diff --git a/python/core/qgsexpressioncontext.sip b/python/core/qgsexpressioncontext.sip
index a88e5851661..0b1a242b633 100644
--- a/python/core/qgsexpressioncontext.sip
+++ b/python/core/qgsexpressioncontext.sip
@@ -396,6 +396,46 @@ class QgsExpressionContext
      */
     void setOriginalValueVariable( const QVariant& value );
 
+    /** Sets a value to cache within the expression context. This can be used to cache the results
+     * of expensive expression sub-calculations, to speed up future evaluations using the same
+     * expression context.
+     * @param key unique key for retrieving cached value
+     * @param value value to cache
+     * @see hasCachedValue()
+     * @see cachedValue()
+     * @see clearCachedValues()
+     * @note added in QGIS 2.16
+     */
+    void setCachedValue( const QString& key, const QVariant& value ) const;
+
+    /** Returns true if the expression context contains a cached value with a matching key.
+     * @param key unique key used to store cached value
+     * @see setCachedValue()
+     * @see cachedValue()
+     * @see clearCachedValues()
+     * @note added in QGIS 2.16
+     */
+    bool hasCachedValue( const QString& key ) const;
+
+    /** Returns the matching cached value, if set. This can be used to retrieve the previously stored results
+     * of an expensive expression sub-calculation.
+     * @param key unique key used to store cached value
+     * @returns matching cached value, or invalid QVariant if not set
+     * @see setCachedValue()
+     * @see hasCachedValue()
+     * @see clearCachedValues()
+     * @note added in QGIS 2.16
+     */
+    QVariant cachedValue( const QString& key ) const;
+
+    /** Clears all cached values from the context.
+     * @see setCachedValue()
+     * @see hasCachedValue()
+     * @see cachedValue()
+     * @note added in QGIS 2.16
+     */
+    void clearCachedValues() const;
+
     //! Inbuilt variable name for fields storage
     static const QString EXPR_FIELDS;
     //! Inbuilt variable name for feature storage
diff --git a/src/core/qgsexpressioncontext.cpp b/src/core/qgsexpressioncontext.cpp
index 4f3f06964d7..1a3a5cfc82f 100644
--- a/src/core/qgsexpressioncontext.cpp
+++ b/src/core/qgsexpressioncontext.cpp
@@ -213,6 +213,7 @@ QgsExpressionContext::QgsExpressionContext( const QgsExpressionContext& other )
     mStack << new QgsExpressionContextScope( *scope );
   }
   mHighlightedVariables = other.mHighlightedVariables;
+  mCachedValues = other.mCachedValues;
 }
 
 QgsExpressionContext& QgsExpressionContext::operator=( const QgsExpressionContext & other )
@@ -224,6 +225,7 @@ QgsExpressionContext& QgsExpressionContext::operator=( const QgsExpressionContex
     mStack << new QgsExpressionContextScope( *scope );
   }
   mHighlightedVariables = other.mHighlightedVariables;
+  mCachedValues = other.mCachedValues;
   return *this;
 }
 
@@ -439,6 +441,26 @@ void QgsExpressionContext::setOriginalValueVariable( const QVariant &value )
                               value, true ) );
 }
 
+void QgsExpressionContext::setCachedValue( const QString& key, const QVariant& value ) const
+{
+  mCachedValues.insert( key, value );
+}
+
+bool QgsExpressionContext::hasCachedValue( const QString& key ) const
+{
+  return mCachedValues.contains( key );
+}
+
+QVariant QgsExpressionContext::cachedValue( const QString& key ) const
+{
+  return mCachedValues.value( key, QVariant() );
+}
+
+void QgsExpressionContext::clearCachedValues() const
+{
+  mCachedValues.clear();
+}
+
 
 //
 // QgsExpressionContextUtils
diff --git a/src/core/qgsexpressioncontext.h b/src/core/qgsexpressioncontext.h
index bc2e719719a..56e845fa2f4 100644
--- a/src/core/qgsexpressioncontext.h
+++ b/src/core/qgsexpressioncontext.h
@@ -434,6 +434,46 @@ class CORE_EXPORT QgsExpressionContext
      */
     void setOriginalValueVariable( const QVariant& value );
 
