diff --git a/src/c_import.zig b/src/c_import.zig
index 79319f1..480a072 100644
--- a/src/c_import.zig
+++ b/src/c_import.zig
@@ -232,15 +232,74 @@ pub fn processCImport(
 // Native C compilation (compile to .o, not LLVM module)
 // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
-/// Compile C sources to native object files (in memory).
+/// A cached entry must at least LOOK like an object file (Mach-O or
+/// ELF magic) — a truncated or garbage entry falls back to a fresh
+/// compile instead of poisoning the link with an opaque error.
+pub fn objectMagicOk(data: []const u8) bool {
+    if (data.len < 4) return false;
+    if (data[0] == 0x7f and data[1] == 'E' and data[2] == 'L' and data[3] == 'F') return true;
+    if (data[0] == 0xcf and data[1] == 0xfa and data[2] == 0xed and data[3] == 0xfe) return true; // Mach-O 64
+    if (data[0] == 0xce and data[1] == 0xfa and data[2] == 0xed and data[3] == 0xfe) return true; // Mach-O 32
+    return false;
+}
+
+fn loadCachedObject(path: [:0]const u8) ?c.LLVMMemoryBufferRef {
+    var buf: c.LLVMMemoryBufferRef = null;
+    var err_msg: [*c]u8 = null;
+    if (c.LLVMCreateMemoryBufferWithContentsOfFile(path.ptr, &buf, &err_msg) != 0) {
+        if (err_msg != null) c.LLVMDisposeMessage(err_msg);
+        return null;
+    }
+    const start = c.LLVMGetBufferStart(buf);
+    const size = c.LLVMGetBufferSize(buf);
+    if (start == null or size < 4) {
+        c.LLVMDisposeMemoryBuffer(buf);
+        return null;
+    }
+    const data = @as([*]const u8, @ptrCast(start))[0..size];
+    if (!objectMagicOk(data)) {
+        c.LLVMDisposeMemoryBuffer(buf);
+        return null;
+    }
+    return buf;
+}
+
+// Best-effort, never fails the build: write to a per-pid temp at the
+// repo root, then copy into place (copyFile's make_path creates
+// .sx-cache/ if needed) — same pattern as main.zig's object cache.
+fn saveCachedObject(allocator: std.mem.Allocator, obj_buf: c.LLVMMemoryBufferRef, io: std.Io, cache_path: [:0]const u8) void {
+    const start = c.LLVMGetBufferStart(obj_buf);
+    const size = c.LLVMGetBufferSize(obj_buf);
+    if (start == null or size == 0) return;
+    const data = @as([*]const u8, @ptrCast(start))[0..size];
+    const tmp = std.fmt.allocPrint(allocator, ".sx-c-cache-tmp-{d}", .{std.c.getpid()}) catch return;
+    std.Io.Dir.writeFile(.cwd(), io, .{ .sub_path = tmp, .data = data }) catch return;
+    std.Io.Dir.copyFile(.cwd(), tmp, .cwd(), cache_path, io, .{ .make_path = true }) catch {};
+    std.Io.Dir.deleteFile(.cwd(), io, tmp) catch {};
+}
+
+/// Compile C sources to native object files (in memory), through a
+/// persistent content-addressed cache (`.sx-cache/c-<key>.o`, default
+/// on). A `#source` unit recompiles only when its cache key changes —
+/// see `cSourceCacheKey` for what participates. Any cache-machinery
+/// failure (unreadable input for hashing, corrupt entry) falls back to
+/// a fresh compile; the cache can never fail a build.
 /// Returns list of LLVMMemoryBufferRef (each containing a .o file).
 pub fn compileCToObjects(
     allocator: std.mem.Allocator,
+    io: std.Io,
     infos: []const CImportInfo,
     target_config: @import("target.zig").TargetConfig,
 ) ![]c.LLVMMemoryBufferRef {
     var obj_bufs = std.ArrayList(c.LLVMMemoryBufferRef).empty;
 
