diff --git a/src/Makefile.am b/src/Makefile.am
index 718fbe2f..4f19270e 100644
--- a/src/Makefile.am
+++ b/src/Makefile.am
@@ -68,6 +68,8 @@ libmu_la_SOURCES=			\
 	mu-msg-contact.h		\
 	mu-msg-data.c			\
 	mu-msg-data.h			\
+	mu-msg-data-cache.c		\
+	mu-msg-data-cache.h		\
 	mu-msg-fields.c			\
 	mu-msg-fields.h			\
 	mu-msg-flags.c			\
diff --git a/src/mu-msg-data-cache.c b/src/mu-msg-data-cache.c
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..3dd32b31
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/mu-msg-data-cache.c
@@ -0,0 +1,94 @@
+/*
+** Copyright (C) 2011 Dirk-Jan C. Binnema <djcb@djcbsoftware.nl>
+**
+** This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
+** under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the
+** Free Software Foundation; either version 3, or (at your option) any
+** later version.
+**
+** This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+** but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+** MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+** GNU General Public License for more details.
+**
+** You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+** along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation,
+** Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301, USA.
+**
+*/
+
+#include "mu-msg-data-cache.h"
+
+
+/* we cannot use GPtrArray, because we require the index to be stable... */
+struct _MuMsgDataCache {
+	MuMsgData	**_data;
+	guint		  _index, _size;
+};
+
+MuMsgDataCache *
+mu_msg_data_cache_new (guint32 max_size)
+{
+	MuMsgDataCache *cache;
+	MuMsgData **data;
+
+	data = g_try_new0 (MuMsgData*, max_size);
+	if (!data) {
+		g_warning ("cannot allocate %u bytes", (unsigned)max_size);
+		return NULL;
+	}
+
+	cache	      = g_new (MuMsgDataCache, 1);
+	cache->_data  = (MuMsgData**)data;
+	cache->_index = 0;
+	cache->_size  = max_size;
+	
+	return cache;
+}
+
+
+void
+mu_msg_data_cache_destroy (MuMsgDataCache *self)
+{
+	if (!self)
+		return;
+
+	mu_msg_data_cache_clear (self);
+
+	g_free (self);
+}
+
+
+void
+mu_msg_data_cache_clear (MuMsgDataCache *self)
+{
+	unsigned i;
+	
+	g_return_if_fail (self);
+
+	for (i = 0; i != self->_index; ++i) {
+		mu_msg_data_destroy (self->_data[i]);
+		self->_data[i] = NULL;
+	}
+
+	self->_index = 0;
+}
+
+void
+mu_msg_data_cache_append (MuMsgDataCache *self, MuMsgData *data, gboolean copy)
+{
+	g_return_if_fail (self);
+	g_return_if_fail (self->_index < G_MAXUINT32);
+	g_return_if_fail (data);
+	
+	self->_data[self->_index++] = copy ? mu_msg_data_copy (data) : data;
+}
+
+const MuMsgData *
+mu_msg_data_cache_get	(MuMsgDataCache *self, guint index)
+{
+	g_return_val_if_fail (self, NULL);
+	g_return_val_if_fail (index < self->_size, NULL);
+
+	return self->_data[index];
+}
diff --git a/src/mu-msg-data-cache.h b/src/mu-msg-data-cache.h
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..6188af40
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/mu-msg-data-cache.h
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+/*
+** Copyright (C) 2011 Dirk-Jan C. Binnema <djcb@djcbsoftware.nl>
+**
+** This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
+** under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the
+** Free Software Foundation; either version 3, or (at your option) any
+** later version.
+**
+** This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+** but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+** MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+** GNU General Public License for more details.
+**
+** You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+** along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation,
+** Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301, USA.
+**
+*/
+
+#ifndef __MU_MSG_DATA_CACHE_H__
+#define __MU_MSG_DATA_CACHE_H__
+
+#include <mu-msg-data.h>
+
+G_BEGIN_DECLS
+
+struct _MuMsgDataCache;
+typedef struct _MuMsgDataCache MuMsgDataCache;
+
+MuMsgDataCache *mu_msg_data_cache_new (guint32 max_size)
+	G_GNUC_MALLOC G_GNUC_WARN_UNUSED_RESULT;
+void mu_msg_data_cache_destroy		(MuMsgDataCache *self);
+void mu_msg_data_cache_clear		(MuMsgDataCache *self);
+void mu_msg_data_cache_append		(MuMsgDataCache *self, MuMsgData *data, gboolean own);
+const MuMsgData *mu_msg_data_cache_get	(MuMsgDataCache *self, guint index);
+
+G_END_DECLS
+
+#endif /*__MU_MSG_DATA_CACHE_H__*/