diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index c172399..e0d246a 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -27,6 +27,13 @@
 git-refs-filter is slightly slower than using Git's hideRefs and it does require the configuration
 of the change_notes cache in `gerrit.config` to avoid potentially high overhead.
 
+Additionally, this plugin uses an in-memory cache to store previously computed
+open/close change statuses to avoid processing them over and over again.
+
+Explicit invalidation of such cache is not necessary, since the change revision
+is part of the cache key, so that previous entries automatically become obsolete
+once a change status is updated.
+
 ### Gerrit ACLs
 
 Use the Gerrit ACLs when you need to hide some of the refs on a per-project basis or when
@@ -63,9 +70,9 @@
 has no side effects.
 
 Filtering a closed change refs has the following meaning:
-- Merged changes and all their patch-sets
-- Abandoned changes and all their patch-sets
-- Corrupted changes and all their patch-sets
+- Merged changes and all their patch-sets older than the [grace time](#grace-time-for-closed-changes)
+- Abandoned changes and all their patch-sets older than the [grace time](#grace-time-for-closed-changes)
+- Corrupted changes and all their patch-sets older than the [grace time](#grace-time-for-closed-changes)
 - All '/meta' refs of all changes
 - All non-published edits of any changes
 
@@ -93,3 +100,18 @@
 a READ rule to refs/*). To enable the closed changes filtering you need to disable any global read rule
 for the group that needs refs filtering.
 
+### Grace time for closed changes
+
+The refsfilter allows to define `git-refs-filter: grace time [sec] for closed changes`
+project configuration parameter. This parameter controls the size of the grace
+time window in seconds. All closed changes newer than the grace time will not
+be filtered out. Value can be defined per project or can be inherited from its parents.
+
+Default value: 86400
+
+Example of setting the grace time parameter in `project.config`:
+
+```
+[plugin "gerrit"]
+  gitRefFilterClosedChangesGraceTimeSec = 3600
+```
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/modules/gitrefsfilter/ChangeCacheKey.java b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/modules/gitrefsfilter/ChangeCacheKey.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9a6b0d6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/modules/gitrefsfilter/ChangeCacheKey.java
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+// Copyright (C) 2022 The Android Open Source Project
+//
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+// http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+
+package com.googlesource.gerrit.modules.gitrefsfilter;
+
+import com.google.auto.value.AutoValue;
+import com.google.gerrit.common.Nullable;
+import com.google.gerrit.entities.Change;
+import com.google.gerrit.entities.Project;
+import org.eclipse.jgit.lib.ObjectId;
+import org.eclipse.jgit.lib.Repository;
+
+@AutoValue
+public abstract class ChangeCacheKey {
+  /* `repo` and `changeId` need to be part of the cache key because the
+  Loader requires them in order to fetch the relevant changeNote. */
+  public abstract Repository repo();
+
+  public abstract Change.Id changeId();
+
+  @Nullable
+  public abstract ObjectId changeRevision();
+
+  public abstract Project.NameKey project();
+
+  static ChangeCacheKey create(
+      Repository repo,
+      Change.Id changeId,
+      @Nullable ObjectId changeRevision,
+      Project.NameKey project) {
+    return new AutoValue_ChangeCacheKey(repo, changeId, changeRevision, project);
+  }
+}
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/modules/gitrefsfilter/ChangesTsCache.java b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/modules/gitrefsfilter/ChangesTsCache.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..cfd7a0f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/modules/gitrefsfilter/ChangesTsCache.java
@@ -0,0 +1,64 @@
+// Copyright (C) 2022 The Android Open Source Project
+//
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+// http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+package com.googlesource.gerrit.modules.gitrefsfilter;
+
+import com.google.common.cache.CacheLoader;
+import com.google.common.flogger.FluentLogger;
+import com.google.gerrit.server.cache.CacheModule;
+import com.google.gerrit.server.notedb.ChangeNotes;
+import com.google.gerrit.server.project.NoSuchChangeException;
+import com.google.inject.Inject;
+import com.google.inject.Module;
+import com.google.inject.Singleton;
+import com.google.inject.TypeLiteral;
+
+public class ChangesTsCache {
+  public static final String CHANGES_CACHE_TS = "changes_ts";
+
+  public static Module module() {
+    return new CacheModule() {
+      @Override
+      protected void configure() {
+        cache(CHANGES_CACHE_TS, ChangeCacheKey.class, new TypeLiteral<Long>() {})
+            .loader(Loader.class);
+      }
+    };
+  }
+
+  @Singleton
+  static class Loader extends CacheLoader<ChangeCacheKey, Long> {
+    private static final FluentLogger logger = FluentLogger.forEnclosingClass();
+    private final ChangeNotes.Factory changeNotesFactory;
+
+    @Inject
+    Loader(ChangeNotes.Factory changeNotesFactory) {
+      this.changeNotesFactory = changeNotesFactory;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public Long load(ChangeCacheKey key) throws Exception {
+      try {
+        return changeNotesFactory
+            .createChecked(key.repo(), key.project(), key.changeId(), key.changeRevision())
+            .getChange()
+            .getLastUpdatedOn()
+            .getTime();
+      } catch (NoSuchChangeException e) {
+        logger.atFine().withCause(e).log(
+            "Change %d does not exist: returning zero epoch", key.changeId());
+        return 0L;
+      }
+    }
+  }
+}
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/modules/gitrefsfilter/FilterRefsConfig.java b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/modules/gitrefsfilter/FilterRefsConfig.java
index 2524f5e..1b29094 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/modules/gitrefsfilter/FilterRefsConfig.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/modules/gitrefsfilter/FilterRefsConfig.java
@@ -15,10 +15,14 @@
 package com.googlesource.gerrit.modules.gitrefsfilter;
 