+    var ver_maj: c_uint = 0;
+    var ver_min: c_uint = 0;
+    var ver_pat: c_uint = 0;
+    c.LLVMGetVersion(&ver_maj, &ver_min, &ver_pat);
+    const llvm_version = try std.fmt.allocPrint(allocator, "{d}.{d}.{d}", .{ ver_maj, ver_min, ver_pat });
+    const triple_slice: ?[]const u8 = if (target_config.triple) |t| std.mem.span(t) else null;
+
     for (infos) |info| {
         if (info.sources.len == 0) continue;
 
@@ -267,8 +326,10 @@ pub fn compileCToObjects(
                 try args_list.append(allocator, sysroot.ptr);
             }
         }
+        var inc_dirs = std.ArrayList([]const u8).empty;
         for (info.includes) |inc| {
             const dir = dirName(inc);
+            try inc_dirs.append(allocator, dir);
             try args_list.append(allocator, (try allocPrintZ(allocator, "-I{s}", .{dir})).ptr);
         }
         for (info.defines) |def| {
@@ -284,7 +345,40 @@ pub fn compileCToObjects(
             null;
         const args_len: c_int = @intCast(args_list.items.len);
 
+        // Declared headers participate in the cache key BY CONTENT; an
+        // unreadable one disables caching for this unit, never the build.
+        var header_bytes = std.ArrayList([]const u8).empty;
+        var cache_ok = true;
+        for (info.includes) |inc| {
+            const hb = std.Io.Dir.readFileAlloc(.cwd(), io, inc, allocator, .limited(64 * 1024 * 1024)) catch {
+                cache_ok = false;
+                break;
+            };
+            try header_bytes.append(allocator, hb);
+        }
+
         for (info.sources) |src| {
+            var cache_path: ?[:0]const u8 = null;
+            if (cache_ok) {
+                if (std.Io.Dir.readFileAlloc(.cwd(), io, src, allocator, .limited(64 * 1024 * 1024))) |src_bytes| {
+                    const key = cSourceCacheKey(
+                        src_bytes,
+                        header_bytes.items,
+                        info.defines,
+                        info.flags,
+                        inc_dirs.items,
+                        llvm_version,
+                        triple_slice,
+                        target_config.sysroot,
+                    );
+                    cache_path = try std.fmt.allocPrintSentinel(allocator, ".sx-cache/c-{x:0>16}.o", .{key}, 0);
+                    if (loadCachedObject(cache_path.?)) |cached| {
+                        try obj_bufs.append(allocator, cached);
+                        continue;
+                    }
+                } else |_| {}
+            }
+
             const src_z = try allocator.dupeZ(u8, src);
             var err_msg: [*c]u8 = null;
 
@@ -302,6 +396,7 @@ pub fn compileCToObjects(
                 return error.CompileError;
             }
 
+            if (cache_path) |cp| saveCachedObject(allocator, obj_buf, io, cp);
             try obj_bufs.append(allocator, obj_buf);
         }
     }
diff --git a/src/main.zig b/src/main.zig
index 9898970..bccac1a 100644
--- a/src/main.zig
+++ b/src/main.zig
@@ -325,7 +325,7 @@ fn compileCForJIT(allocator: std.mem.Allocator, io: std.Io, comp: *sx.core.Compi
     const c_infos = try comp.collectCImportSources();
     if (c_infos.len == 0) return .{ .allocator = allocator };
 
-    const obj_bufs = try sx.c_import.compileCToObjects(allocator, c_infos, comp.target_config);
+    const obj_bufs = try sx.c_import.compileCToObjects(allocator, io, c_infos, comp.target_config);
     return try sx.c_import.loadCObjectsForJIT(allocator, io, obj_bufs);
 }
 
@@ -339,7 +339,7 @@ fn compileCForBuild(allocator: std.mem.Allocator, io: std.Io, comp: *sx.core.Com
         return try sx.c_import.compileCWithEmcc(allocator, io, c_infos, comp.target_config, tmp_dir);
     }
 
-    const obj_bufs = try sx.c_import.compileCToObjects(allocator, c_infos, comp.target_config);
+    const obj_bufs = try sx.c_import.compileCToObjects(allocator, io, c_infos, comp.target_config);
     return try sx.c_import.writeCObjectFiles(allocator, io, obj_bufs, tmp_dir);
 }