diff --git a/actionpack/lib/abstract_controller/rendering.rb b/actionpack/lib/abstract_controller/rendering.rb
index e88e5aefc067c..1c63fb2d149e3 100644
--- a/actionpack/lib/abstract_controller/rendering.rb
+++ b/actionpack/lib/abstract_controller/rendering.rb
@@ -155,7 +155,7 @@ def _normalize_options(options)
         options[:partial] = action_name
       end
 
-      if (options.keys & [:partial, :file, :template]).empty?
+      if (options.keys & [:partial, :file, :template, :once]).empty?
         options[:prefix] ||= _prefix
       end
 
diff --git a/actionpack/lib/action_view/render/rendering.rb b/actionpack/lib/action_view/render/rendering.rb
index adbb6bc62636d..0cd5d9d437ebd 100644
--- a/actionpack/lib/action_view/render/rendering.rb
+++ b/actionpack/lib/action_view/render/rendering.rb
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ module Rendering
     # * <tt>:file</tt> - Renders an explicit template file (this used to be the old default), add :locals to pass in those.
     # * <tt>:inline</tt> - Renders an inline template similar to how it's done in the controller.
     # * <tt>:text</tt> - Renders the text passed in out.
+    # * <tt>:once</tt> - Receives :template paths and ensures they are rendered just once.
     #
     # If no options hash is passed or :update specified, the default is to render a partial and use the second parameter
     # as the locals hash.
@@ -20,6 +21,8 @@ def render(options = {}, locals = {}, &block)
           _render_partial(options.merge(:partial => options[:layout]), &block)
         elsif options.key?(:partial)
           _render_partial(options)
+        elsif options.key?(:once)
+          _render_once(options)
         else
           _render_template(options)
         end
@@ -88,6 +91,10 @@ def _layout_for(*args, &block)
       end
     end
 
+    def _render_once(options) #:nodoc:
+      _template_renderer.render_once(options)
+    end
+
     def _render_template(options) #:nodoc:
       _template_renderer.render(options)
     end
diff --git a/actionpack/lib/action_view/renderer/abstract_renderer.rb b/actionpack/lib/action_view/renderer/abstract_renderer.rb
index f9fa63ce7feac..77cfa51dffa4e 100644
--- a/actionpack/lib/action_view/renderer/abstract_renderer.rb
+++ b/actionpack/lib/action_view/renderer/abstract_renderer.rb
@@ -14,12 +14,6 @@ def render
       raise NotImplementedError
     end
 
-    # Contains the logic that actually renders the layout.
-    def render_layout(layout, locals, &block) #:nodoc:
-      view = @view
-      layout.render(view, locals){ |*name| view._layout_for(*name, &block) }
-    end
-
     # Checks if the given path contains a format and if so, change
     # the lookup context to take this new format into account.
     def wrap_formats(value)
@@ -32,5 +26,11 @@ def wrap_formats(value)
         yield
       end
     end
+
+    protected
+
+    def instrument(name, options={})
+      ActiveSupport::Notifications.instrument("render_#{name}.action_view", options){ yield }
+    end
   end
 end
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/actionpack/lib/action_view/renderer/partial_renderer.rb b/actionpack/lib/action_view/renderer/partial_renderer.rb
index 3be1702f9e9b4..eff425687be49 100644
--- a/actionpack/lib/action_view/renderer/partial_renderer.rb
+++ b/actionpack/lib/action_view/renderer/partial_renderer.rb
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@
 
 module ActionView
   class PartialRenderer < AbstractRenderer #:nodoc:
-    N = ::ActiveSupport::Notifications
     PARTIAL_NAMES = Hash.new {|h,k| h[k] = {} }
 
     def initialize(view)
@@ -46,11 +45,11 @@ def render
         identifier = ((@template = find_partial) ? @template.identifier : @path)
 
         if @collection
-          N.instrument("render_collection.action_view", :identifier => identifier || "collection", :count => @collection.size) do
+          instrument(:collection, :identifier => identifier || "collection", :count => @collection.size) do
             render_collection
           end
         else
-          N.instrument("render_partial.action_view", :identifier => identifier) do
+          instrument(:partial, :identifier => identifier) do
             render_partial
           end
         end
@@ -83,7 +82,7 @@ def render_partial
         view._layout_for(*name, &block)
       end
 
-      content = render_layout(layout, locals){ content } if layout
+      content = layout.render(view, locals){ content } if layout
       content
     end
 
diff --git a/actionpack/lib/action_view/renderer/template_renderer.rb b/actionpack/lib/action_view/renderer/template_renderer.rb
index 3acc68dcac310..9f9df153479ea 100644
--- a/actionpack/lib/action_view/renderer/template_renderer.rb
+++ b/actionpack/lib/action_view/renderer/template_renderer.rb
@@ -1,26 +1,51 @@
+require 'set'
+require 'active_support/core_ext/object/try'
+require 'active_support/core_ext/array/wrap'
 require 'action_view/renderer/abstract_renderer'
 
 module ActionView
   class TemplateRenderer < AbstractRenderer #:nodoc:
+    attr_reader :rendered
+
+    def initialize(view)
+      super
+      @rendered = Set.new
+    end
+
     def render(options)
       wrap_formats(options[:template] || options[:file]) do
         template = determine_template(options)
-        lookup_context.freeze_formats(template.formats, true)
-        render_template(template, options[:layout], options)
+        render_template(template, options[:layout], options[:locals])
+      end
+    end
+
+    def render_once(options)
+      paths, locals = options[:once], options[:locals] || {}
+      layout, keys, prefix = options[:layout], locals.keys, options[:prefix]
+
+      raise "render :once expects a String or an Array to be given" unless paths
+
+      render_with_layout(layout, locals) do
+        contents = []
+        Array.wrap(paths).each do |path|
+          template = find_template(path, prefix, false, keys)
+          contents << render_template(template, nil, locals) if @rendered.add?(template)
+        end
+        contents.join("\n")
       end
     end
 