 import com.google.common.collect.ImmutableList;
+import com.google.gerrit.entities.Project;
 import com.google.gerrit.server.config.GerritServerConfig;
+import com.google.gerrit.server.config.PluginConfigFactory;
+import com.google.gerrit.server.project.NoSuchProjectException;
 import com.google.inject.Inject;
 import java.util.Arrays;
 import java.util.List;
+import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
 import java.util.stream.Collectors;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.lib.Config;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.lib.Ref;
@@ -26,13 +30,20 @@
 public class FilterRefsConfig {
   public static final String SECTION_GIT_REFS_FILTER = "git-refs-filter";
   public static final String KEY_HIDE_REFS = "hideRefs";
+  public static final String PROJECT_CONFIG_CLOSED_CHANGES_GRACE_TIME_SEC =
+      "gitRefFilterClosedChangesGraceTimeSec";
+
+  static final long CLOSED_CHANGES_GRACE_TIME_SEC_DEFAULT =
+      TimeUnit.SECONDS.convert(24, TimeUnit.HOURS);
 
   private final List<String> hideRefs;
   private final List<String> showRefs;
+  private PluginConfigFactory cfgFactory;
 
   @Inject
-  public FilterRefsConfig(@GerritServerConfig Config gerritConfig) {
+  public FilterRefsConfig(@GerritServerConfig Config gerritConfig, PluginConfigFactory cfgFactory) {
 
+    this.cfgFactory = cfgFactory;
     List<String> hideRefsConfig =
         Arrays.asList(gerritConfig.getStringList(SECTION_GIT_REFS_FILTER, null, KEY_HIDE_REFS));
 
@@ -68,4 +79,13 @@
 
     return true;
   }
+
+  /** performance warning: this call can be expensive, please reuse the value */
+  public long getClosedChangeGraceTimeSec(Project.NameKey projectKey)
+      throws NoSuchProjectException {
+    return cfgFactory
+        .getFromProjectConfigWithInheritance(projectKey, "gerrit")
+        .getLong(
+            PROJECT_CONFIG_CLOSED_CHANGES_GRACE_TIME_SEC, CLOSED_CHANGES_GRACE_TIME_SEC_DEFAULT);
+  }
 }
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/modules/gitrefsfilter/ForProjectWrapper.java b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/modules/gitrefsfilter/ForProjectWrapper.java
index 3080694..5347f2d 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/modules/gitrefsfilter/ForProjectWrapper.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/modules/gitrefsfilter/ForProjectWrapper.java
@@ -14,24 +14,33 @@
 
 package com.googlesource.gerrit.modules.gitrefsfilter;
 
