diff --git a/sink/src/main/java/com/datastax/oss/kafka/sink/KafkaStruct.java b/sink/src/main/java/com/datastax/oss/kafka/sink/KafkaStruct.java
index 68d8d804..8e6d2453 100644
--- a/sink/src/main/java/com/datastax/oss/kafka/sink/KafkaStruct.java
+++ b/sink/src/main/java/com/datastax/oss/kafka/sink/KafkaStruct.java
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
 
 import com.datastax.oss.common.sink.AbstractSchema;
 import com.datastax.oss.common.sink.AbstractStruct;
+import org.apache.kafka.connect.data.Schema;
 import org.apache.kafka.connect.data.Struct;
 
 /** Wrapper for Kafka Structs. */
@@ -44,4 +45,8 @@ public Object get(String field) {
   public AbstractSchema schema() {
     return KafkaSchema.of(struct.schema());
   }
+
+  public Schema nativeSchema() {
+    return struct.schema();
+  }
 }
diff --git a/sink/src/main/java/com/datastax/oss/kafka/sink/codecs/StructToUDTCodec.java b/sink/src/main/java/com/datastax/oss/kafka/sink/codecs/StructToUDTCodec.java
index 5672db42..e5955c9c 100644
--- a/sink/src/main/java/com/datastax/oss/kafka/sink/codecs/StructToUDTCodec.java
+++ b/sink/src/main/java/com/datastax/oss/kafka/sink/codecs/StructToUDTCodec.java
@@ -26,21 +26,38 @@
 import com.datastax.oss.dsbulk.codecs.api.ConvertingCodec;
 import com.datastax.oss.dsbulk.codecs.api.ConvertingCodecFactory;
 import com.datastax.oss.kafka.sink.KafkaStruct;
+import com.github.benmanes.caffeine.cache.Cache;
+import com.github.benmanes.caffeine.cache.Caffeine;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Set;
 import java.util.stream.Collectors;
+import org.apache.kafka.connect.data.Schema;
 import org.apache.kafka.connect.data.Struct;
 
 /** Codec to convert a Kafka {@link Struct} to a UDT. */
 public class StructToUDTCodec extends ConvertingCodec<KafkaStruct, UdtValue> {
 
+  private static final int MAX_PLANS_BY_SCHEMA = 1000;
+
   private final ConvertingCodecFactory codecFactory;
   private final UserDefinedType definition;
+  private final int size;
+  private final List<CqlIdentifier> udtFieldNames;
+  private final List<DataType> udtFieldTypes;
+  private final List<String> udtFieldNamesInternal;
+  private final Cache<Schema, StructToUdtPlan> plansBySchema =
+      Caffeine.newBuilder().maximumSize(MAX_PLANS_BY_SCHEMA).build();
 
   StructToUDTCodec(ConvertingCodecFactory codecFactory, UserDefinedType cqlType) {
     super(codecFactory.getCodecRegistry().codecFor(cqlType), KafkaStruct.class);
     this.codecFactory = codecFactory;
     definition = cqlType;
+    udtFieldNames = definition.getFieldNames();
+    udtFieldTypes = definition.getFieldTypes();
+    size = udtFieldNames.size();
+    assert (size == udtFieldTypes.size());
+    udtFieldNamesInternal =
+        udtFieldNames.stream().map(CqlIdentifier::asInternal).collect(Collectors.toList());
   }
 
   @Override
@@ -49,8 +66,22 @@ public UdtValue externalToInternal(KafkaStruct external) {
       return null;
     }
 
-    int size = definition.getFieldNames().size();
-    AbstractSchema schema = external.schema();
+    StructToUdtPlan plan =
+        plansBySchema.get(external.nativeSchema(), schema -> createPlan(external.schema()));
+    UdtValue value = definition.newValue();
+    for (FieldBinding binding : plan.bindings) {
+      Object o = binding.codec.externalToInternal(external.get(binding.fieldNameInternal));
+      value = setValue(value, binding.fieldName, o, binding.codecInternalType);
+    }
+    return value;
+  }
+
+  private static UdtValue setValue(
+      UdtValue value, CqlIdentifier fieldName, Object raw, GenericType<Object> targetType) {
+    return value.set(fieldName, raw, targetType);
+  }
+
+  private StructToUdtPlan createPlan(AbstractSchema schema) {
     StructDataMetadata structMetadata = new StructDataMetadata(schema);
     Set<String> structFieldNames =
         schema.fields().stream().map(AbstractField::name).collect(Collectors.toSet());
@@ -59,31 +90,52 @@ public UdtValue externalToInternal(KafkaStruct external) {
           String.format("Expecting %d fields, got %d", size, structFieldNames.size()));
     }
 
-    UdtValue value = definition.newValue();
-    List<CqlIdentifier> fieldNames = definition.getFieldNames();
-    List<DataType> fieldTypes = definition.getFieldTypes();
-    assert (fieldNames.size() == fieldTypes.size());
-
+    FieldBinding[] bindings = new FieldBinding[size];
     for (int idx = 0; idx < size; idx++) {
-      CqlIdentifier udtFieldName = fieldNames.get(idx);
-      DataType udtFieldType = fieldTypes.get(idx);
+      CqlIdentifier udtFieldName = udtFieldNames.get(idx);
+      DataType udtFieldType = udtFieldTypes.get(idx);
+      String fieldNameInternal = udtFieldNamesInternal.get(idx);
 
-      if (!structFieldNames.contains(udtFieldName.asInternal())) {
+      if (!structFieldNames.contains(fieldNameInternal)) {
         throw new IllegalArgumentException(
             String.format(
                 "Field %s in UDT %s not found in input struct",
                 udtFieldName, definition.getName()));
       }
+
       @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
       GenericType<Object> fieldType =
-          (GenericType<Object>)
-              structMetadata.getFieldType(udtFieldName.asInternal(), udtFieldType);
+          (GenericType<Object>) structMetadata.getFieldType(fieldNameInternal, udtFieldType);
       ConvertingCodec<Object, Object> fieldCodec =
           codecFactory.createConvertingCodec(udtFieldType, fieldType, false);
-      Object o = fieldCodec.externalToInternal(external.get(udtFieldName.asInternal()));
-      value = value.set(udtFieldName, o, fieldCodec.getInternalJavaType());
+      bindings[idx] = new FieldBinding(udtFieldName, fieldNameInternal, fieldCodec);
+    }
+    return new StructToUdtPlan(bindings);
+  }
+
+  private static final class StructToUdtPlan {
+    private final FieldBinding[] bindings;
+
+    private StructToUdtPlan(FieldBinding[] bindings) {
+      this.bindings = bindings;
+    }
+  }
+
+  private static final class FieldBinding {
+    private final CqlIdentifier fieldName;
+    private final String fieldNameInternal;
+    private final ConvertingCodec<Object, Object> codec;
+    private final GenericType<Object> codecInternalType;
+
+    private FieldBinding(
+        CqlIdentifier fieldName, String fieldNameInternal, ConvertingCodec<Object, Object> codec) {
+      this.fieldName = fieldName;
+      this.fieldNameInternal = fieldNameInternal;
+      this.codec = codec;
+      @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
+      GenericType<Object> internalType = (GenericType<Object>) codec.getInternalJavaType();
+      this.codecInternalType = internalType;
     }
-    return value;
   }
 
   @Override