diff --git a/stepmania/src/RageSound.cpp b/stepmania/src/RageSound.cpp
index 936e74b0c7..fedb9dc601 100644
--- a/stepmania/src/RageSound.cpp
+++ b/stepmania/src/RageSound.cpp
@@ -183,10 +183,12 @@ bool RageSound::Load( RString sSoundFilePath, bool bPrecache, const RageSoundLoa
 	/* If this sound is already preloaded and held by SOUNDMAN, just make a copy
 	 * of that.  Since RageSoundReader_Preload is refcounted, this is cheap. */
 	RageSoundReader *pSound = SOUNDMAN->GetLoadedSound( sSoundFilePath );
+	bool bNeedBuffer = true;
 	if( pSound == NULL )
 	{
 		RString error;
-		pSound = RageSoundReader_FileReader::OpenFile( sSoundFilePath, error );
+		bool bPrebuffer;
+		pSound = RageSoundReader_FileReader::OpenFile( sSoundFilePath, error, &bPrebuffer );
 		if( pSound == NULL )
 		{
 			LOG->Warn( "RageSound::Load: error opening sound \"%s\": %s",
@@ -194,11 +196,16 @@ bool RageSound::Load( RString sSoundFilePath, bool bPrecache, const RageSoundLoa
 
 			pSound = new RageSoundReader_Silence;
 		}
+
+		/* If the sound is prebuffered into memory, we don't need to buffer reads. */
+		if( bPrebuffer )
+			bNeedBuffer = false;
 	}
 	else
 	{
 		/* The sound we were given from SOUNDMAN is already preloaded. */
 		bPrecache = false;
+		bNeedBuffer = false;
 	}
 
 	LoadSoundReader( pSound );
@@ -211,15 +218,12 @@ bool RageSound::Load( RString sSoundFilePath, bool bPrecache, const RageSoundLoa
 		{
 			/* We've preloaded the sound.  Pass it to SOUNDMAN, for reuse. */
 			SOUNDMAN->AddLoadedSound( sSoundFilePath, (RageSoundReader_Preload *) m_pSource );
-		}
-		else
-		{
-			bPrecache = false;
+			bNeedBuffer = false;
 		}
 	}
 
 	m_pSource = new RageSoundReader_Extend( m_pSource );
-	if( !bPrecache )
+	if( bNeedBuffer )
 		m_pSource = new RageSoundReader_ThreadedBuffer( m_pSource );
 	m_pSource = new RageSoundReader_PostBuffering( m_pSource );
 
diff --git a/stepmania/src/RageSoundReader_Chain.cpp b/stepmania/src/RageSoundReader_Chain.cpp
index 4d3c32dc89..df851da3ec 100644
--- a/stepmania/src/RageSoundReader_Chain.cpp
+++ b/stepmania/src/RageSoundReader_Chain.cpp
@@ -76,7 +76,8 @@ int RageSoundReader_Chain::LoadSound( RString sPath )
 	}
 
 	RString sError;
-	RageSoundReader *pReader = RageSoundReader_FileReader::OpenFile( sPath, sError );
+	bool bPrebuffer;
+	RageSoundReader *pReader = RageSoundReader_FileReader::OpenFile( sPath, sError, &bPrebuffer );
 	if( pReader == NULL )
 	{
 		LOG->Warn( "RageSoundReader_Chain: error opening sound \"%s\": %s",
diff --git a/stepmania/src/RageSoundReader_FileReader.cpp b/stepmania/src/RageSoundReader_FileReader.cpp
index bcf68298b9..6f651f88b4 100644
--- a/stepmania/src/RageSoundReader_FileReader.cpp
+++ b/stepmania/src/RageSoundReader_FileReader.cpp
@@ -83,28 +83,49 @@ RageSoundReader_FileReader *RageSoundReader_FileReader::TryOpenFile( RageFileBas
 	return NULL;
 }
 
-RageSoundReader_FileReader *RageSoundReader_FileReader::OpenFile( RString filename, RString &error )
+#include "RageFileDriverMemory.h"
+
+RageSoundReader_FileReader *RageSoundReader_FileReader::OpenFile( RString filename, RString &error, bool *pPrebuffer )
 {
-	RageFile *pFile = new RageFile;
-	if( !pFile->Open(filename) )
+	RageFileBasic *pFile = NULL;
 	{
-		error = pFile->GetError();
-		delete pFile;
-		return NULL;
+		RageFile *pFileOpen = new RageFile;
+		if( !pFileOpen->Open(filename) )
+		{
+			error = pFile->GetError();
+			delete pFileOpen;
+			return NULL;
+		}
+		pFile = pFileOpen;
 	}
 
-	return OpenFile( pFile, error );
-}
-
-
-RageSoundReader_FileReader *RageSoundReader_FileReader::OpenFile( RageFileBasic *pFile, RString &error )
-{
+	if( pPrebuffer )
+	{
+		if( pFile->GetFileSize() < 1024*50 )
+		{
+			RageFileObjMem *pMem = new RageFileObjMem;
+			bool bRet = FileCopy( *pFile, *pMem, error, NULL );
+			delete pFile;
+			pFile = pMem;
+			if( !bRet )
+			{
+				delete pFile;
+				return NULL;
+			}
+			pFile->Seek( 0 );
+			*pPrebuffer = true;
+		}
+		else
+		{
+			*pPrebuffer = false;
+		}
+	}
 	set<RString> FileTypes;
 	FileTypes.insert("ogg");
 	FileTypes.insert("mp3");
 	FileTypes.insert("wav");
 
-	RString format = GetExtension( pFile->GetDisplayPath() );
+	RString format = GetExtension( filename );
 	format.MakeLower();
 
 	error = "";
diff --git a/stepmania/src/RageSoundReader_FileReader.h b/stepmania/src/RageSoundReader_FileReader.h
index 6f949f8e39..7184939a33 100644
--- a/stepmania/src/RageSoundReader_FileReader.h
+++ b/stepmania/src/RageSoundReader_FileReader.h
@@ -31,9 +31,10 @@ public:
 	virtual float GetStreamToSourceRatio() const { return 1.0f; }
 	virtual RString GetError() const { return m_sError; }
 
-	/* Takes ownership of pFile (even on failure). */
-	static RageSoundReader_FileReader *OpenFile( RageFileBasic *pFile, RString &error );
-	static RageSoundReader_FileReader *OpenFile( RString filename, RString &error );
+	/* Open a file.  If pPrebuffer is non-NULL, and the file is sufficiently small,
+	 * the (possibly compressed) data will be loaded entirely into memory, and pPrebuffer
+	 * will be set to true. */
+	static RageSoundReader_FileReader *OpenFile( RString filename, RString &error, bool *pPrebuffer = NULL );
 
 protected:
 	void SetError( RString sError ) const { m_sError = sError; }