+import static com.googlesource.gerrit.modules.gitrefsfilter.ChangesTsCache.CHANGES_CACHE_TS;
+import static com.googlesource.gerrit.modules.gitrefsfilter.OpenChangesCache.OPEN_CHANGES_CACHE;
+
+import com.google.common.cache.LoadingCache;
 import com.google.common.flogger.FluentLogger;
+import com.google.gerrit.common.Nullable;
 import com.google.gerrit.entities.Change;
 import com.google.gerrit.entities.Project;
 import com.google.gerrit.entities.RefNames;
 import com.google.gerrit.extensions.api.access.CoreOrPluginProjectPermission;
 import com.google.gerrit.extensions.conditions.BooleanCondition;
 import com.google.gerrit.extensions.restapi.AuthException;
-import com.google.gerrit.server.notedb.ChangeNotes;
 import com.google.gerrit.server.permissions.PermissionBackend.ForProject;
 import com.google.gerrit.server.permissions.PermissionBackend.ForRef;
 import com.google.gerrit.server.permissions.PermissionBackend.RefFilterOptions;
 import com.google.gerrit.server.permissions.PermissionBackendException;
-import com.google.gerrit.server.project.NoSuchChangeException;
+import com.google.gerrit.server.project.NoSuchProjectException;
 import com.google.inject.Inject;
 import com.google.inject.assistedinject.Assisted;
+import com.google.inject.name.Named;
+import java.sql.Timestamp;
+import java.time.Instant;
+import java.time.temporal.ChronoUnit;
 import java.util.Collection;
 import java.util.Map;
 import java.util.Set;
+import java.util.concurrent.ExecutionException;
 import java.util.stream.Collectors;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.lib.ObjectId;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.lib.Ref;
@@ -40,10 +49,12 @@
 public class ForProjectWrapper extends ForProject {
   private static final FluentLogger logger = FluentLogger.forEnclosingClass();
 
+  private final LoadingCache<ChangeCacheKey, Boolean> openChangesCache;
+  private final LoadingCache<ChangeCacheKey, Long> changesTsCache;
   private final ForProject defaultForProject;
   private final Project.NameKey project;
-  private final ChangeNotes.Factory changeNotesFactory;
   private final FilterRefsConfig config;
+  private long closedChangesGraceTime;
 
   public interface Factory {
     ForProjectWrapper get(ForProject defaultForProject, Project.NameKey project);
@@ -51,14 +62,18 @@
 
   @Inject
   public ForProjectWrapper(
-      ChangeNotes.Factory changeNotesFactory,
       FilterRefsConfig config,
+      @Named(OPEN_CHANGES_CACHE) LoadingCache<ChangeCacheKey, Boolean> openChangesCache,
+      @Named(CHANGES_CACHE_TS) LoadingCache<ChangeCacheKey, Long> changesTsCache,
       @Assisted ForProject defaultForProject,
-      @Assisted Project.NameKey project) {
+      @Assisted Project.NameKey project)
+      throws NoSuchProjectException {
+    this.openChangesCache = openChangesCache;
+    this.changesTsCache = changesTsCache;
     this.defaultForProject = defaultForProject;
     this.project = project;
-    this.changeNotesFactory = changeNotesFactory;
     this.config = config;
+    this.closedChangesGraceTime = config.getClosedChangeGraceTimeSec(project);
   }
 
   @Override
@@ -98,7 +113,8 @@
               return (!isChangeRef(refName)
                   || (!isChangeMetaRef(refName)
                       && changeId != null
-                      && isOpen(repo, changeId, changeRevisions.get(changeId))));
+                      && (isOpen(repo, changeId, changeRevisions.get(changeId))
+                          || isRecent(repo, changeId, changeRevisions.get(changeId)))));
             })
         .collect(Collectors.toList());
   }
@@ -115,15 +131,32 @@
     return isChangeRef(changeKey) && changeKey.endsWith("/meta");
   }
 
