diff --git a/cmd/fluxd/main.go b/cmd/fluxd/main.go
index 0e8a133440..35b38915a6 100644
--- a/cmd/fluxd/main.go
+++ b/cmd/fluxd/main.go
@@ -38,11 +38,12 @@ import (
 var version string
 
 const (
-	defaultRemoteConnections = 125 // Chosen performance tests on sock-shop. Unable to get higher performance than this.
-	// Memcache: There is only one thread to accept new client connections. If you are cycling connections very quickly, you can overwhelm the thread. Use persistent connections or UDP in this case.
-	// See https://github.com/memcached/memcached/wiki/Performance
-	// Hence, keep the number of new connections low.
-	defaultMemcacheConnections = 10
+	// The number of connections chosen for memcache and remote GETs must match.
+	// If they do not match then the remote either creates too many memcache connections
+	// or not enough to be efficient.
+	// Value chosen through performance tests on sock-shop. I was unable to get higher performance than this.
+	defaultRemoteConnections   = 125 // Chosen performance tests on sock-shop. Unable to get higher performance than this.
+	defaultMemcacheConnections = 10  // This doesn't need to be high. The user is only requesting one tag/image at a time.
 )
 
 func optionalVar(fs *pflag.FlagSet, value ssh.OptionalValue, name, usage string) ssh.OptionalValue {
@@ -78,11 +79,11 @@ func main() {
 		memcachedHostname    = fs.String("memcached-hostname", "", "Hostname for memcached service to use when caching chunks. If empty, no memcached will be used.")
 		memcachedTimeout     = fs.Duration("memcached-timeout", time.Second, "Maximum time to wait before giving up on memcached requests.")
 		memcachedService     = fs.String("memcached-service", "memcached", "SRV service used to discover memcache servers.")
-		memcachedConnections = fs.Int("memcached-connections", defaultMemcacheConnections, "maximum number of connections to memcache")
+		memcachedConnections = fs.Int("memcached-connections", defaultMemcacheConnections, "maximum number of registry connections to memcache")
 		registryCacheExpiry  = fs.Duration("registry-cache-expiry", 20*time.Minute, "Duration to keep cached registry tag info. Must be < 1 month.")
 		registryPollInterval = fs.Duration("registry-poll-interval", 5*time.Minute, "period at which to poll registry for new images")
 		registryRPS          = fs.Int("registry-rps", 200, "maximum registry requests per second per host")
-		registryBurst        = fs.Int("registry-burst", defaultRemoteConnections, "maximum registry request burst per host (default matched to number of http worker goroutines)")
+		registryBurst        = fs.Int("registry-burst", defaultRemoteConnections, "maximum number of warmer connections to remote and memcache")
 		// k8s-secret backed ssh keyring configuration
 		k8sSecretName            = fs.String("k8s-secret-name", "flux-git-deploy", "Name of the k8s secret used to store the private SSH key")
 		k8sSecretVolumeMountPath = fs.String("k8s-secret-volume-mount-path", "/etc/fluxd/ssh", "Mount location of the k8s secret storing the private SSH key")
@@ -210,22 +211,36 @@ func main() {
 	var cacheWarmer registry.Warmer
 	{
 		// Cache
-		var memcacheClient registryMemcache.Client
+		var memcacheRegistry registryMemcache.Client
 		if *memcachedHostname != "" {
-			memcacheClient = registryMemcache.NewMemcacheClient(registryMemcache.MemcacheConfig{
+			memcacheRegistry = registryMemcache.NewMemcacheClient(registryMemcache.MemcacheConfig{
 				Host:           *memcachedHostname,
 				Service:        *memcachedService,
 				Timeout:        *memcachedTimeout,
 				UpdateInterval: 1 * time.Minute,
 				Logger:         log.NewContext(logger).With("component", "memcached"),
+				MaxConnections: *memcachedConnections,
 			})
-			memcacheClient = registryMemcache.InstrumentMemcacheClient(memcacheClient)
-			defer memcacheClient.Stop()
+			memcacheRegistry = registryMemcache.InstrumentMemcacheClient(memcacheRegistry)
+			defer memcacheRegistry.Stop()
+		}
+		var memcacheWarmer registryMemcache.Client
+		if *memcachedHostname != "" {
+			memcacheWarmer = registryMemcache.NewMemcacheClient(registryMemcache.MemcacheConfig{
+				Host:           *memcachedHostname,
+				Service:        *memcachedService,
+				Timeout:        *memcachedTimeout,
+				UpdateInterval: 1 * time.Minute,
+				Logger:         log.NewContext(logger).With("component", "memcached"),
+				MaxConnections: *registryBurst,
+			})
+			memcacheWarmer = registryMemcache.InstrumentMemcacheClient(memcacheWarmer)
+			defer memcacheWarmer.Stop()
 		}
 
 		cacheLogger := log.NewContext(logger).With("component", "cache")
 		cache = registry.NewRegistry(
-			registry.NewCacheClientFactory(cacheLogger, memcacheClient, *registryCacheExpiry),
+			registry.NewCacheClientFactory(cacheLogger, memcacheRegistry, *registryCacheExpiry),
 			cacheLogger,
 			*memcachedConnections,
 		)
@@ -244,8 +259,8 @@ func main() {
 			Logger:        warmerLogger,
 			ClientFactory: remoteFactory,
 			Expiry:        *registryCacheExpiry,
-			Reader:        memcacheClient,
-			Writer:        memcacheClient,
+			Reader:        memcacheWarmer,
+			Writer:        memcacheWarmer,
 			Burst:         *registryBurst,
 		}
 	}
diff --git a/registry/cache/memcached.go b/registry/cache/memcached.go
index 4c44d4dca6..5e1c1e5656 100644
--- a/registry/cache/memcached.go
+++ b/registry/cache/memcached.go
@@ -75,12 +75,14 @@ type MemcacheConfig struct {
 	Timeout        time.Duration
 	UpdateInterval time.Duration
 	Logger         log.Logger
+	MaxConnections int
 }
 
 func NewMemcacheClient(config MemcacheConfig) Client {
 	var servers memcache.ServerList
 	client := memcache.NewFromSelector(&servers)
 	client.Timeout = config.Timeout
+	client.MaxIdleConns = config.MaxConnections
 
 	newClient := &memcacheClient{
 		Client:     client,
diff --git a/vendor/manifest b/vendor/manifest
index 9bb9b9e31b..8be48f625a 100644
--- a/vendor/manifest
+++ b/vendor/manifest
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@
 			"importpath": "github.com/bradfitz/gomemcache/memcache",
 			"repository": "https://github.com/bradfitz/gomemcache",
 			"vcs": "git",
-			"revision": "2fafb84a66c4911e11a8f50955b01e74fe3ab9c5",
+			"revision": "1952afaa557dc08e8e0d89eafab110fb501c1a2b",
 			"branch": "master",
 			"path": "/memcache",
 			"notests": true