diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index f19ce5bf31..71b323c676 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
 
 - Various bash completion improvements, see #2310 (@scop)
 - Disable completion of `cache` subcommand, see #2399 (@cyqsimon)
+- Signifigantly improve startup performance on macOS, see #2442 (@BlackHoleFox)
 
 ## Syntaxes
 
diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 434e81e17b..6b375f3cb6 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -97,6 +97,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "nix",
  "once_cell",
  "path_abs",
+ "plist",
  "predicates",
  "regex",
  "semver",
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 8995c6ebb7..7e174cbbab 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -81,6 +81,10 @@ version = "4.0.2"
 optional = true
 features = ["wrap_help", "cargo"]
 
+[target.'cfg(target_os = "macos")'.dependencies]
+dirs-next = "2.0.0"
+plist = "1.3"
+
 [dev-dependencies]
 assert_cmd = "2.0.8"
 expect-test = "1.4.0"
diff --git a/src/assets.rs b/src/assets.rs
index e4a4af7f1f..d43f4321ab 100644
--- a/src/assets.rs
+++ b/src/assets.rs
@@ -401,11 +401,21 @@ fn asset_from_cache<T: serde::de::DeserializeOwned>(
 
 #[cfg(target_os = "macos")]
 fn macos_dark_mode_active() -> bool {
-    let mut defaults_cmd = std::process::Command::new("defaults");
-    defaults_cmd.args(&["read", "-globalDomain", "AppleInterfaceStyle"]);
-    match defaults_cmd.output() {
-        Ok(output) => output.stdout == b"Dark\n",
-        Err(_) => true,
+    const PREFERENCES_FILE: &str = "Library/Preferences/.GlobalPreferences.plist";
+    const STYLE_KEY: &str = "AppleInterfaceStyle";
+
+    let preferences_file = dirs_next::home_dir()
+        .map(|home| home.join(PREFERENCES_FILE))
+        .expect("Could not get home directory");
+
+    match plist::Value::from_file(preferences_file).map(|file| file.into_dictionary()) {
+        Ok(Some(preferences)) => match preferences.get(STYLE_KEY).and_then(|val| val.as_string()) {
+            Some(value) => value == "Dark",
+            // If the key does not exist, then light theme is currently in use.
+            None => false,
+        },
+        // Unreachable, in theory. All macOS users have a home directory and preferences file setup.
+        Ok(None) | Err(_) => true,
     }
 }