-  private boolean isOpen(Repository repo, Change.Id changeId, ObjectId changeRevision) {
+  private boolean isOpen(Repository repo, Change.Id changeId, @Nullable ObjectId changeRevision) {
     try {
-      ChangeNotes changeNotes =
-          changeNotesFactory.createChecked(repo, project, changeId, changeRevision);
-      return changeNotes.getChange().getStatus().isOpen();
-    } catch (NoSuchChangeException e) {
+      return openChangesCache.get(ChangeCacheKey.create(repo, changeId, changeRevision, project));
+    } catch (ExecutionException e) {
       logger.atWarning().withCause(e).log(
-          "Change %d does not exist: hiding from the advertised refs", changeId);
-      return false;
+          "Error getting change '%d' from the cache. Do not hide from the advertised refs",
+          changeId);
+      return true;
+    }
+  }
+
+  private boolean isRecent(Repository repo, Change.Id changeId, @Nullable ObjectId changeRevision) {
+    try {
+      Timestamp cutOffTs =
+          Timestamp.from(
+              Instant.now().truncatedTo(ChronoUnit.SECONDS).minusSeconds(closedChangesGraceTime));
+      return changesTsCache
+              .get(ChangeCacheKey.create(repo, changeId, changeRevision, project))
+              .longValue()
+          >= cutOffTs.getTime();
+
+    } catch (ExecutionException e) {
+      logger.atWarning().withCause(e).log(
+          "Error getting change '%d' from the cache. Do not hide from the advertised refs",
+          changeId);
+      return true;
     }
   }
 
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/modules/gitrefsfilter/OpenChangesCache.java b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/modules/gitrefsfilter/OpenChangesCache.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8e1c371
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/modules/gitrefsfilter/OpenChangesCache.java
@@ -0,0 +1,63 @@
+// Copyright (C) 2022 The Android Open Source Project
+//
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+// http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+package com.googlesource.gerrit.modules.gitrefsfilter;
+
+import com.google.common.cache.CacheLoader;
+import com.google.common.flogger.FluentLogger;
+import com.google.gerrit.server.cache.CacheModule;
+import com.google.gerrit.server.notedb.ChangeNotes;
+import com.google.gerrit.server.project.NoSuchChangeException;
+import com.google.inject.Inject;
+import com.google.inject.Module;
+import com.google.inject.Singleton;
+import com.google.inject.TypeLiteral;
+
+public class OpenChangesCache {
+  public static final String OPEN_CHANGES_CACHE = "open_changes";
+
+  public static Module module() {
+    return new CacheModule() {
+      @Override
+      protected void configure() {
+        cache(OPEN_CHANGES_CACHE, ChangeCacheKey.class, new TypeLiteral<Boolean>() {})
+            .loader(Loader.class);
+      }
+    };
+  }
+
+  @Singleton
+  static class Loader extends CacheLoader<ChangeCacheKey, Boolean> {
+    private static final FluentLogger logger = FluentLogger.forEnclosingClass();
+    private final ChangeNotes.Factory changeNotesFactory;
+
+    @Inject
+    Loader(ChangeNotes.Factory changeNotesFactory) {
+      this.changeNotesFactory = changeNotesFactory;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public Boolean load(ChangeCacheKey key) throws Exception {
+      try {
+        ChangeNotes changeNotes =
+            changeNotesFactory.createChecked(
+                key.repo(), key.project(), key.changeId(), key.changeRevision());
+        return changeNotes.getChange().getStatus().isOpen();
+      } catch (NoSuchChangeException e) {
+        logger.atFine().withCause(e).log(
+            "Change %d does not exist: hiding from the advertised refs", key.changeId());
+        return false;
+      }
+    }
+  }
+}
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/modules/gitrefsfilter/RefsFilterModule.java b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/modules/gitrefsfilter/RefsFilterModule.java
index 98ce862..8b882c9 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/modules/gitrefsfilter/RefsFilterModule.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/modules/gitrefsfilter/RefsFilterModule.java
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
 
 import com.google.gerrit.extensions.annotations.Exports;
 import com.google.gerrit.extensions.config.CapabilityDefinition;
+import com.google.gerrit.server.config.ProjectConfigEntry;
 import com.google.gerrit.server.permissions.PermissionBackend;
 import com.google.inject.AbstractModule;
 import com.google.inject.Scopes;
@@ -25,6 +26,8 @@
 
