diff --git a/lib/create-tree.js b/lib/create-tree.js
index eec6f240a80d..0a5e47711286 100644
--- a/lib/create-tree.js
+++ b/lib/create-tree.js
@@ -4,10 +4,22 @@ import fs from 'fs/promises'
 import Page from './page.js'
 const __dirname = path.dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url))
 
+// Module level cache
+const _basePaths = new Map()
+// Return a full directory based on __dirname from a specific language directory.
+// This function is memoized with a simple global cache object.
+function getBasePath(directory) {
+  if (!_basePaths.has(directory)) {
+    _basePaths.set(directory, path.posix.join(__dirname, '..', directory, 'content'))
+    console.log(_basePaths.get(directory))
+  }
+  return _basePaths.get(directory)
+}
+
 export default async function createTree(originalPath, langObj) {
   // This basePath definition is needed both here and in lib/page-data.js because this
   // function runs recursively, and the value for originalPath changes on recursive runs.
-  const basePath = path.posix.join(__dirname, '..', langObj.dir, 'content')
+  const basePath = getBasePath(langObj.dir)
 
   // On recursive runs, this is processing page.children items in `/<link>` format.
   // If the path exists as is, assume this is a directory with a child index.md.