diff --git a/lib/ModuleLayerCache.js b/lib/ModuleLayerCache.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..38af7f0df26
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/ModuleLayerCache.js
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+/*
+	MIT License http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php
+	Author @mknichel
+*/
+
+"use strict";
+
+/** @type {WeakMap<Object, Map<string, string | Buffer>>} */
+const weaklyHeldCaches = new WeakMap();
+
+/**
+ * Fetches a cached value if it exists or adds it to the cache and returns the
+ * value. This is a weak cache, meaning that it will be collected as soon as
+ * `associatedObjectForCache` is no longer reachable. This cache is useful
+ * for storing information that could be shared by modules across different
+ * layers. This can be useful for memory management since the same file that
+ * appears in multiple layers may duplicate large strings, such as the contents
+ * of the source file.
+ *
+ * @param {Object} associatedObjectForCache The object to associate the cached data with so that the data is collected when this object is no longer reachable.
+ * @param {string} key The cache key for the value.
+ * @param {string | Buffer} value The target value. This is used to see if the cached value is exactly the same or to add the value to the cache.
+ * @returns {string | Buffer} The cached value if it exists and matches or the original value.
+ */
+function maybeUseOrSetCachedValue(associatedObjectForCache, key, value) {
+	if (typeof associatedObjectForCache !== "object") {
+		throw new Error("`associatedObjectForCache` must be an object");
+	}
+	if (!weaklyHeldCaches.has(associatedObjectForCache)) {
+		weaklyHeldCaches.set(associatedObjectForCache, new Map());
+	}
+	const map = weaklyHeldCaches.get(associatedObjectForCache);
+	if (map.has(key)) {
+		const cachedValue = map.get(key);
+		if (
+			(Buffer.isBuffer(value) &&
+				Buffer.isBuffer(cachedValue) &&
+				value.equals(cachedValue)) ||
+			value === cachedValue
+		) {
+			return cachedValue;
+		}
+	} else {
+		map.set(key, value);
+	}
+	return value;
+}
+module.exports = maybeUseOrSetCachedValue;
diff --git a/lib/NormalModule.js b/lib/NormalModule.js
index 1008e8ba933..bf4a1f63225 100644
--- a/lib/NormalModule.js
+++ b/lib/NormalModule.js
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ const Module = require("./Module");
 const ModuleBuildError = require("./ModuleBuildError");
 const ModuleError = require("./ModuleError");
 const ModuleGraphConnection = require("./ModuleGraphConnection");
+const maybeUseOrSetCachedValue = require("./ModuleLayerCache");
 const ModuleParseError = require("./ModuleParseError");
 const { JAVASCRIPT_MODULE_TYPE_AUTO } = require("./ModuleTypeConstants");
 const ModuleWarning = require("./ModuleWarning");
@@ -780,6 +781,16 @@ class NormalModule extends Module {
 	 * @returns {Source} the created source
 	 */
 	createSource(context, content, sourceMap, associatedObjectForCache) {
+		// If this module exists in a layer, try to reuse the value for the
+		// source string so it is not duplicated in multiple modules.
+		if (this.layer && this.resource) {
+			content = maybeUseOrSetCachedValue(
+				associatedObjectForCache,
+				this.resource,
+				content
+			);
+		}
+
 		if (Buffer.isBuffer(content)) {
 			return new RawSource(content);
 		}
diff --git a/lib/json/JsonModulesPlugin.js b/lib/json/JsonModulesPlugin.js
index 5b998482870..0d60d1e88a3 100644
--- a/lib/json/JsonModulesPlugin.js
+++ b/lib/json/JsonModulesPlugin.js
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ class JsonModulesPlugin {
 					.tap(PLUGIN_NAME, parserOptions => {
 						validate(parserOptions);
 
-						return new JsonParser(parserOptions);
+						return new JsonParser(parserOptions, compilation);
 					});
 				normalModuleFactory.hooks.createGenerator
 					.for(JSON_MODULE_TYPE)
diff --git a/lib/json/JsonParser.js b/lib/json/JsonParser.js
index a68662e778a..c377f83eada 100644
--- a/lib/json/JsonParser.js
+++ b/lib/json/JsonParser.js
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 
 "use strict";
 
+const maybeUseOrSetCachedValue = require("../ModuleLayerCache");
 const Parser = require("../Parser");
 const JsonExportsDependency = require("../dependencies/JsonExportsDependency");
 const memoize = require("../util/memoize");
@@ -22,10 +23,12 @@ const getParseJson = memoize(() => require("json-parse-even-better-errors"));
 class JsonParser extends Parser {
 	/**
 	 * @param {JsonModulesPluginParserOptions} options parser options
+	 * @param {Object} associatedObjectForCache An object to associate cached data with.
 	 */
-	constructor(options) {
+	constructor(options, associatedObjectForCache) {
 		super();
 		this.options = options || {};
+		this.associatedObjectForCache = associatedObjectForCache;
 	}
 
 	/**
@@ -53,6 +56,20 @@ class JsonParser extends Parser {
 		} catch (e) {
 			throw new Error(`Cannot parse JSON: ${/** @type {Error} */ (e).message}`);
 		}
+
+		// If the module is associated with a layer, try to reuse cached data instead
+		// of duplicating the data multiple times.
+		const module = state.module;
+		if (module && module.resource && module.layer && Buffer.isBuffer(data)) {
+			data = /** @type {Buffer} */ (
+				maybeUseOrSetCachedValue(
+					this.associatedObjectForCache,
+					module.resource,
+					data
+				)
+			);
+		}
+
 		const jsonData = new JsonData(/** @type {Buffer | RawJsonData} */ (data));
 		const buildInfo = /** @type {BuildInfo} */ (state.module.buildInfo);
 		buildInfo.jsonData = jsonData;