diff --git a/base/boot.jl b/base/boot.jl
index 63f5076b54826f..5f3b99df1c716d 100644
--- a/base/boot.jl
+++ b/base/boot.jl
@@ -412,7 +412,7 @@ eval(Core, quote
     end
     LineInfoNode(mod::Module, @nospecialize(method), file::Symbol, line::Int32, inlined_at::Int32) =
         $(Expr(:new, :LineInfoNode, :mod, :method, :file, :line, :inlined_at))
-    GlobalRef(m::Module, s::Symbol) = $(Expr(:new, :GlobalRef, :m, :s))
+    GlobalRef(m::Module, s::Symbol, binding::Ptr{Nothing}) = $(Expr(:new, :GlobalRef, :m, :s, :binding))
     SlotNumber(n::Int) = $(Expr(:new, :SlotNumber, :n))
     TypedSlot(n::Int, @nospecialize(t)) = $(Expr(:new, :TypedSlot, :n, :t))
     PhiNode(edges::Array{Int32, 1}, values::Array{Any, 1}) = $(Expr(:new, :PhiNode, :edges, :values))
@@ -812,6 +812,8 @@ Unsigned(x::Union{Float16, Float32, Float64, Bool}) = UInt(x)
 Integer(x::Integer) = x
 Integer(x::Union{Float16, Float32, Float64}) = Int(x)
 
+GlobalRef(m::Module, s::Symbol) = GlobalRef(m, s, bitcast(Ptr{Nothing}, 0))
+
 # Binding for the julia parser, called as
 #
 #    Core._parse(text, filename, lineno, offset, options)
diff --git a/base/compiler/abstractinterpretation.jl b/base/compiler/abstractinterpretation.jl
index 7f2106b8f00701..31115776601bfc 100644
--- a/base/compiler/abstractinterpretation.jl
+++ b/base/compiler/abstractinterpretation.jl
@@ -1986,7 +1986,7 @@ function abstract_eval_special_value(interp::AbstractInterpreter, @nospecialize(
             return sv.argtypes[e.n]
         end
     elseif isa(e, GlobalRef)
-        return abstract_eval_global(interp, e.mod, e.name, sv)
+        return abstract_eval_globalref(interp, e, sv)
     end
 
     return Const(e)
@@ -2260,17 +2260,24 @@ function abstract_eval_statement(interp::AbstractInterpreter, @nospecialize(e),
     return rt
 end
 
-function abstract_eval_global(M::Module, s::Symbol)
-    if isdefined(M, s) && isconst(M, s)
-        return Const(getglobal(M, s))
+function isdefined_globalref(g::GlobalRef)
+    g.binding != C_NULL && return ccall(:jl_binding_boundp, Cint, (Ptr{Cvoid},), g.binding) != 0
+    return isdefined(g.mod, g.name)
+end
+
+function abstract_eval_globalref(g::GlobalRef)
+    if isdefined_globalref(g) && isconst(g)
+        g.binding != C_NULL && return Const(ccall(:jl_binding_value, Any, (Ptr{Cvoid},), g.binding))
+        return Const(getglobal(g.mod, g.name))
     end
-    ty = ccall(:jl_binding_type, Any, (Any, Any), M, s)
+    ty = ccall(:jl_binding_type, Any, (Any, Any), g.mod, g.name)
     ty === nothing && return Any
     return ty
 end
+abstract_eval_global(M::Module, s::Symbol) = abstract_eval_globalref(GlobalRef(M, s))
 
