diff --git a/lib/classes/Variables.js b/lib/classes/Variables.js
index 3c69a1516..7e4152528 100644
--- a/lib/classes/Variables.js
+++ b/lib/classes/Variables.js
@@ -23,6 +23,8 @@ class Variables {
     this.s3RefSyntax = RegExp(/^s3:(.+?)\/(.+)$/);
     this.stringRefSynax = RegExp(/('.*')|(".*")/g);
     this.ssmRefSyntax = RegExp(/^ssm:([a-zA-Z0-9_.\-/]+)[~]?(true|false)?/);
+
+    this.ssmCache = {}
   }
 
   loadVariableSyntax() {
@@ -365,10 +367,13 @@ class Variables {
   }
 
   getValueFromSsm(variableString) {
+    const cached = this.ssmCache[variableString];
+    if (cached) return cached;
     const groups = variableString.match(this.ssmRefSyntax);
     const param = groups[1];
     const decrypt = (groups[2] === 'true');
-    return this.serverless.getProvider('aws')
+
+    const promise = this.serverless.getProvider('aws')
     .request('SSM',
       'getParameter',
       {
@@ -387,6 +392,8 @@ class Variables {
         return BbPromise.resolve(undefined);
       }
     );
+    this.ssmCache[variableString] = promise;
+    return promise;
   }
 
   getDeepValue(deepProperties, valueToPopulate) {