diff --git a/tailbone/static/js/debounce.js b/tailbone/static/js/debounce.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..8fea0eda
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tailbone/static/js/debounce.js
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+
+// this code was politely stolen from
+// https://vanillajstoolkit.com/helpers/debounce/
+
+// its purpose is to help with Buefy autocomplete performance
+// https://buefy.org/documentation/autocomplete/
+
+/**
+ * Debounce functions for better performance
+ * (c) 2021 Chris Ferdinandi, MIT License, https://gomakethings.com
+ * @param  {Function} fn The function to debounce
+ */
+function debounce (fn) {
+
+    // Setup a timer
+    let timeout;
+
+    // Return a function to run debounced
+    return function () {
+
+	// Setup the arguments
+	let context = this;
+	let args = arguments;
+
+	// If there's a timer, cancel it
+	if (timeout) {
+	    window.cancelAnimationFrame(timeout);
+	}
+
+	// Setup the new requestAnimationFrame()
+	timeout = window.requestAnimationFrame(function () {
+	    fn.apply(context, args);
+	});
+
+    };
+}
diff --git a/tailbone/static/js/tailbone.buefy.autocomplete.js b/tailbone/static/js/tailbone.buefy.autocomplete.js
index eb36fa74..9b28f6b3 100644
--- a/tailbone/static/js/tailbone.buefy.autocomplete.js
+++ b/tailbone/static/js/tailbone.buefy.autocomplete.js
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ const TailboneAutocomplete = {
 
         // TODO: buefy example uses `debounce()` here and perhaps we should too?
         // https://buefy.org/documentation/autocomplete
-        getAsyncData: function (entry) {
+        getAsyncData: debounce(function (entry) {
             if (entry.length < 3) {
                 this.data = []
                 return
@@ -112,10 +112,10 @@ const TailboneAutocomplete = {
                     this.data = []
                     throw error
                 })
-                    .finally(() => {
-                        this.isFetching = false
-                    })
-                        },
+                .finally(() => {
+                    this.isFetching = false
+                })
+        }),
     },
 }
 
diff --git a/tailbone/templates/themes/falafel/base.mako b/tailbone/templates/themes/falafel/base.mako
index 24b533d1..bf8f5ee7 100644
--- a/tailbone/templates/themes/falafel/base.mako
+++ b/tailbone/templates/themes/falafel/base.mako
@@ -77,6 +77,9 @@
   ## some commonly-useful logic for detecting (non-)numeric input
   ${h.javascript_link(request.static_url('tailbone:static/js/numeric.js') + '?ver={}'.format(tailbone.__version__))}
 
+  ## debounce, for better autocomplete performance
+  ${h.javascript_link(request.static_url('tailbone:static/js/debounce.js') + '?ver={}'.format(tailbone.__version__))}
+
   ## Tailbone / Buefy stuff
   ${h.javascript_link(request.static_url('tailbone:static/js/tailbone.buefy.datepicker.js') + '?ver={}'.format(tailbone.__version__))}
   ${h.javascript_link(request.static_url('tailbone:static/js/tailbone.buefy.numericinput.js') + '?ver={}'.format(tailbone.__version__))}