-function abstract_eval_global(interp::AbstractInterpreter, M::Module, s::Symbol, frame::Union{InferenceState, IRCode})
-    rt = abstract_eval_global(M, s)
+function abstract_eval_globalref(interp::AbstractInterpreter, g::GlobalRef, frame::Union{InferenceState, IRCode})
+    rt = abstract_eval_globalref(g)
     consistent = inaccessiblememonly = ALWAYS_FALSE
     nothrow = false
     if isa(rt, Const)
@@ -2281,7 +2288,7 @@ function abstract_eval_global(interp::AbstractInterpreter, M::Module, s::Symbol,
         else
             nothrow = true
         end
-    elseif isdefined(M,s)
+    elseif isdefined_globalref(g)
         nothrow = true
     end
     merge_effects!(interp, frame, Effects(EFFECTS_TOTAL; consistent, nothrow, inaccessiblememonly))
diff --git a/base/compiler/optimize.jl b/base/compiler/optimize.jl
index 1b6d19bc152b6a..9d9caad3dd931b 100644
--- a/base/compiler/optimize.jl
+++ b/base/compiler/optimize.jl
@@ -336,7 +336,7 @@ function argextype(
     elseif isa(x, QuoteNode)
         return Const(x.value)
     elseif isa(x, GlobalRef)
-        return abstract_eval_global(x.mod, x.name)
+        return abstract_eval_globalref(x)
     elseif isa(x, PhiNode)
         return Any
     elseif isa(x, PiNode)
diff --git a/base/compiler/ssair/slot2ssa.jl b/base/compiler/ssair/slot2ssa.jl
index da8580be5d2a18..6a9a128104b30f 100644
--- a/base/compiler/ssair/slot2ssa.jl
+++ b/base/compiler/ssair/slot2ssa.jl
@@ -216,7 +216,7 @@ function typ_for_val(@nospecialize(x), ci::CodeInfo, sptypes::Vector{Any}, idx::
         end
         return (ci.ssavaluetypes::Vector{Any})[idx]
     end
-    isa(x, GlobalRef) && return abstract_eval_global(x.mod, x.name)
+    isa(x, GlobalRef) && return abstract_eval_globalref(x)
     isa(x, SSAValue) && return (ci.ssavaluetypes::Vector{Any})[x.id]
     isa(x, Argument) && return slottypes[x.n]
     isa(x, NewSSAValue) && return DelayedTyp(x)
diff --git a/base/compiler/utilities.jl b/base/compiler/utilities.jl
index 071b0b6089b988..0d20cb1ffa36f3 100644
--- a/base/compiler/utilities.jl
+++ b/base/compiler/utilities.jl
@@ -378,7 +378,7 @@ function is_throw_call(e::Expr)
     if e.head === :call
         f = e.args[1]
         if isa(f, GlobalRef)
-            ff = abstract_eval_global(f.mod, f.name)
+            ff = abstract_eval_globalref(f)
             if isa(ff, Const) && ff.val === Core.throw
                 return true
             end
diff --git a/base/essentials.jl b/base/essentials.jl
index f9a7abb774625d..87400ab99f8474 100644
--- a/base/essentials.jl
+++ b/base/essentials.jl
@@ -13,6 +13,8 @@ length(a::Array) = arraylen(a)
 eval(:(getindex(A::Array, i1::Int) = arrayref($(Expr(:boundscheck)), A, i1)))
 eval(:(getindex(A::Array, i1::Int, i2::Int, I::Int...) = (@inline; arrayref($(Expr(:boundscheck)), A, i1, i2, I...))))
 
+==(a::GlobalRef, b::GlobalRef) = a.mod === b.mod && a.name === b.name
+
 """
     AbstractSet{T}
 
diff --git a/base/reflection.jl b/base/reflection.jl
index 8fd7bb3315058d..0ed8cfdb0caf4c 100644
--- a/base/reflection.jl
+++ b/base/reflection.jl
@@ -265,6 +265,11 @@ Determine whether a global is declared `const` in a given module `m`.
 isconst(m::Module, s::Symbol) =
     ccall(:jl_is_const, Cint, (Any, Any), m, s) != 0
 
+function isconst(g::GlobalRef)
+    g.binding != C_NULL && return ccall(:jl_binding_is_const, Cint, (Ptr{Cvoid},), g.binding) != 0
+    return isconst(g.mod, g.name)
+end
+
 """
     isconst(t::DataType, s::Union{Int,Symbol}) -> Bool
 
diff --git a/base/show.jl b/base/show.jl
index e1cd51a81c8367..1ae34d128229f1 100644
--- a/base/show.jl
+++ b/base/show.jl
@@ -1838,9 +1838,10 @@ function allow_macroname(ex)
     end
 end
 
-function is_core_macro(arg, macro_name::AbstractString)
-    arg === GlobalRef(Core, Symbol(macro_name))
+function is_core_macro(arg::GlobalRef, macro_name::AbstractString)
+    arg == GlobalRef(Core, Symbol(macro_name))
 end
+is_core_macro(@nospecialize(arg), macro_name::AbstractString) = false
 
