diff -r 49909603ca72 Objects/longobject.c
--- a/Objects/longobject.c	Tue Feb 12 21:03:09 2008 +0100
+++ b/Objects/longobject.c	Tue Feb 12 23:18:13 2008 +0100
@@ -15,6 +15,15 @@
 #ifndef NSMALLNEGINTS
 #define NSMALLNEGINTS		5
 #endif
+
+/* free list for long objects with abs(size) == 1
+ * The free list (ab)uses the ob_type field to chain free long objects in a
+ * single linked, NULL terminated list.
+ */
+static PyLongObject *free_list = NULL;
+static unsigned int numfree = 0;
+#define PyLong_MAXFREELIST 4096
+
 #if NSMALLNEGINTS + NSMALLPOSINTS > 0
 /* Small integers are preallocated in this array so that they
    can be shared.
@@ -39,6 +48,7 @@ get_small_int(int ival)
 #endif
 	return v;
 }
+
 #define CHECK_SMALL_INT(ival) \
 	do if (-NSMALLNEGINTS <= ival && ival < NSMALLPOSINTS) { \
 		return get_small_int(ival); \
@@ -46,7 +56,7 @@ get_small_int(int ival)
 
 #else
 #define CHECK_SMALL_INT(ival)
-#endif
+#endif /* NSMALLNEGINTS + NSMALLPOSINTS > 0 */
 
 #define MEDIUM_VALUE(x) (Py_SIZE(x) < 0 ? -(x)->ob_digit[0] : (Py_SIZE(x) == 0 ? 0 : (x)->ob_digit[0]))
 /* If a freshly-allocated long is already shared, it must
@@ -113,6 +123,14 @@ _PyLong_New(Py_ssize_t size)
 _PyLong_New(Py_ssize_t size)
 {
 	PyLongObject *result;
+	assert(size >= 0);
+
+	/* Use a free list of longs with size +1 (or -1) */
+	if (free_list && size == 1) {
+		result = free_list;
+		free_list = (PyLongObject *)Py_TYPE(result);
+		numfree--;
+	}
 	/* Can't use sizeof(PyLongObject) here, since the
 	   compiler takes padding at the end into account.
 	   As the consequence, this would waste 2 bytes on
@@ -120,8 +138,10 @@ _PyLong_New(Py_ssize_t size)
 	   This computation would be incorrect on systems
 	   which have padding before the digits; with 16-bit
 	   digits this should not happen. */
-	result = PyObject_MALLOC(sizeof(PyVarObject) + 
-				 size*sizeof(digit));
+	else {
+		result = PyObject_MALLOC(sizeof(PyVarObject) +
+					 size*sizeof(digit));
+	}
 	if (!result) {
 		PyErr_NoMemory();
 		return NULL;
@@ -2127,7 +2147,17 @@ static void
 static void
 long_dealloc(PyObject *v)
 {
-	Py_TYPE(v)->tp_free(v);
+    if (PyLong_CheckExact(v) && numfree < PyLong_MAXFREELIST) {
+        Py_ssize_t size = Py_SIZE(v);
+        size = size < 0 ? -size : size;
+        if (size == 1) {
+            Py_TYPE(v) = (PyTypeObject *)free_list;
+            free_list = (PyLongObject*)v;
+            numfree++;
+            return;
+        }
+    }
+    Py_TYPE(v)->tp_free(v);
 }
 
 static PyObject *
@@ -3750,4 +3780,11 @@ PyLong_Fini(void)
 		_Py_ForgetReference((PyObject*)v);
 	}
 #endif
+	while (free_list) {
+		PyObject *v = (PyObject *)free_list;
+		free_list = (PyLongObject *)Py_TYPE(v);
+		PyLong_Type.tp_free(v);
+		numfree--;
+	}
+	assert(numfree == 0);
 }