   @Override
   protected void configure() {
+    bind(FilterRefsConfig.class).in(Scopes.SINGLETON);
+
     install(
         new FactoryModuleBuilder()
             .implement(WithUserWrapper.class, WithUserWrapper.class)
@@ -41,5 +44,17 @@
         .annotatedWith(Exports.named(FilterRefsCapability.HIDE_CLOSED_CHANGES_REFS))
         .to(FilterRefsCapability.class)
         .in(Scopes.SINGLETON);
+
+    bind(ProjectConfigEntry.class)
+        .annotatedWith(Exports.named(FilterRefsConfig.PROJECT_CONFIG_CLOSED_CHANGES_GRACE_TIME_SEC))
+        .toInstance(
+            new ProjectConfigEntry(
+                "git-refs-filter: grace time [sec] for closed changes",
+                FilterRefsConfig.CLOSED_CHANGES_GRACE_TIME_SEC_DEFAULT,
+                true,
+                "Grace time for keeping closed changes from filtering by the git-refs-filter"));
+
+    install(OpenChangesCache.module());
+    install(ChangesTsCache.module());
   }
 }
diff --git a/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/libmodule/plugins/test/AbstractGitDaemonTest.java b/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/libmodule/plugins/test/AbstractGitDaemonTest.java
index ea1d61e..c58f0b8 100644
--- a/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/libmodule/plugins/test/AbstractGitDaemonTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/libmodule/plugins/test/AbstractGitDaemonTest.java
@@ -43,11 +43,12 @@
   @Inject private RequestScopeOperations requestScopeOperations;
   @Inject private ProjectOperations projectOperations;
 
-  protected void createChangeAndAbandon() throws Exception, RestApiException {
+  protected int createChangeAndAbandon() throws Exception, RestApiException {
     requestScopeOperations.setApiUser(admin.id());
     createChange();
     int changeNum = changeNumOfRef(getChangesRefsAs(admin).get(0));
     gApi.changes().id(changeNum).abandon();
+    return changeNum;
   }
 
   protected void createFilteredRefsGroup() throws Exception {
diff --git a/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/libmodule/plugins/test/GitRefsFilterTest.java b/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/libmodule/plugins/test/GitRefsFilterTest.java
index 957d4f7..1fd85c1 100644
--- a/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/libmodule/plugins/test/GitRefsFilterTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/libmodule/plugins/test/GitRefsFilterTest.java
@@ -15,7 +15,11 @@
 package com.googlesource.gerrit.libmodule.plugins.test;
 
 import static com.google.common.truth.Truth.assertThat;
+import static com.google.gerrit.acceptance.WaitUtil.waitUntil;
+import static com.googlesource.gerrit.modules.gitrefsfilter.ChangesTsCache.CHANGES_CACHE_TS;
+import static com.googlesource.gerrit.modules.gitrefsfilter.OpenChangesCache.OPEN_CHANGES_CACHE;
 
