diff --git a/IkiWiki.pm b/IkiWiki.pm
index 5563a03af..8bded8a0e 100644
--- a/IkiWiki.pm
+++ b/IkiWiki.pm
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ use open qw{:utf8 :std};
 use vars qw{%config %links %oldlinks %pagemtime %pagectime %pagecase
 	    %pagestate %wikistate %renderedfiles %oldrenderedfiles
 	    %pagesources %destsources %depends %hooks %forcerebuild
-	    %loaded_plugins};
+	    %loaded_plugins %depends_exact};
 
 use Exporter q{import};
 our @EXPORT = qw(hook debug error template htmlpage add_depends pagespec_match
@@ -1475,7 +1475,8 @@ sub loadindex () {
 	%oldrenderedfiles=%pagectime=();
 	if (! $config{rebuild}) {
 		%pagesources=%pagemtime=%oldlinks=%links=%depends=
-		%destsources=%renderedfiles=%pagecase=%pagestate=();
+		%destsources=%renderedfiles=%pagecase=%pagestate=
+		%depends_exact=();
 	}
 	my $in;
 	if (! open ($in, "<", "$config{wikistatedir}/indexdb")) {
@@ -1515,6 +1516,11 @@ sub loadindex () {
 				$links{$page}=$d->{links};
 				$oldlinks{$page}=[@{$d->{links}}];
 			}
+			if (exists $d->{depends_exact}) {
+				$depends_exact{$page}={
+					map { $_ => 1 } @{$d->{depends_exact}}
+				};
+			}
 			if (exists $d->{dependslist}) {
 				$depends{$page}={
 					map { $_ => 1 } @{$d->{dependslist}}
@@ -1570,6 +1576,10 @@ sub saveindex () {
 			$index{page}{$src}{dependslist} = [ keys %{$depends{$page}} ];
 		}
 
+		if (exists $depends_exact{$page}) {
+			$index{page}{$src}{depends_exact} = [ keys %{$depends_exact{$page}} ];
+		}
+
 		if (exists $pagestate{$page}) {
 			foreach my $id (@hookids) {
 				foreach my $key (keys %{$pagestate{$page}{$id}}) {
@@ -1738,6 +1748,13 @@ sub add_depends ($$) {
 	my $page=shift;
 	my $pagespec=shift;
 
+	if ($pagespec =~ /$config{wiki_file_regexp}/ &&
+		$pagespec !~ /[\s*?()!]/) {
+		# a simple dependency, which can be matched by string eq
+		$depends_exact{$page}{lc $pagespec} = 1;
+		return 1;
+	}
+
 	return unless pagespec_valid($pagespec);
 
 	$depends{$page}{$pagespec} = 1;
diff --git a/IkiWiki/Plugin/inline.pm b/IkiWiki/Plugin/inline.pm
index a501566b5..d5ad11d43 100644
--- a/IkiWiki/Plugin/inline.pm
+++ b/IkiWiki/Plugin/inline.pm
@@ -195,10 +195,10 @@ sub preprocess_inline (@) {
 
 		@list = map { bestlink($params{page}, $_) }
 		        split ' ', $params{pagenames};
-
-		$params{pages} = join(" or ", @list);
 	}
 	else {
+		add_depends($params{page}, $params{pages});
+
 		@list = pagespec_match_list(
 			[ grep { $_ ne $params{page} } keys %pagesources ],
 			$params{pages}, location => $params{page});
@@ -247,7 +247,6 @@ sub preprocess_inline (@) {
 		@list=@list[0..$params{show} - 1];
 	}
 
-	add_depends($params{page}, $params{pages});
 	# Explicitly add all currently displayed pages as dependencies, so
 	# that if they are removed or otherwise changed, the inline will be
 	# sure to be updated.
diff --git a/IkiWiki/Render.pm b/IkiWiki/Render.pm
index da2d7b4cc..85ae0f8e9 100644
--- a/IkiWiki/Render.pm
+++ b/IkiWiki/Render.pm
@@ -210,6 +210,7 @@ sub render ($) {
 	if (defined $type) {
 		my $page=pagename($file);
 		delete $depends{$page};
+		delete $depends_exact{$page};
 		will_render($page, htmlpage($page), 1);
 		return if $type=~/^_/;
 		
@@ -224,6 +225,7 @@ sub render ($) {
 	}
 	else {
 		delete $depends{$file};
+		delete $depends_exact{$file};
 		will_render($file, $file, 1);
 		
 		if ($config{hardlink}) {
@@ -431,6 +433,7 @@ sub refresh () {
 		# internal pages are not rendered
 		my $page=pagename($file);
 		delete $depends{$page};
+		delete $depends_exact{$page};
 		foreach my $old (@{$renderedfiles{$page}}) {
 			delete $destsources{$old};
 		}
@@ -454,12 +457,25 @@ sub refresh () {
 	if (%rendered || @del || @internal) {
 		my @changed=(keys %rendered, @del);
 
+ 		my %lcchanged = map { lc(pagename($_)) => 1 } @changed;
+ 
 		# rebuild dependant pages
-		F: foreach my $f (@$files) {
+		foreach my $f (@$files) {
 			next if $rendered{$f};
 			my $p=pagename($f);
-			if (exists $depends{$p}) {
-				foreach my $d (keys %{$depends{$p}}) {
+			my $reason = undef;
+
+			if (exists $depends_exact{$p}) {
+				foreach my $d (keys %{$depends_exact{$p}}) {
+					if (exists $lcchanged{$d}) {
+						$reason = $d;
+						last;
+					}
+				}
+			}
+
+			if (exists $depends{$p} && ! defined $reason) {
+				D: foreach my $d (keys %{$depends{$p}}) {
 					my $sub=pagespec_translate($d);
 					next if $@ || ! defined $sub;
 
@@ -470,14 +486,18 @@ sub refresh () {
 						next if $file eq $f;
 						my $page=pagename($file);
 						if ($sub->($page, location => $p)) {
-							debug(sprintf(gettext("building %s, which depends on %s"), $f, $page));
-							render($f);
-							$rendered{$f}=1;
-							next F;
+							$reason = $page;
+							last D;
 						}
 					}
 				}
 			}
+
+			if (defined $reason) {
+				debug(sprintf(gettext("building %s, which depends on %s"), $f, $reason));
+				render($f);
+				$rendered{$f}=1;
+			}
 		}
 		
 		# handle backlinks; if a page has added/removed links,
diff --git a/doc/todo/optimize_simple_dependencies.mdwn b/doc/todo/optimize_simple_dependencies.mdwn
index da75ff177..91e184c29 100644
--- a/doc/todo/optimize_simple_dependencies.mdwn
+++ b/doc/todo/optimize_simple_dependencies.mdwn
@@ -47,6 +47,10 @@ equally valid.)
 
 --[[smcv]]
 
+> Now [[merged|done]] --[[smcv]]
+
+----
+
 > We discussed this on irc; I had some worries that things may have been
 > switched to `add_depends_exact` that were not pure page names. My current
 > feeling is it's all safe, but who knows. It's easy to miss something.