diff --git a/crates/redact/src/sanitize.rs b/crates/redact/src/sanitize.rs
index 35eac975f8..5a4ea3bfcd 100644
--- a/crates/redact/src/sanitize.rs
+++ b/crates/redact/src/sanitize.rs
@@ -587,9 +587,12 @@ fn content_pass(doc: &mut Document, text: bool, layers: bool, write: bool) -> Re
     // The original image and form XObjects the rewrite drops or replaces, on any page.
     let mut doomed = Vec::new();
     let mut retired_properties = Vec::new();
-    let n = pdfcraft_model::pages(doc).len();
+    // The page tree is read once, and again only after a page's rewrite (pinning its inherited
+    // resources can change its ancestors), not once per page: a scan of many pages stays linear.
+    let mut pages = pdfcraft_model::pages(doc);
+    let n = pages.len();
     for pi in 0..n {
-        let page = pdfcraft_model::pages(doc).swap_remove(pi);
+        let Some(page) = pages.get(pi).cloned() else { break };
         let mut budget = pdfcraft_cos::DecodeBudget::page();
         let Ok((list, data)) = page_streams_within(doc, &page.dict, pi, &mut budget) else {
             if write {
@@ -672,6 +675,7 @@ fn content_pass(doc: &mut Document, text: bool, layers: bool, write: bool) -> Re
                 pdfcraft_content::Pieces::join(&page_content).data(),
             );
             crate::tags::clean(doc, page.obj, None, &changed_ids, &empty_ids)?;
+            pages = pdfcraft_model::pages(doc);
         }
         for (old, new, changed, empty) in out.tag_changes {
             crate::tags::clean(doc, page.obj, Some((old, new)), &changed, &empty)?;
diff --git a/crates/redact/src/tests/limits.rs b/crates/redact/src/tests/limits.rs
index 8519e08608..b241dc4cdc 100644
--- a/crates/redact/src/tests/limits.rs
+++ b/crates/redact/src/tests/limits.rs
@@ -53,3 +53,23 @@ fn a_change_inside_nested_marked_content_touches_every_enclosing_mcid() {
     assert_eq!(changed, HashSet::from([0, 1]));
     assert_eq!(empty, HashSet::from([1]));
 }
+
+/// The hidden-information scan read the whole page tree again for every page: 20 000 pages cost
+/// 400 million page visits. It reads the tree once per pass now.
+#[test]
+fn a_scan_of_many_pages_reads_the_page_tree_once() {
+    use crate::sanitize::{Hidden, scan};
+    const N: usize = 20_000;
+    let kids: String = (0..N).map(|i| format!("{} 0 R ", 4 + i)).collect();
+    let mut objs = vec![
+        b"<< /Type /Catalog /Pages 2 0 R >>".to_vec(),
+        format!("<< /Type /Pages /Kids [{kids}] /Count {N} /MediaBox [0 0 300 300] >>").into_bytes(),
+        stream("", b"BT 3 Tr (x) Tj ET"),
+    ];
+    objs.extend((0..N).map(|_| b"<< /Type /Page /Parent 2 0 R /Contents 3 0 R >>".to_vec()));
+    let doc = pdf(objs);
+    let started = std::time::Instant::now();
+    let counts: HashMap<Hidden, usize> = scan(&doc).into_iter().collect();
+    assert_eq!(counts[&Hidden::HiddenText], N, "one invisible glyph on every page");
+    assert!(started.elapsed() < std::time::Duration::from_secs(60), "{:?}", started.elapsed());
+}