 # symbol for IOContext flag signaling whether "begin" is treated
 # as an ordinary symbol, which is true in indexing expressions.
diff --git a/src/clangsa/GCChecker.cpp b/src/clangsa/GCChecker.cpp
index 38bd012ff46fc0..744cf01d594a22 100644
--- a/src/clangsa/GCChecker.cpp
+++ b/src/clangsa/GCChecker.cpp
@@ -745,6 +745,7 @@ bool GCChecker::isGCTrackedType(QualType QT) {
                    Name.endswith_lower("jl_method_match_t") ||
                    Name.endswith_lower("jl_vararg_t") ||
                    Name.endswith_lower("jl_opaque_closure_t") ||
+                   Name.endswith_lower("jl_globalref_t") ||
                    // Probably not technically true for these, but let's allow it
                    Name.endswith_lower("typemap_intersection_env") ||
                    Name.endswith_lower("interpreter_state") ||
diff --git a/src/dump.c b/src/dump.c
index 16391e669b14de..89ef0d22c4d7e3 100644
--- a/src/dump.c
+++ b/src/dump.c
@@ -2084,6 +2084,10 @@ static void jl_deserialize_struct(jl_serializer_state *s, jl_value_t *v) JL_GC_D
             entry->min_world = 1;
             entry->max_world = 0;
         }
+    } else if (dt == jl_globalref_type) {
+        jl_globalref_t *r = (jl_globalref_t*)v;
+        jl_binding_t *b = jl_get_binding_if_bound(r->mod, r->name);
+        r->bnd_cache = b && b->value ? b : NULL;
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/src/interpreter.c b/src/interpreter.c
index 0b6666f2637f6f..a1295385b5f525 100644
--- a/src/interpreter.c
+++ b/src/interpreter.c
@@ -151,6 +151,17 @@ jl_value_t *jl_eval_global_var(jl_module_t *m, jl_sym_t *e)
     return v;
 }
 
+jl_value_t *jl_eval_globalref(jl_globalref_t *g)
+{
+    if (g->bnd_cache) {
+        jl_value_t *v = g->bnd_cache->value;
+        if (v == NULL)
+            jl_undefined_var_error(g->name);
+        return v;
+    }
+    return jl_eval_global_var(g->mod, g->name);
+}
+
 static int jl_source_nslots(jl_code_info_t *src) JL_NOTSAFEPOINT
 {
     return jl_array_len(src->slotflags);
@@ -190,7 +201,7 @@ static jl_value_t *eval_value(jl_value_t *e, interpreter_state *s)
         return jl_quotenode_value(e);
     }
     if (jl_is_globalref(e)) {
-        return jl_eval_global_var(jl_globalref_mod(e), jl_globalref_name(e));
+        return jl_eval_globalref((jl_globalref_t*)e);
     }
     if (jl_is_symbol(e)) {  // bare symbols appear in toplevel exprs not wrapped in `thunk`
         return jl_eval_global_var(s->module, (jl_sym_t*)e);
diff --git a/src/jltypes.c b/src/jltypes.c
index 9da7209f17f2c5..b45c34ed7e5edc 100644
--- a/src/jltypes.c
+++ b/src/jltypes.c
@@ -2392,12 +2392,6 @@ void jl_init_types(void) JL_GC_DISABLED
                         jl_svec(1, jl_slotnumber_type),
                         jl_emptysvec, 0, 0, 1);
 
-    jl_globalref_type =
-        jl_new_datatype(jl_symbol("GlobalRef"), core, jl_any_type, jl_emptysvec,
-                        jl_perm_symsvec(2, "mod", "name"),
-                        jl_svec(2, jl_module_type, jl_symbol_type),
-                        jl_emptysvec, 0, 0, 2);
-
     jl_code_info_type =
         jl_new_datatype(jl_symbol("CodeInfo"), core,
                         jl_any_type, jl_emptysvec,
@@ -2694,6 +2688,12 @@ void jl_init_types(void) JL_GC_DISABLED
 
     jl_value_t *pointer_void = jl_apply_type1((jl_value_t*)jl_pointer_type, (jl_value_t*)jl_nothing_type);
 