     # Determine the template to be rendered using the given options.
     def determine_template(options) #:nodoc:
-      keys = (options[:locals] ||= {}).keys
+      keys = options[:locals].try(:keys) || []
 
-      if options.key?(:inline)
-        handler = Template.handler_class_for_extension(options[:type] || "erb")
-        Template.new(options[:inline], "inline template", handler, { :locals => keys })
-      elsif options.key?(:text)
+      if options.key?(:text)
         Template::Text.new(options[:text], formats.try(:first))
       elsif options.key?(:file)
         with_fallbacks { find_template(options[:file], options[:prefix], false, keys) }
+      elsif options.key?(:inline)
+        handler = Template.handler_class_for_extension(options[:type] || "erb")
+        Template.new(options[:inline], "inline template", handler, { :locals => keys })
       elsif options.key?(:template)
         options[:template].respond_to?(:render) ?
           options[:template] : find_template(options[:template], options[:prefix], false, keys)
@@ -29,20 +54,26 @@ def determine_template(options) #:nodoc:
 
     # Renders the given template. An string representing the layout can be
     # supplied as well.
-    def render_template(template, layout = nil, options = {}) #:nodoc:
-      view, locals = @view, options[:locals] || {}
-      layout = find_layout(layout, locals.keys) if layout
+    def render_template(template, layout_name = nil, locals = {}) #:nodoc:
+      lookup_context.freeze_formats(template.formats, true)
+      view, locals = @view, locals || {}
 
-      ActiveSupport::Notifications.instrument("render_template.action_view",
-        :identifier => template.identifier, :layout => layout.try(:virtual_path)) do
-
-        content = template.render(view, locals) { |*name| view._layout_for(*name) }
-      
-        if layout
-          view.store_content_for(:layout, content)
-          content = render_layout(layout, locals)
+      render_with_layout(layout_name, locals) do |layout|
+        instrument(:template, :identifier => template.identifier, :layout => layout.try(:virtual_path)) do
+          template.render(view, locals) { |*name| view._layout_for(*name) }
         end
+      end
+    end
+
+    def render_with_layout(path, locals) #:nodoc:
+      layout  = path && find_layout(path, locals.keys)
+      content = yield(layout)
 
+      if layout
+        view = @view
+        view.store_content_for(:layout, content)
+        layout.render(view, locals){ |*name| view._layout_for(*name) }
+      else
         content
       end
     end
diff --git a/actionpack/test/controller/new_base/render_once_test.rb b/actionpack/test/controller/new_base/render_once_test.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..12892b7255058
--- /dev/null
+++ b/actionpack/test/controller/new_base/render_once_test.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,73 @@
+require 'abstract_unit'
+
+module RenderTemplate
+  class RenderOnceController < ActionController::Base
+    layout false
+
+    RESOLVER = ActionView::FixtureResolver.new(
+      "test/a.html.erb"       => "a",
+      "test/b.html.erb"       => "<>",
+      "test/c.html.erb"       => "c",
+      "test/one.html.erb"     => "<%= render :once => 'test/result' %>",
+      "test/two.html.erb"     => "<%= render :once => 'test/result' %>",
+      "test/three.html.erb"   => "<%= render :once => 'test/result' %>",
+      "test/result.html.erb"  => "YES!",
+      "layouts/test.html.erb" => "l<%= yield %>l"
+    )
+
+    self.view_paths = [RESOLVER]
+
+    def multiple
+      render :once => %w(test/a test/b test/c)
+    end
+
+    def once
+      render :once => %w(test/one test/two test/three)
+    end
+
+    def duplicate
+      render :once => %w(test/a test/a test/a)
+    end
+
+    def with_layout
+      render :once => %w(test/a test/b test/c), :layout => "test"
+    end
+  end
+
+  module Tests
+    def test_mutliple_arguments_get_all_rendered
+      get :multiple
+      assert_response "a\n<>\nc"
+    end
+
+    def test_referenced_templates_get_rendered_once
+      get :once
+      assert_response "YES!\n\n"
+    end
+
+    def test_duplicated_templates_get_rendered_once
+      get :duplicate
+      assert_response "a"
+    end
+
+    def test_layout_wraps_all_rendered_templates
+      get :with_layout
+      assert_response "la\n<>\ncl"
+    end
+  end
+
+  class TestWithResolverCache < Rack::TestCase
+    testing RenderTemplate::RenderOnceController
+    include Tests
+  end
+
+  # TODO This still needs to be implemented and supported.
+  # class TestWithoutResolverCache < Rack::TestCase
+  #   testing RenderTemplate::RenderOnceController
+  #   include Tests
+  #
+  #   def setup
+  #     RenderTemplate::RenderOnceController::RESOLVER.stubs(:caching?).returns(false)
+  #   end
+  # end
+end