diff --git a/settings/stylix.nix b/settings/stylix.nix
index c97aae9..3aff924 100644
--- a/settings/stylix.nix
+++ b/settings/stylix.nix
@@ -87,6 +87,12 @@
         ADWAITA="/run/current-system/sw/share/icons/Adwaita"
         PAPIRUS="/run/current-system/sw/share/icons/Papirus-Dark"
         PRIMARY="#${config.lib.stylix.colors.base0D}"
+        CACHE_FILE="$ICON_DIR/.color-cache"
+
+        # Skip the SVG recolour pass if the palette colour hasn't changed.
+        if [ -f "$CACHE_FILE" ] && [ "$(cat "$CACHE_FILE" 2>/dev/null)" = "$PRIMARY" ] && [ -d "$ICON_DIR/scalable/places" ]; then
+          echo "recolorFolders: palette unchanged, skipping"
+        else
 
         $DRY_RUN_CMD mkdir -p "$ICON_DIR/scalable/places"
 
@@ -229,6 +235,8 @@
         done
 
         $DRY_RUN_CMD ${pkgs.gtk3}/bin/gtk-update-icon-cache -f "$ICON_DIR" 2>/dev/null || true
+        $DRY_RUN_CMD sh -c "echo '$PRIMARY' > '$CACHE_FILE'"
+        fi # end palette-changed block
       '';
     };
   };