+    jl_globalref_type =
+        jl_new_datatype(jl_symbol("GlobalRef"), core, jl_any_type, jl_emptysvec,
+                        jl_perm_symsvec(3, "mod", "name", "binding"),
+                        jl_svec(3, jl_module_type, jl_symbol_type, pointer_void),
+                        jl_emptysvec, 0, 0, 3);
+
     tv = jl_svec2(tvar("A"), tvar("R"));
     jl_opaque_closure_type = (jl_unionall_t*)jl_new_datatype(jl_symbol("OpaqueClosure"), core, jl_function_type, tv,
         jl_perm_symsvec(5, "captures", "world", "source", "invoke", "specptr"),
diff --git a/src/julia.h b/src/julia.h
index 674cb451b7f87e..644ce0dbd78ae1 100644
--- a/src/julia.h
+++ b/src/julia.h
@@ -603,6 +603,13 @@ typedef struct _jl_module_t {
     jl_mutex_t lock;
 } jl_module_t;
 
+typedef struct {
+    jl_module_t *mod;
+    jl_sym_t *name;
+    // Not serialized. Caches the value of jl_get_binding(mod, name).
+    jl_binding_t *bnd_cache;
+} jl_globalref_t;
+
 // one Type-to-Value entry
 typedef struct _jl_typemap_entry_t {
     JL_DATA_TYPE
@@ -1616,6 +1623,7 @@ JL_DLLEXPORT int jl_get_module_max_methods(jl_module_t *m);
 // get binding for reading
 JL_DLLEXPORT jl_binding_t *jl_get_binding(jl_module_t *m JL_PROPAGATES_ROOT, jl_sym_t *var);
 JL_DLLEXPORT jl_binding_t *jl_get_binding_or_error(jl_module_t *m, jl_sym_t *var);
+JL_DLLEXPORT jl_binding_t *jl_get_binding_if_bound(jl_module_t *m, jl_sym_t *var);
 JL_DLLEXPORT jl_value_t *jl_module_globalref(jl_module_t *m, jl_sym_t *var);
 JL_DLLEXPORT jl_value_t *jl_binding_type(jl_module_t *m, jl_sym_t *var);
 // get binding for assignment
@@ -1626,6 +1634,8 @@ JL_DLLEXPORT int jl_boundp(jl_module_t *m, jl_sym_t *var);
 JL_DLLEXPORT int jl_defines_or_exports_p(jl_module_t *m, jl_sym_t *var);
 JL_DLLEXPORT int jl_binding_resolved_p(jl_module_t *m, jl_sym_t *var);
 JL_DLLEXPORT int jl_is_const(jl_module_t *m, jl_sym_t *var);
+JL_DLLEXPORT int jl_binding_is_const(jl_binding_t *b);
+JL_DLLEXPORT int jl_binding_boundp(jl_binding_t *b);
 JL_DLLEXPORT jl_value_t *jl_get_global(jl_module_t *m JL_PROPAGATES_ROOT, jl_sym_t *var);
 JL_DLLEXPORT void jl_set_global(jl_module_t *m JL_ROOTING_ARGUMENT, jl_sym_t *var, jl_value_t *val JL_ROOTED_ARGUMENT);
 JL_DLLEXPORT void jl_set_const(jl_module_t *m JL_ROOTING_ARGUMENT, jl_sym_t *var, jl_value_t *val JL_ROOTED_ARGUMENT);
diff --git a/src/module.c b/src/module.c
index 92393563dd8cb3..e6bd582c651d85 100644
--- a/src/module.c
+++ b/src/module.c
@@ -363,6 +363,20 @@ static jl_binding_t *jl_get_binding_(jl_module_t *m, jl_sym_t *var, modstack_t *
     return b;
 }
 
+JL_DLLEXPORT jl_binding_t *jl_get_binding_if_bound(jl_module_t *m, jl_sym_t *var)
+{
+    JL_LOCK(&m->lock);
+    jl_binding_t *b = _jl_get_module_binding(m, var);
+    JL_UNLOCK(&m->lock);
+    if (b == HT_NOTFOUND || b->owner == NULL) {
+        return NULL;
+    }
+    if (b->owner != m || b->name != var)
+        return jl_get_binding_if_bound(b->owner, b->name);
+    return b;
+}
+
+
 // get owner of binding when accessing m.var, without resolving the binding
 JL_DLLEXPORT jl_value_t *jl_binding_owner(jl_module_t *m, jl_sym_t *var)
 {
@@ -410,17 +424,29 @@ JL_DLLEXPORT jl_binding_t *jl_get_binding_or_error(jl_module_t *m, jl_sym_t *var
     return b;
 }
 
