diff --git a/include/dwarfs/offset_cache.h b/include/dwarfs/offset_cache.h
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..6db3028b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/include/dwarfs/offset_cache.h
@@ -0,0 +1,203 @@
+/* vim:set ts=2 sw=2 sts=2 et: */
+/**
+ * \author     Marcus Holland-Moritz (github@mhxnet.de)
+ * \copyright  Copyright (c) Marcus Holland-Moritz
+ *
+ * This file is part of dwarfs.
+ *
+ * dwarfs is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+ * the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+ * (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * dwarfs is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ * GNU General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+ * along with dwarfs.  If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ */
+
+#pragma once
+
+#include <algorithm>
+#include <cassert>
+#include <memory>
+#include <mutex>
+#include <ostream>
+#include <span>
+#include <vector>
+
+#include <folly/container/EvictingCacheMap.h>
+#include <folly/small_vector.h>
+
+namespace dwarfs {
+
+template <typename InodeT, typename FileOffsetT, typename ChunkIndexT,
+          size_t ChunkIndexInterval, size_t UpdaterMaxInlineOffsets>
+class basic_offset_cache {
+ public:
+  using inode_type = InodeT;
+  using file_offset_type = FileOffsetT;
+  using chunk_index_type = ChunkIndexT;
+
+  static constexpr size_t const chunk_index_interval = ChunkIndexInterval;
+
+  class updater;
+
+  class chunk_offsets {
+   public:
+    chunk_offsets(chunk_index_type total_chunks) {
+      // TODO: we can use an offset as we don't have to cache (0, 0)
+      //       also, we may not have to cache the largest offset
+      //
+      // TODO: potentially add an `open` call to filesystem_v2 and
+      //       use that to cache the last position; this should be
+      //       more efficient as it won't require any mutexes; still
+      //       keep the offset cache, but don't overcomplicate it
+      //       with the "last_*" stuff
+      offsets_.reserve(total_chunks / chunk_index_interval - 1);
+    }
+
+    void update(chunk_index_type first_index,
+                std::span<file_offset_type const> offsets) {
+      std::lock_guard lock(mx_);
+
+      if (first_index + offsets.size() > offsets_.size()) {
+        assert(first_index <= offsets_.size());
+        auto new_offsets = offsets.subspan(offsets_.size() - first_index);
+        std::copy(new_offsets.begin(), new_offsets.end(),
+                  std::back_inserter(offsets_));
+      }
+    }
+
+    void update(updater const& upd) {
+      update(upd.first_index(), upd.offsets());
+    }
+
+    // void set_last(chunk_index_type chunk_index, file_offset_type file_offset)
+    // {
+    //   std::lock_guard lock(mx_);
+    //   last_chunk_index_ = chunk_index;
+    //   last_file_offset_ = file_offset;
+    // }
+
+    std::pair<chunk_index_type, file_offset_type>
+    find(file_offset_type offset, updater& upd) {
+      std::lock_guard lock(mx_);
+
+      upd.set_first_index(offsets_.size());
+
+      if (!offsets_.empty()) {
