diff --git a/python/quadrants/lang/ast/ast_transformer_utils.py b/python/quadrants/lang/ast/ast_transformer_utils.py
index e2a6ac6d03..96b0da67c5 100644
--- a/python/quadrants/lang/ast/ast_transformer_utils.py
+++ b/python/quadrants/lang/ast/ast_transformer_utils.py
@@ -35,7 +35,11 @@ def __call__(self, ctx: "ASTTransformerFuncContext", node: ast.AST):
             if method is None:
                 error_msg = f'Unsupported node "{node.__class__.__name__}"'
                 raise QuadrantsSyntaxError(error_msg)
-            info = ctx.get_pos_info(node) if isinstance(node, (ast.stmt, ast.expr)) else ""
+            # Attach only the cheap file/line/function header to every IR node. Building the full source-line
+            # hint (get_pos_info) here means running TextWrapper for every AST node of every kernel compilation,
+            # which dominates kernel build time. The full hint is still produced on the actual compile-error path
+            # below (get_pos_info in the except handler), so error messages are unchanged.
+            info = ctx.get_pos_header(node) if isinstance(node, (ast.stmt, ast.expr)) else ""
             with impl.get_runtime().src_info_guard(info):
                 res = method(ctx, node)
                 if not hasattr(node, "violates_pure"):
@@ -387,8 +391,11 @@ def get_var_by_name(self, name: str) -> tuple[bool, Any, str | None]:
         except AttributeError:
             raise QuadrantsNameError(f'Name "{name}" is not defined')
 
+    def get_pos_header(self, node: ast.AST) -> str:
+        return f'File "{self.file}", line {node.lineno + self.lineno_offset}, in {self.func.func.__name__}:\n'
+
     def get_pos_info(self, node: ast.AST) -> str:
-        msg = f'File "{self.file}", line {node.lineno + self.lineno_offset}, in {self.func.func.__name__}:\n'
+        msg = self.get_pos_header(node)
         col_offset = self.indent + node.col_offset
         end_col_offset = self.indent + node.end_col_offset
 
diff --git a/python/quadrants/lang/kernel_impl.py b/python/quadrants/lang/kernel_impl.py
index d52222a6e9..94c08513e1 100644
--- a/python/quadrants/lang/kernel_impl.py
+++ b/python/quadrants/lang/kernel_impl.py
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import inspect
+import linecache
 import re
 import sys
 import typing
@@ -141,10 +141,13 @@ def pyfunc(fn: Callable) -> QuadrantsCallable:
 def _inside_class(level_of_class_stackframe: int) -> bool:
     try:
         maybe_class_frame = sys._getframe(level_of_class_stackframe)
-        statement_list = inspect.getframeinfo(maybe_class_frame)[3]
-        if statement_list is None:
+        # Read the decoration-site source line via linecache rather than inspect.getframeinfo: getframeinfo
+        # resolves the frame's module through inspect.getmodule, an O(len(sys.modules)) scan run once per kernel
+        # creation. With thousands of modules loaded this dominates kernel build time; linecache.getline returns
+        # the same source line with no such scan.
+        first_statment = linecache.getline(maybe_class_frame.f_code.co_filename, maybe_class_frame.f_lineno).strip()
+        if not first_statment:
             return False
-        first_statment = statement_list[0].strip()
         for pat in _KERNEL_CLASS_STACKFRAME_STMT_RES:
             if pat.match(first_statment):
                 return True