+    /** Sets a value to cache within the expression context. This can be used to cache the results
+     * of expensive expression sub-calculations, to speed up future evaluations using the same
+     * expression context.
+     * @param key unique key for retrieving cached value
+     * @param value value to cache
+     * @see hasCachedValue()
+     * @see cachedValue()
+     * @see clearCachedValues()
+     * @note added in QGIS 2.16
+     */
+    void setCachedValue( const QString& key, const QVariant& value ) const;
+
+    /** Returns true if the expression context contains a cached value with a matching key.
+     * @param key unique key used to store cached value
+     * @see setCachedValue()
+     * @see cachedValue()
+     * @see clearCachedValues()
+     * @note added in QGIS 2.16
+     */
+    bool hasCachedValue( const QString& key ) const;
+
+    /** Returns the matching cached value, if set. This can be used to retrieve the previously stored results
+     * of an expensive expression sub-calculation.
+     * @param key unique key used to store cached value
+     * @returns matching cached value, or invalid QVariant if not set
+     * @see setCachedValue()
+     * @see hasCachedValue()
+     * @see clearCachedValues()
+     * @note added in QGIS 2.16
+     */
+    QVariant cachedValue( const QString& key ) const;
+
+    /** Clears all cached values from the context.
+     * @see setCachedValue()
+     * @see hasCachedValue()
+     * @see cachedValue()
+     * @note added in QGIS 2.16
+     */
+    void clearCachedValues() const;
+
     //! Inbuilt variable name for fields storage
     static const QString EXPR_FIELDS;
     //! Inbuilt variable name for feature storage
@@ -458,6 +498,9 @@ class CORE_EXPORT QgsExpressionContext
     QList< QgsExpressionContextScope* > mStack;
     QStringList mHighlightedVariables;
 
+    // Cache is mutable because we want to be able to add cached values to const contexts
+    mutable QMap< QString, QVariant > mCachedValues;
+
 };
 
 /** \ingroup core
diff --git a/tests/src/core/testqgsexpressioncontext.cpp b/tests/src/core/testqgsexpressioncontext.cpp
index 9bcc6663ae9..4d825729ce7 100644
--- a/tests/src/core/testqgsexpressioncontext.cpp
+++ b/tests/src/core/testqgsexpressioncontext.cpp
@@ -48,6 +48,8 @@ class TestQgsExpressionContext : public QObject
     void layerScope();
     void featureBasedContext();
 
+    void cache();
+
   private:
 
     class GetTestValueFunction : public QgsScopedExpressionFunction
@@ -641,5 +643,37 @@ void TestQgsExpressionContext::featureBasedContext()
   QCOMPARE( evalFields, fields );
 }
 
+void TestQgsExpressionContext::cache()
+{
+  //test setting and retrieving cached values
+  QgsExpressionContext context;
+
+  //use a const reference to ensure that cache is usable from const QgsExpressionContexts
+  const QgsExpressionContext& c = context;
+
+  QVERIFY( !c.hasCachedValue( "test" ) );
+  QVERIFY( !c.cachedValue( "test" ).isValid() );
+
+  c.setCachedValue( "test", "my value" );
+  QVERIFY( c.hasCachedValue( "test" ) );
+  QCOMPARE( c.cachedValue( "test" ), QVariant( "my value" ) );
+
+  // copy should copy cache
+  QgsExpressionContext context2( c );
+  QVERIFY( context2.hasCachedValue( "test" ) );
+  QCOMPARE( context2.cachedValue( "test" ), QVariant( "my value" ) );
+
+  // assignment should copy cache
+  QgsExpressionContext context3;
+  context3 = c;
+  QVERIFY( context3.hasCachedValue( "test" ) );
+  QCOMPARE( context3.cachedValue( "test" ), QVariant( "my value" ) );
+
+  // clear cache
+  c.clearCachedValues();
+  QVERIFY( !c.hasCachedValue( "test" ) );
+  QVERIFY( !c.cachedValue( "test" ).isValid() );
+}
+
 QTEST_MAIN( TestQgsExpressionContext )
 #include "testqgsexpressioncontext.moc"