+        chunk_index_type best_index = offsets_.size();
+
+        if (offset < offsets_.back()) {
+          auto it = std::lower_bound(offsets_.begin(), offsets_.end(), offset);
+
+          if (it != offsets_.end()) {
+            best_index = std::distance(offsets_.begin(), it);
+          }
+        }
+
+        if (best_index > 0) {
+          return {chunk_index_interval * best_index, offsets_[best_index - 1]};
+        }
+      }
+
+      return {0, 0};
+    }
+
+    void dump(std::ostream& os) const {
+      std::vector<file_offset_type> offsets;
+      {
+        std::lock_guard lock(mx_);
+        offsets = offsets_;
+      }
+      for (auto off : offsets) {
+        os << "  " << off << "\n";
+      }
+    }
+
+   private:
+    // chunk_index_type last_chunk_index_;
+    // file_offset_type last_file_offset_;
+    std::vector<file_offset_type> offsets_;
+    std::mutex mutable mx_;
+  };
+
+  using value_type = std::shared_ptr<chunk_offsets>;
+
+  class updater {
+   public:
+    static constexpr size_t const max_inline_offsets = UpdaterMaxInlineOffsets;
+
+    void set_first_index(chunk_index_type first_ix) { first_index_ = first_ix; }
+
+    void add_offset(chunk_index_type index, file_offset_type offset) {
+      if (index < chunk_index_interval || index % chunk_index_interval != 0)
+          [[likely]] {
+        return;
+      }
+
+      auto ix = index / chunk_index_interval - 1;
+      assert(ix <= first_index_ + offset_.size());
+
+      if (ix == first_index_ + offsets_.size()) {
+        offsets_.push_back(offset);
+      }
+    }
+
+    chunk_index_type first_index() const { return first_index_; }
+
+    std::span<file_offset_type const> offsets() const { return offsets_; }
+
+   private:
+    folly::small_vector<file_offset_type, max_inline_offsets> offsets_;
+    chunk_index_type first_index_{0};
+  };
+
+  basic_offset_cache(size_t cache_size)
+      : cache_{cache_size} {}
+
+  value_type find(inode_type inode, chunk_index_type num_chunks) const {
+    {
+      std::lock_guard lock(mx_);
+
+      if (auto it = cache_.find(inode); it != cache_.end()) {
+        return it->second;
+      }
+    }
+
+    return std::make_shared<chunk_offsets>(num_chunks);
+  }
+
+  void set(inode_type inode, value_type value) {
+    std::lock_guard lock(mx_);
+    cache_.set(inode, std::move(value));
+  }
+
+  void dump(std::ostream& os) const {
+    std::vector<std::pair<typename cache_type::key_type,
+                          typename cache_type::mapped_type>>
+        contents;
+
+    {
+      std::lock_guard lock(mx_);
+      std::copy(cache_.begin(), cache_.end(), std::back_inserter(contents));
+    }
+
+    for (auto const& [inode, ent] : contents) {
+      os << "inode " << inode << ":\n";
+      ent->dump(os);
+    }
+  }
+
+ private:
+  using cache_type = folly::EvictingCacheMap<inode_type, value_type>;
+
+  cache_type mutable cache_;
+  std::mutex mutable mx_;
+};
+
+} // namespace dwarfs
diff --git a/test/utils_test.cpp b/test/utils_test.cpp
index cd006e1f..42598b50 100644
--- a/test/utils_test.cpp
+++ b/test/utils_test.cpp
@@ -21,14 +21,16 @@
 
