diff --git a/lib/bb/fetch/__init__.py b/lib/bb/fetch/__init__.py
index 55ab710f3..0eb660685 100644
--- a/lib/bb/fetch/__init__.py
+++ b/lib/bb/fetch/__init__.py
@@ -2090,6 +2090,8 @@ class FetchConnectionCache(object):
     """
     def __init__(self):
         self.cache = {}
+        # urllib openers built by the wget fetcher, see Wget.checkstatus()
+        self.opener_cache = {}
 
     def get_connection_name(self, host, port, connection_id=None):
         if connection_id is None:
diff --git a/lib/bb/fetch/wget.py b/lib/bb/fetch/wget.py
index 972c84048..9cb4a4f32 100644
--- a/lib/bb/fetch/wget.py
+++ b/lib/bb/fetch/wget.py
@@ -178,23 +178,24 @@ class Wget(FetchMethod):
     def checkstatus(self, fetch, ud, d, try_again=True):
         check_certs = self.check_certs(d)
         newenv = bb.fetch.get_fetcher_environment(d)
+        connection_cache = fetch.connection_cache
 
         class HTTPConnectionCache(http.client.HTTPConnection):
             def cache_id(self):
                 return None
 
-            if fetch.connection_cache:
+            if connection_cache:
                 def connect(self):
                     """Connect to the host and port specified in __init__."""
 
-                    sock = fetch.connection_cache.get_connection(
+                    sock = connection_cache.get_connection(
                         self.host, self.port, self.cache_id())
                     if sock:
                         self.sock = sock
                     else:
                         self.sock = socket.create_connection((self.host, self.port),
                                     self.timeout, self.source_address)
-                        fetch.connection_cache.add_connection(
+                        connection_cache.add_connection(
                             self.host, self.port, self.sock, self.cache_id())
 
                     if self._tunnel_host:
@@ -206,17 +207,17 @@ class Wget(FetchMethod):
                         newenv.get("SSL_CERT_FILE"),
                         self._tunnel_host, self._tunnel_port)
 
-            if fetch.connection_cache:
+            if connection_cache:
                 def connect(self):
                     """Reuse an established TLS connection when available."""
 
-                    sock = fetch.connection_cache.get_connection(
+                    sock = connection_cache.get_connection(
                         self.host, self.port, self.cache_id())
                     if sock:
                         self.sock = sock
                     else:
                         super().connect()
-                        fetch.connection_cache.add_connection(
+                        connection_cache.add_connection(
                             self.host, self.port, self.sock, self.cache_id())
 
         class CacheHTTPHandler(urllib.request.HTTPHandler):
@@ -252,7 +253,7 @@ class Wget(FetchMethod):
                 # request.
 
                 # Don't close connection when connection_cache is enabled,
-                if fetch.connection_cache is None:
+                if connection_cache is None:
                     headers["Connection"] = "close"
                 else:
                     headers["Connection"] = "Keep-Alive" # Works for HTTP/1.0
@@ -282,8 +283,8 @@ class Wget(FetchMethod):
                     # with the dead connection removed from the cache.
                     # If it still fails, we give up, which can happen for bad
                     # HTTP proxy settings.
-                    if fetch.connection_cache:
-                        fetch.connection_cache.remove_connection(
+                    if connection_cache:
+                        connection_cache.remove_connection(
                             h.host, h.port, h.cache_id())
                     h.close()
                     raise
@@ -316,9 +317,9 @@ class Wget(FetchMethod):
                 resp.msg = r.reason
 
                 # Close connection when server request it.
-                if fetch.connection_cache is not None:
+                if connection_cache is not None:
                     if 'Connection' in r.msg and r.msg['Connection'] == 'close':
-                        fetch.connection_cache.remove_connection(
+                        connection_cache.remove_connection(
                             h.host, h.port, h.cache_id())
 
                 return resp
@@ -434,13 +435,21 @@ class Wget(FetchMethod):
         # to scope the changes to the build_opener request, which is when the
         # environment lookups happen.
         with bb.utils.environment(**newenv):
-            context = self.ssl_context(d)
-            handlers = [FixedHTTPRedirectHandler,
-                        HTTPMethodFallback,
-                        urllib.request.ProxyHandler(),
-                        CacheHTTPHandler(),
-                        CacheHTTPSHandler(context=context)]
-            opener = urllib.request.build_opener(*handlers)
+            opener = None
+            if connection_cache is not None:
+                opener_key = (check_certs, tuple(sorted(newenv.items())))
+                opener = connection_cache.opener_cache.get(opener_key)
+
+            if opener is None:
+                context = self.ssl_context(d)
+                handlers = [FixedHTTPRedirectHandler,
+                            HTTPMethodFallback,
+                            urllib.request.ProxyHandler(),
+                            CacheHTTPHandler(),
+                            CacheHTTPSHandler(context=context)]
+                opener = urllib.request.build_opener(*handlers)
+                if connection_cache is not None:
+                    connection_cache.opener_cache[opener_key] = opener
 
             try:
                 parts = urllib.parse.urlparse(ud.url.split(";")[0])