+import com.google.common.cache.LoadingCache;
 import com.google.gerrit.acceptance.GitUtil;
 import com.google.gerrit.acceptance.NoHttpd;
 import com.google.gerrit.acceptance.Sandboxed;
@@ -23,12 +27,24 @@
 import com.google.gerrit.acceptance.config.GerritConfig;
 import com.google.gerrit.acceptance.testsuite.request.RequestScopeOperations;
 import com.google.gerrit.entities.BranchNameKey;
+import com.google.gerrit.entities.Change;
 import com.google.gerrit.entities.RefNames;
+import com.google.gerrit.server.git.meta.MetaDataUpdate;
+import com.google.gerrit.server.project.ProjectConfig;
 import com.google.inject.Inject;
 import com.google.inject.Module;
+import com.google.inject.name.Named;
+import com.googlesource.gerrit.modules.gitrefsfilter.ChangeCacheKey;
+import com.googlesource.gerrit.modules.gitrefsfilter.FilterRefsConfig;
 import com.googlesource.gerrit.modules.gitrefsfilter.RefsFilterModule;
 import java.io.IOException;
+import java.sql.Timestamp;
+import java.time.Duration;
+import java.time.Instant;
+import java.time.temporal.ChronoUnit;
+import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.List;
+import java.util.Map;
 import java.util.stream.Collectors;
 import java.util.stream.Stream;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.internal.storage.dfs.DfsRepositoryDescription;
@@ -36,6 +52,7 @@
 import org.eclipse.jgit.junit.TestRepository;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.lib.Config;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.lib.Ref;
+import org.eclipse.jgit.lib.Repository;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.transport.FetchResult;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.util.FS;
 import org.junit.Before;
@@ -46,6 +63,19 @@
 public class GitRefsFilterTest extends AbstractGitDaemonTest {
   @Inject private RequestScopeOperations requestScopeOperations;
 
+  @Inject
+  private @Named(OPEN_CHANGES_CACHE) LoadingCache<ChangeCacheKey, Boolean> changeOpenCache;
+
+  @Inject
+  private @Named(CHANGES_CACHE_TS) LoadingCache<ChangeCacheKey, Long> changesTsCache;
+
+  private static final int CLOSED_CHANGES_GRACE_TIME_SEC = 5;
+
+  private static final Duration TEST_PATIENCE_TIME =
+      Duration.ofSeconds(CLOSED_CHANGES_GRACE_TIME_SEC + 1);
+
+  private volatile Exception getRefsException = null;
+
   @Override
   public Module createModule() {
     return new RefsFilterModule();
@@ -54,13 +84,41 @@
   @Before
   public void setup() throws Exception {
     createFilteredRefsGroup();
+    try (MetaDataUpdate md = metaDataUpdateFactory.create(project)) {
+      ProjectConfig projectConfig = projectConfigFactory.create(project);
+      projectConfig.load(md);
+      projectConfig.updatePluginConfig(
+          "gerrit",
+          cfg ->
+              cfg.setLong(
+                  FilterRefsConfig.PROJECT_CONFIG_CLOSED_CHANGES_GRACE_TIME_SEC,
+                  CLOSED_CHANGES_GRACE_TIME_SEC));
+      projectConfig.commit(md);
+      projectCache.evict(project);
+    }
   }
 
   @Test
   public void testUserWithFilterOutCapabilityShouldNotSeeAbandonedChangesRefs() throws Exception {
+    Timestamp changeTs = gApi.changes().id(createChangeAndAbandon()).get().updated;
+
+    waitUntil(() -> getRefsUnchecked(user).isEmpty(), TEST_PATIENCE_TIME);
+    checkGetRefsIsSuccessful();
+
+    Timestamp filterCutoffTs =
+        Timestamp.from(
+            Instant.now()
+                .truncatedTo(ChronoUnit.SECONDS)
+                .minusSeconds(CLOSED_CHANGES_GRACE_TIME_SEC));
+
+    assertThat(changeTs.before(filterCutoffTs)).isTrue();
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void testUserWithFilterOutCapabilityShouldSeeJustClosedChangesRefs() throws Exception {
     createChangeAndAbandon();
 
-    assertThat(getRefs(cloneProjectChangesRefs(user))).isEmpty();
+    assertThat(getRefs(cloneProjectChangesRefs(user))).isNotEmpty();
   }
 
   @Test
@@ -84,9 +142,11 @@
   }
 
   @Test
-  public void testAdminUserShouldSeeAbandonedChangesRefs() throws Exception {
+  public void testAdminUserShouldSeeAbandonedChangesRefsAfterGracePeriod() throws Exception {
     createChangeAndAbandon();
 