 #include <gtest/gtest.h>
 
+#include <array>
+#include <numeric>
+#include <tuple>
 #include <vector>
 
+#include "dwarfs/offset_cache.h"
 #include "dwarfs/util.h"
 
 using namespace dwarfs;
 
-namespace {} // namespace
-
 TEST(utf8_display_width, basic) {
   EXPECT_EQ(0, utf8_display_width(""));
   EXPECT_EQ(1, utf8_display_width(u8string_to_string(u8"a")));
@@ -154,3 +156,133 @@ TEST(shorten_path, string_utf8) {
     }
   }
 }
+
+namespace {
+
+using cache_type = basic_offset_cache<uint32_t, uint32_t, uint32_t, 4, 4>;
+constexpr std::array<cache_type::file_offset_type, 32> const test_chunks{
+    3, 15, 13, 1,  11, 6,  9,  15, 1,  16, 1,  13, 11, 16, 10, 14,
+    4, 14, 4,  16, 8,  12, 16, 2,  16, 10, 15, 15, 2,  15, 5,  8,
+};
+constexpr cache_type::inode_type const test_inode = 42;
+constexpr size_t const total_size =
+    std::accumulate(test_chunks.begin(), test_chunks.end(), 0);
+
+std::tuple<cache_type::chunk_index_type, cache_type::file_offset_type, size_t>
+find_file_position(cache_type::inode_type const inode,
+                   std::span<cache_type::file_offset_type const> chunks,
+                   cache_type::file_offset_type file_offset,
+                   cache_type* cache = nullptr) {
+  cache_type::value_type ent;
+
+  if (cache) {
+    ent = cache->find(inode, chunks.size());
+
+    if (!ent) {
+      throw std::runtime_error("find() did not return an object");
+    }
+  }
+
+  auto upd = cache_type::updater();
+  auto it = chunks.begin();
+  auto end = chunks.end();
+  cache_type::chunk_index_type chunk_index = 0;
+  cache_type::file_offset_type chunk_offset = 0;
+
+  if (ent) {
+    std::tie(chunk_index, chunk_offset) = ent->find(file_offset, upd);
+    std::advance(it, chunk_index);
+  }
+
+  auto remaining_offset = file_offset - chunk_offset;
+  size_t num_lookups = 0;
+
+  while (it < end) {
+    ++num_lookups;
+    auto chunk_size = *it;
+
+    if (remaining_offset < chunk_size) {
+      break;
+    }
+
+    remaining_offset -= chunk_size;
+    chunk_offset += chunk_size;
+    ++it;
+
+    upd.add_offset(++chunk_index, chunk_offset);
+  }
+
+  if (ent) {
+    ent->update(upd);
+    cache->set(inode, ent);
+  }
+
+  return {chunk_index, remaining_offset, num_lookups};
+}
+
+} // namespace
+
+TEST(offset_cache, basic) {
+  cache_type cache(4);
+
+  size_t total_ref_lookups = 0;
+  size_t total_test_lookups = 0;
+
+  for (cache_type::file_offset_type offset = 0; offset < total_size; ++offset) {
+    auto [ref_ix, ref_off, ref_lookups] =
+        find_file_position(test_inode, test_chunks, offset);
+
+    auto [test_ix, test_off, test_lookups] =
+        find_file_position(test_inode, test_chunks, offset, &cache);
+
+    auto ref_offset = std::accumulate(test_chunks.begin(),
+                                      test_chunks.begin() + ref_ix, ref_off);
+
+    EXPECT_EQ(offset, ref_offset);
+
+    EXPECT_EQ(ref_ix + 1, ref_lookups);
+    EXPECT_LE(test_lookups, 5);
+
+    EXPECT_EQ(ref_ix, test_ix);
+    EXPECT_EQ(ref_off, test_off);
+
+    total_ref_lookups += ref_lookups;
+    total_test_lookups += test_lookups;
+  }
+
+  EXPECT_GT(total_test_lookups, 0);
+  EXPECT_LT(total_test_lookups, total_ref_lookups);
+
+  for (cache_type::file_offset_type offset = total_size; offset-- > 0;) {
+    auto [ref_ix, ref_off, ref_lookups] =
+        find_file_position(test_inode, test_chunks, offset);
+
+    auto [test_ix, test_off, test_lookups] =
+        find_file_position(test_inode, test_chunks, offset, &cache);
+
+    auto ref_offset = std::accumulate(test_chunks.begin(),
+                                      test_chunks.begin() + ref_ix, ref_off);
+
+    EXPECT_EQ(offset, ref_offset);
+
+    EXPECT_EQ(ref_ix + 1, ref_lookups);
+    EXPECT_LE(test_lookups, 5);
+
+    EXPECT_EQ(ref_ix, test_ix);
+    EXPECT_EQ(ref_off, test_off);
+
+    total_ref_lookups += ref_lookups;
+    total_test_lookups += test_lookups;
+  }
+}
+
+TEST(offset_cache, prefill) {
+  cache_type prefilled_cache(4);
+
+  auto [prefill_ix, prefill_off, prefill_lookups] = find_file_position(
+      test_inode, test_chunks, total_size - 1, &prefilled_cache);
+
+  EXPECT_EQ(test_chunks.size(), prefill_lookups);
+  EXPECT_EQ(test_chunks.size() - 1, prefill_ix);
+  EXPECT_EQ(test_chunks.back() - 1, prefill_off);
+}