diff --git a/ports/esp32/boards/sdkconfig.base b/ports/esp32/boards/sdkconfig.base
index 5ca3f6a1a2..71229e8beb 100644
--- a/ports/esp32/boards/sdkconfig.base
+++ b/ports/esp32/boards/sdkconfig.base
@@ -3,11 +3,11 @@
 
 CONFIG_IDF_FIRMWARE_CHIP_ID=0x0000
 
-# Compiler options: use -Os to reduce size, but keep full assertions
+# Compiler options: use -O2 and disable assertions to improve performance
 # (CONFIG_COMPILER_OPTIMIZATION_LEVEL_RELEASE is for IDF 4.0.2)
 CONFIG_COMPILER_OPTIMIZATION_LEVEL_RELEASE=y
-CONFIG_COMPILER_OPTIMIZATION_SIZE=y
-CONFIG_COMPILER_OPTIMIZATION_ASSERTIONS_ENABLE=y
+CONFIG_COMPILER_OPTIMIZATION_PERF=y
+CONFIG_COMPILER_OPTIMIZATION_ASSERTIONS_DISABLE=y
 
 # Application manager
 CONFIG_APP_EXCLUDE_PROJECT_VER_VAR=y
diff --git a/ports/esp32/mpconfigport.h b/ports/esp32/mpconfigport.h
index 3d1fc10e12..53d706be3f 100644
--- a/ports/esp32/mpconfigport.h
+++ b/ports/esp32/mpconfigport.h
@@ -30,6 +30,8 @@
 
 // optimisations
 #define MICROPY_OPT_COMPUTED_GOTO           (1)
+#define MICROPY_OPT_LOAD_ATTR_FAST_PATH     (1)
+#define MICROPY_OPT_MAP_LOOKUP_CACHE        (1)
 #define MICROPY_OPT_MPZ_BITWISE             (1)
 
 // Python internal features
@@ -289,6 +291,12 @@ void *esp_native_code_commit(void *, size_t, void *);
 #endif
 
 // Functions that should go in IRAM
+#define MICROPY_WRAP_MP_BINARY_OP(f) IRAM_ATTR f
+#define MICROPY_WRAP_MP_EXECUTE_BYTECODE(f) IRAM_ATTR f
+#define MICROPY_WRAP_MP_LOAD_GLOBAL(f) IRAM_ATTR f
+#define MICROPY_WRAP_MP_LOAD_NAME(f) IRAM_ATTR f
+#define MICROPY_WRAP_MP_MAP_LOOKUP(f) IRAM_ATTR f
+#define MICROPY_WRAP_MP_OBJ_GET_TYPE(f) IRAM_ATTR f
 #define MICROPY_WRAP_MP_SCHED_EXCEPTION(f) IRAM_ATTR f
 #define MICROPY_WRAP_MP_SCHED_KEYBOARD_INTERRUPT(f) IRAM_ATTR f