, S>>) -> Self {
         Self { all_backends }
     }
 }
 
-impl<K, S> From<HashMap<K, S>> for NewDistribute<K, S> {
-    fn from(backends: HashMap<K, S>) -> Self {
+impl<K, S> From<AHashMap<K, S>> for NewDistribute<K, S> {
+    fn from(backends: AHashMap<K, S>) -> Self {
         Arc::new(backends).into()
     }
 }
 
 impl<K: Hash + Eq, S> FromIterator<(K, S)> for NewDistribute<K, S> {
     fn from_iter<T: IntoIterator<Item = (K, S)>>(iter: T) -> Self {
-        iter.into_iter().collect::<HashMap<_, _>>().into()
+        iter.into_iter().collect::<AHashMap<_, _>>().into()
     }
 }