+    waitUntil(() -> getRefsUnchecked(user).isEmpty(), TEST_PATIENCE_TIME);
+
     assertThat(getRefs(cloneProjectChangesRefs(admin))).isNotEmpty();
   }
 
@@ -116,6 +176,78 @@
         .isNotEmpty();
   }
 
+  @Test
+  public void testShouldCacheChangeIsClosedWhenAbandoned() throws Exception {
+    Change.Id changeId = Change.id(createChangeAndAbandon());
+    Ref metaRef = getMetaId(changeId);
+
+    getRefs(cloneProjectChangesRefs(user));
+
+    assertThat(changeOpenCache.asMap().size()).isEqualTo(1);
+
+    Map.Entry<ChangeCacheKey, Boolean> cacheEntry =
+        new ArrayList<>(changeOpenCache.asMap().entrySet()).get(0);
+
+    assertThat(cacheEntry.getKey().project()).isEqualTo(project);
+    assertThat(cacheEntry.getKey().changeId()).isEqualTo(changeId);
+    assertThat(cacheEntry.getKey().changeRevision()).isEqualTo(metaRef.getObjectId());
+    assertThat(cacheEntry.getValue()).isFalse();
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void testShouldCacheWhenChangeIsOpen() throws Exception {
+    createChange();
+    List<Ref> refs = getRefs(cloneProjectChangesRefs(user));
+
+    assertThat(refs).isNotEmpty();
+
+    Change.Id changeId = Change.id(changeNumOfRef(refs.get(0)));
+
+    assertThat(changeOpenCache.asMap().size()).isEqualTo(1);
+
+    Map.Entry<ChangeCacheKey, Boolean> cacheEntry =
+        new ArrayList<>(changeOpenCache.asMap().entrySet()).get(0);
+
+    assertThat(cacheEntry.getKey().project()).isEqualTo(project);
+    assertThat(cacheEntry.getKey().changeId()).isEqualTo(changeId);
+    assertThat(cacheEntry.getKey().changeRevision()).isEqualTo(getMetaId(changeId).getObjectId());
+    assertThat(cacheEntry.getValue()).isTrue();
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void testShouldCacheChangeTsWhenAbandoned() throws Exception {
+    Change.Id changeId = Change.id(createChangeAndAbandon());
+    Ref metaRef = getMetaId(changeId);
+
+    getRefs(cloneProjectChangesRefs(user));
+
+    assertThat(changesTsCache.asMap().size()).isEqualTo(1);
+
+    Map.Entry<ChangeCacheKey, Long> cacheEntry =
+        new ArrayList<>(changesTsCache.asMap().entrySet()).get(0);
+
+    assertThat(cacheEntry.getKey().project()).isEqualTo(project);
+    assertThat(cacheEntry.getKey().changeId()).isEqualTo(changeId);
+    assertThat(cacheEntry.getKey().changeRevision()).isEqualTo(metaRef.getObjectId());
+    assertThat(cacheEntry.getValue())
+        .isEqualTo(gApi.changes().id(changeId.get()).get().updated.getTime());
+  }
+
+  private List<Ref> getRefsUnchecked(TestAccount user) {
+    try {
+      return super.getRefs(cloneProjectChangesRefs(user));
+    } catch (Exception e) {
+      getRefsException = e;
+      return new ArrayList<>();
+    }
+  }
+
+  private void checkGetRefsIsSuccessful() throws Exception {
+    if (getRefsException != null) {
+      throw getRefsException;
+    }
+  }
+
   protected Stream<String> fetchAllRefs(TestAccount testAccount) throws Exception {
     DfsRepositoryDescription desc = new DfsRepositoryDescription("clone of " + project.get());
 
@@ -137,4 +269,10 @@
       throws IOException {
     return repo.getRepository().getRefDatabase().getRefsByPrefix(prefix);
   }
+
+  private Ref getMetaId(Change.Id changeId) throws Exception {
+    try (Repository r = repoManager.openRepository(project)) {
+      return r.exactRef(RefNames.changeMetaRef(changeId));
+    }
+  }
 }