+JL_DLLEXPORT jl_globalref_t *jl_new_globalref(jl_module_t *mod, jl_sym_t *name, jl_binding_t *b)
+{
+    jl_task_t *ct = jl_current_task;
+    jl_globalref_t *g = (jl_globalref_t *)jl_gc_alloc(ct->ptls, sizeof(jl_globalref_t), jl_globalref_type);
+    g->mod = mod;
+    jl_gc_wb(g, g->mod);
+    g->name = name;
+    g->bnd_cache = b;
+    return g;
+}
+
 JL_DLLEXPORT jl_value_t *jl_module_globalref(jl_module_t *m, jl_sym_t *var)
 {
     JL_LOCK(&m->lock);
-    jl_binding_t *b = (jl_binding_t*)ptrhash_get(&m->bindings, var);
+    jl_binding_t *b = _jl_get_module_binding(m, var);
     if (b == HT_NOTFOUND) {
         JL_UNLOCK(&m->lock);
-        return jl_new_struct(jl_globalref_type, m, var);
+        return (jl_value_t *)jl_new_globalref(m, var, NULL);
     }
     jl_value_t *globalref = jl_atomic_load_relaxed(&b->globalref);
     if (globalref == NULL) {
-        jl_value_t *newref = jl_new_struct(jl_globalref_type, m, var);
+        jl_value_t *newref = (jl_value_t *)jl_new_globalref(m, var,
+            !b->owner ? NULL : b->owner == m ? b : _jl_get_module_binding(b->owner, b->name));
         if (jl_atomic_cmpswap_relaxed(&b->globalref, &globalref, newref)) {
             JL_GC_PROMISE_ROOTED(newref);
             globalref = newref;
@@ -662,12 +688,18 @@ JL_DLLEXPORT jl_binding_t *jl_get_module_binding(jl_module_t *m JL_PROPAGATES_RO
     return b == HT_NOTFOUND ? NULL : b;
 }
 
+
+JL_DLLEXPORT jl_value_t *jl_binding_value(jl_binding_t *b JL_PROPAGATES_ROOT)
+{
+    return b->value;
+}
+
 JL_DLLEXPORT jl_value_t *jl_get_global(jl_module_t *m, jl_sym_t *var)
 {
     jl_binding_t *b = jl_get_binding(m, var);
     if (b == NULL) return NULL;
     if (b->deprecated) jl_binding_deprecation_warning(m, b);
-    return b->value;
+    return jl_binding_value(b);
 }
 
 JL_DLLEXPORT void jl_set_global(jl_module_t *m JL_ROOTING_ARGUMENT, jl_sym_t *var, jl_value_t *val JL_ROOTED_ARGUMENT)
@@ -696,10 +728,22 @@ JL_DLLEXPORT void jl_set_const(jl_module_t *m JL_ROOTING_ARGUMENT, jl_sym_t *var
               jl_symbol_name(bp->name));
 }
 
+JL_DLLEXPORT int jl_binding_is_const(jl_binding_t *b)
+{
+    assert(b);
+    return b->constp;
+}
+
+JL_DLLEXPORT int jl_binding_boundp(jl_binding_t *b)
+{
+    assert(b);
+    return b->value != 0;
+}
+
 JL_DLLEXPORT int jl_is_const(jl_module_t *m, jl_sym_t *var)
 {
     jl_binding_t *b = jl_get_binding(m, var);
-    return b && b->constp;
+    return b && jl_binding_is_const(b);
 }
 
 // set the deprecated flag for a binding:
diff --git a/src/staticdata.c b/src/staticdata.c
index 1b5fc9bbe3edc3..257f3da7540ce9 100644
--- a/src/staticdata.c
+++ b/src/staticdata.c
@@ -576,6 +576,10 @@ static void jl_serialize_value__(jl_serializer_state *s, jl_value_t *v, int recu
         jl_serialize_value(s, tn->partial);
     }
     else if (t->layout->nfields > 0) {
+        if (jl_typeis(v, jl_globalref_type)) {
+            // Don't save the cached binding reference in staticdata
+            ((jl_globalref_t*)v)->bnd_cache = NULL;
+        }
         char *data = (char*)jl_data_ptr(v);
         size_t i, np = t->layout->npointers;
         for (i = 0; i < np; i++) {