diff --git a/.circleci/config.yml b/.circleci/config.yml
index 2b5e7a292..dbecd13b3 100644
--- a/.circleci/config.yml
+++ b/.circleci/config.yml
@@ -63,6 +63,12 @@ jobs:
       - image: circleci/python:3.6
     working_directory: ~/specs-repo
     steps:
+      # Restore git repo at point close to target branch/revision, to speed up checkout
+      - restore_cache:
+          keys:
+            - v1-specs-repo-{{ .Branch }}-{{ .Revision }}
+            - v1-specs-repo-{{ .Branch }}-
+            - v1-specs-repo-
       - checkout
       - run:
           name: Clean up git repo to reduce cache size