diff --git a/Documentation/MANPAGE.md b/Documentation/MANPAGE.md
index 7ac0a1b..a984aa6 100644
--- a/Documentation/MANPAGE.md
+++ b/Documentation/MANPAGE.md
@@ -241,6 +241,9 @@ Only for forward mode: automatically unmount the filesystem if it has been idle
 for the specified duration. Durations can be specified like "500s" or "2h45m".
 0 (the default) means stay mounted indefinitely.
 
+#### -kernel_cache
+Enable the kernel_cache option of the FUSE filesystem, see fuse(8) for details.
+
 #### -ko
 Pass additional mount options to the kernel (comma-separated list).
 FUSE filesystems are mounted with "nodev,nosuid" by default. If gocryptfs
diff --git a/cli_args.go b/cli_args.go
index 11bb96e..8451083 100644
--- a/cli_args.go
+++ b/cli_args.go
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ type argContainer struct {
 	noprealloc, speed, hkdf, serialize_reads, forcedecode, hh, info,
 	sharedstorage, devrandom, fsck bool
 	// Mount options with opposites
-	dev, nodev, suid, nosuid, exec, noexec, rw, ro bool
+	dev, nodev, suid, nosuid, exec, noexec, rw, ro, kernel_cache bool
 	masterkey, mountpoint, cipherdir, cpuprofile,
 	memprofile, ko, ctlsock, fsname, force_owner, trace, fido2 string
 	// -extpass, -badname, -passfile can be passed multiple times
@@ -179,6 +179,7 @@ func parseCliOpts() (args argContainer) {
 	flagSet.BoolVar(&args.noexec, "noexec", false, "Deny executables")
 	flagSet.BoolVar(&args.rw, "rw", false, "Mount the filesystem read-write")
 	flagSet.BoolVar(&args.ro, "ro", false, "Mount the filesystem read-only")
+	flagSet.BoolVar(&args.kernel_cache, "kernel_cache", false, "Enable the FUSE kernel_cache option")
 
 	flagSet.StringVar(&args.masterkey, "masterkey", "", "Mount with explicit master key")
 	flagSet.StringVar(&args.cpuprofile, "cpuprofile", "", "Write cpu profile to specified file")
diff --git a/internal/fusefrontend/args.go b/internal/fusefrontend/args.go
index f822650..5eb6bff 100644
--- a/internal/fusefrontend/args.go
+++ b/internal/fusefrontend/args.go
@@ -44,4 +44,6 @@ type Args struct {
 	// which are a performance problem for writes. See
 	// https://github.com/rfjakob/gocryptfs/issues/515 for details.
 	Suid bool
+	// Enable the FUSE kernel_cache option
+	KernelCache bool
 }
diff --git a/internal/fusefrontend/node.go b/internal/fusefrontend/node.go
index bc4eb3b..80d642c 100644
--- a/internal/fusefrontend/node.go
+++ b/internal/fusefrontend/node.go
@@ -190,6 +190,10 @@ func (n *Node) Open(ctx context.Context, flags uint32) (fh fs.FileHandle, fuseFl
 	rn.openWriteOnlyLock.RLock()
 	defer rn.openWriteOnlyLock.RUnlock()
 
+	if rn.args.KernelCache {
+		fuseFlags = fuse.FOPEN_KEEP_CACHE
+	}
+
 	// Open backing file
 	fd, err := syscallcompat.Openat(dirfd, cName, newFlags, 0)
 	// Handle a few specific errors
diff --git a/mount.go b/mount.go
index 39f3f3c..9240afc 100644
--- a/mount.go
+++ b/mount.go
@@ -267,6 +267,7 @@ func initFuseFrontend(args *argContainer) (rootNode fs.InodeEmbedder, wipeKeys f
 		ExcludeWildcard: args.excludeWildcard,
 		ExcludeFrom:     args.excludeFrom,
 		Suid:            args.suid,
+		KernelCache:     args.kernel_cache,
 	}
 	// confFile is nil when "-zerokey" or "-masterkey" was used
 	if confFile != nil {