diff --git a/packages/gatsby-source-drupal/src/__tests__/index.js b/packages/gatsby-source-drupal/src/__tests__/index.js
index a06e84cf1f3dc..2df04931d516b 100644
--- a/packages/gatsby-source-drupal/src/__tests__/index.js
+++ b/packages/gatsby-source-drupal/src/__tests__/index.js
@@ -20,6 +20,15 @@ jest.mock(`gatsby-source-filesystem`, () => {
   }
 })
 
+function makeCache() {
+  const store = new Map()
+  return {
+    get: async id => store.get(id),
+    set: async (key, value) => store.set(key, value),
+    store,
+  }
+}
+
 const normalize = require(`../normalize`)
 const downloadFileSpy = jest.spyOn(normalize, `downloadFile`)
 
@@ -75,6 +84,7 @@ describe(`gatsby-source-drupal`, () => {
     store,
     getNode: id => nodes[id],
     getNodes,
+    cache: makeCache(),
   }
 
   beforeAll(async () => {
diff --git a/packages/gatsby-source-drupal/src/gatsby-node.js b/packages/gatsby-source-drupal/src/gatsby-node.js
index 7ca4bdb25a0ac..14b961e1e9a16 100644
--- a/packages/gatsby-source-drupal/src/gatsby-node.js
+++ b/packages/gatsby-source-drupal/src/gatsby-node.js
@@ -12,6 +12,8 @@ const { setOptions, getOptions } = require(`./plugin-options`)
 
 const { nodeFromData, downloadFile, isFileNode } = require(`./normalize`)
 const {
+  initRefsLookups,
+  storeRefsLookups,
   handleReferences,
   handleWebhookUpdate,
   handleDeletedNode,
@@ -150,6 +152,8 @@ exports.sourceNodes = async (
   } = pluginOptions
   const { createNode, setPluginStatus, touchNode } = actions
 
+  await initRefsLookups({ cache, getNode })
+
   // Update the concurrency limit from the plugin options
   requestQueue.concurrency = concurrentAPIRequests
 
@@ -202,6 +206,7 @@ ${JSON.stringify(webhookBody, null, 4)}`
         }
 
         changesActivity.end()
+        await storeRefsLookups({ cache })
         return
       }
 
@@ -232,6 +237,7 @@ ${JSON.stringify(webhookBody, null, 4)}`
       return
     }
     changesActivity.end()
+    await storeRefsLookups({ cache })
     return
   }
 
@@ -362,6 +368,7 @@ ${JSON.stringify(webhookBody, null, 4)}`
 
         drupalFetchIncrementalActivity.end()
         fastBuildsSpan.finish()
+        await storeRefsLookups({ cache })
         return
       }
 
@@ -372,6 +379,7 @@ ${JSON.stringify(webhookBody, null, 4)}`
       initialSourcing = false
 
       if (!requireFullRebuild) {
+        await storeRefsLookups({ cache })
         return
       }
     }
@@ -635,6 +643,7 @@ ${JSON.stringify(webhookBody, null, 4)}`
   initialSourcing = false
 
   createNodesSpan.finish()
+  await storeRefsLookups({ cache, getNodes })
   return
 }
 
diff --git a/packages/gatsby-source-drupal/src/utils.js b/packages/gatsby-source-drupal/src/utils.js
index eda40f3437987..858d861db447e 100644
--- a/packages/gatsby-source-drupal/src/utils.js
+++ b/packages/gatsby-source-drupal/src/utils.js
@@ -9,8 +9,38 @@ const {
 
 const { getOptions } = require(`./plugin-options`)
 
-const backRefsNamesLookup = new Map()
-const referencedNodesLookup = new Map()
+let backRefsNamesLookup = new Map()
+let referencedNodesLookup = new Map()
+
+const initRefsLookups = async ({ cache }) => {
+  const backRefsNamesLookupStr = await cache.get(`backRefsNamesLookup`)
+  const referencedNodesLookupStr = await cache.get(`referencedNodesLookup`)
+
+  if (backRefsNamesLookupStr) {
+    backRefsNamesLookup = new Map(JSON.parse(backRefsNamesLookupStr))
+  }
+
+  if (referencedNodesLookupStr) {
+    referencedNodesLookup = new Map(JSON.parse(referencedNodesLookupStr))
+  }
+}
+
+exports.initRefsLookups = initRefsLookups
+
+const storeRefsLookups = async ({ cache }) => {
+  await Promise.all([
+    cache.set(
+      `backRefsNamesLookup`,
+      JSON.stringify(Array.from(backRefsNamesLookup.entries()))
+    ),
+    cache.set(
+      `referencedNodesLookup`,
+      JSON.stringify(Array.from(referencedNodesLookup.entries()))
+    ),
+  ])
+}
+
+exports.storeRefsLookups = storeRefsLookups
 
 const handleReferences = (
   node,
@@ -333,7 +363,9 @@ ${JSON.stringify(nodeToUpdate, null, 4)}
     }
     node.internal.contentDigest = createContentDigest(node)
     createNode(node)
-    reporter.log(`Updated Gatsby node: ${node.id}`)
+    reporter.log(
+      `Updated Gatsby node: id: ${node.id} — type: ${node.internal.type}`
+    )
   }
 }