diff --git a/.changeset/nervous-months-repeat.md b/.changeset/nervous-months-repeat.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..42c7fac2064
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/nervous-months-repeat.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+"webpack-cli": patch
+---
+
+perf: enable the Node.js compile cache (`module.enableCompileCache`, available on Node.js >= 22.8.0) to speed up CLI startup
diff --git a/packages/webpack-cli/bin/cli.js b/packages/webpack-cli/bin/cli.js
index b3a6ca5e11a..6e496b42bb9 100755
--- a/packages/webpack-cli/bin/cli.js
+++ b/packages/webpack-cli/bin/cli.js
@@ -2,6 +2,18 @@
 
 "use strict";
 
+// `module.enableCompileCache` is only available on Node.js >= 22.8.0
+// eslint-disable-next-line n/no-unsupported-features/node-builtins
+const { enableCompileCache } = require("node:module");
+
+if (enableCompileCache) {
+  try {
+    enableCompileCache();
+  } catch {
+    // Ignore errors
+  }
+}
+
 // Prefer the local installation of `webpack-cli` when one exists. Run this
 // before requiring the (heavier) CLI implementation: a delegated run then never
 // loads it, and `WEBPACK_CLI_SKIP_IMPORT_LOCAL` skips loading `import-local` too.