diff --git a/lib/RdfObjectLoader.ts b/lib/RdfObjectLoader.ts
index 413dcfd..253d7f2 100644
--- a/lib/RdfObjectLoader.ts
+++ b/lib/RdfObjectLoader.ts
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ import { Resource } from './Resource';
 export class RdfObjectLoader {
   private readonly dataFactory: RDF.DataFactory;
   public readonly normalizeLists: boolean;
+  public readonly uniqueLiterals: boolean;
   public readonly context: Promise<void>;
   public readonly resources: Record<string, Resource> = {};
   public contextResolved!: JsonLdContextNormalized;
@@ -20,6 +21,7 @@ export class RdfObjectLoader {
   public constructor(args?: IRdfClassLoaderArgs) {
     this.dataFactory = args?.dataFactory || new DataFactory();
     this.normalizeLists = !args || !('normalizeLists' in args) || Boolean(args.normalizeLists);
+    this.uniqueLiterals = Boolean(args?.uniqueLiterals);
 
     this.context = new ContextParser().parse(args && args.context || {})
       .then(contextResolved => {
@@ -37,6 +39,10 @@ export class RdfObjectLoader {
    * @return {Resource} A resource.
    */
   public getOrMakeResource(term: RDF.Term): Resource {
+    if (this.uniqueLiterals && term.termType === 'Literal') {
+      return new Resource({ term, context: this.contextResolved });
+    }
+
     const termString: string = termToString(term);
     let resource: Resource = this.resources[termString];
     if (!resource) {
@@ -181,7 +187,7 @@ export class RdfObjectLoader {
         if (this.normalizeLists) {
           for (const listRoot of listMaterializer.getRoots()) {
             const listTerms = listMaterializer.getList(listRoot);
-            this.resources[termToString(listRoot)].list = listTerms!.map(term => this.resources[termToString(term)]);
+            this.resources[termToString(listRoot)].list = listTerms!.map(term => this.getOrMakeResource(term));
           }
         }
         resolve();
@@ -221,4 +227,9 @@ export interface IRdfClassLoaderArgs {
    * The factory to create RDF terms and quads with.
    */
   dataFactory?: RDF.DataFactory;
+  /**
+   * If set to true literals will not be cached.
+   * Defaults to false.
+   */
+  uniqueLiterals?: boolean;
 }
diff --git a/test/RdfObjectLoader-test.ts b/test/RdfObjectLoader-test.ts
index 8ee905d..a52187a 100644
--- a/test/RdfObjectLoader-test.ts
+++ b/test/RdfObjectLoader-test.ts
@@ -501,4 +501,48 @@ describe('RdfObjectLoader', () => {
       });
     });
   });
+
+  describe('an instance with unique literals', (): void => {
+    let loader: RdfObjectLoader;
+
+    beforeEach((): void => {
+      loader = new RdfObjectLoader({ uniqueLiterals: true });
+    });
+
+    it('does not store literals in the resource cache.', async(): Promise<void> => {
+      await loader.import(streamifyArray([
+        quad('http://example.org/s', 'http://example.org/p', '"test"'),
+      ]));
+      const resourceP = loader.getOrMakeResource(DF.namedNode('http://example.org/p'));
+      const resourceS = loader.getOrMakeResource(DF.namedNode('http://example.org/s'));
+      expect(loader.resources).toEqual({
+        'http://example.org/p': resourceP,
+        'http://example.org/s': resourceS,
+      });
+      expect(loader.resources['"test"']).toBeUndefined();
+    });
+
+    it('should normalize a list', async() => {
+      await loader.import(streamifyArray([
+        quad('http://example.org/listResource', 'http://example.org/listPredicate', 'http://example.org/l0'),
+        quad('http://example.org/l0', 'http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#first', '"A"'),
+        quad('http://example.org/l0', 'http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#rest', 'http://example.org/l1'),
+        quad('http://example.org/l1', 'http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#first', '"B"'),
+        quad('http://example.org/l1', 'http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#rest', 'http://example.org/l2'),
+        quad('http://example.org/l2', 'http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#first', '"C"'),
+        quad('http://example.org/l2',
+          'http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#rest',
+          'http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#nil'),
+      ]));
+      const valueA = loader.getOrMakeResource(DF.literal('A'));
+      const valueB = loader.getOrMakeResource(DF.literal('B'));
+      const valueC = loader.getOrMakeResource(DF.literal('C'));
+      const list = loader.resources['http://example.org/listResource']
+        .propertiesUri['http://example.org/listPredicate'][0].list;
+      expect(list?.[0]).not.toBe(valueA);
+      expect(list?.[0].value).toEqual(valueA.value);
+      expect(list?.[1].value).toEqual(valueB.value);
+      expect(list?.[2].value).toEqual(valueC.value);
+    });
+  });
 });