diff --git a/src/login/logind-dbus.c b/src/login/logind-dbus.c
index 7fed32c3b4..d8ae0287ec 100644
--- a/src/login/logind-dbus.c
+++ b/src/login/logind-dbus.c
@@ -2751,8 +2751,6 @@ static int property_get_reboot_to_boot_loader_menu(
 
         r = getenv_bool("SYSTEMD_REBOOT_TO_BOOT_LOADER_MENU");
         if (r == -ENXIO) {
-                _cleanup_free_ char *v = NULL;
-
                 /* EFI case: returns the current value of LoaderConfigTimeoutOneShot. Three cases are distuingished:
                  *
                  *     1. Variable not set, boot into boot loader menu is not enabled (we return UINT64_MAX to the user)
@@ -2760,20 +2758,10 @@ static int property_get_reboot_to_boot_loader_menu(
                  *     3. Variable set to numeric value formatted in ASCII, boot into boot loader menu with the specified timeout in seconds
                  */
 
-                r = efi_get_variable_string(EFI_VENDOR_LOADER, "LoaderConfigTimeoutOneShot", &v);
+                r = efi_loader_get_config_timeout_one_shot(&x);
                 if (r < 0) {
                         if (r != -ENOENT)
-                                log_warning_errno(r, "Failed to read LoaderConfigTimeoutOneShot variable: %m");
-                } else {
-                        uint64_t sec;
-
-                        r = safe_atou64(v, &sec);
-                        if (r < 0)
-                                log_warning_errno(r, "Failed to parse LoaderConfigTimeoutOneShot value '%s': %m", v);
-                        else if (sec > (USEC_INFINITY / USEC_PER_SEC))
-                                log_warning("LoaderConfigTimeoutOneShot too large, ignoring: %m");
-                        else
-                                x = sec * USEC_PER_SEC; /* return in µs */
+                                log_warning_errno(r, "Failed to read LoaderConfigTimeoutOneShot variable, ignoring: %m");
                 }
 
         } else if (r < 0)
diff --git a/src/shared/efi-loader.c b/src/shared/efi-loader.c
index b6ad43b856..ce9e78b274 100644
--- a/src/shared/efi-loader.c
+++ b/src/shared/efi-loader.c
@@ -734,3 +734,41 @@ char *efi_tilt_backslashes(char *s) {
 
         return s;
 }
+
+int efi_loader_get_config_timeout_one_shot(usec_t *ret) {
+        _cleanup_free_ char *v = NULL, *fn = NULL;
+        static struct stat cache_stat = {};
+        struct stat new_stat;
+        static usec_t cache;
+        uint64_t sec;
+        int r;
+
+        assert(ret);
+
+        fn = efi_variable_path(EFI_VENDOR_LOADER, "LoaderConfigTimeoutOneShot");
+        if (!fn)
+                return -ENOMEM;
+
+        /* stat() the EFI variable, to see if the mtime changed. If it did we need to cache again. */
+        if (stat(fn, &new_stat) < 0)
+                return -errno;
+
+        if (stat_inode_unmodified(&new_stat, &cache_stat)) {
+                *ret = cache;
+                return 0;
+        }
+
+        r = efi_get_variable_string(EFI_VENDOR_LOADER, "LoaderConfigTimeoutOneShot", &v);
+        if (r < 0)
+                return r;
+
+        r = safe_atou64(v, &sec);
+        if (r < 0)
+                return r;
+        if (sec > USEC_INFINITY / USEC_PER_SEC)
+                return -ERANGE;
+
+        cache_stat = new_stat;
+        *ret = cache = sec * USEC_PER_SEC; /* return in µs */
+        return 0;
+}
diff --git a/src/shared/efi-loader.h b/src/shared/efi-loader.h
index 96208d25bf..98bb57ecbd 100644
--- a/src/shared/efi-loader.h
+++ b/src/shared/efi-loader.h
@@ -23,6 +23,8 @@ int efi_loader_get_entries(char ***ret);
 
 int efi_loader_get_features(uint64_t *ret);
 
+int efi_loader_get_config_timeout_one_shot(usec_t *ret);
+
 #else
 
 static inline int efi_reboot_to_firmware_supported(void) {
@@ -77,6 +79,10 @@ static inline int efi_loader_get_features(uint64_t *ret) {
         return -EOPNOTSUPP;
 }
 
+static inline int efi_loader_get_config_timeout_one_shot(usec_t *ret) {
+        return -EOPNOTSUPP;
+}
+
 #endif
 
 bool efi_loader_entry_name_valid(const char *s);