diff --git a/React/React.xcodeproj/project.pbxproj b/React/React.xcodeproj/project.pbxproj
index 27751eeef..c986d4af3 100644
--- a/React/React.xcodeproj/project.pbxproj
+++ b/React/React.xcodeproj/project.pbxproj
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@
 		352DCFF01D19F4C20056D623 /* RCTI18nUtil.m in Sources */ = {isa = PBXBuildFile; fileRef = 352DCFEF1D19F4C20056D623 /* RCTI18nUtil.m */; };
 		391E86A41C623EC800009732 /* RCTTouchEvent.m in Sources */ = {isa = PBXBuildFile; fileRef = 391E86A21C623EC800009732 /* RCTTouchEvent.m */; };
 		3D1E68DB1CABD13900DD7465 /* RCTDisplayLink.m in Sources */ = {isa = PBXBuildFile; fileRef = 3D1E68D91CABD13900DD7465 /* RCTDisplayLink.m */; };
-		3D37B5821D522B190042D5B5 /* RCTFont.m in Sources */ = {isa = PBXBuildFile; fileRef = 3D37B5811D522B190042D5B5 /* RCTFont.m */; };
+		3D37B5821D522B190042D5B5 /* RCTFont.mm in Sources */ = {isa = PBXBuildFile; fileRef = 3D37B5811D522B190042D5B5 /* RCTFont.mm */; };
 		3EDCA8A51D3591E700450C31 /* RCTErrorInfo.m in Sources */ = {isa = PBXBuildFile; fileRef = 3EDCA8A41D3591E700450C31 /* RCTErrorInfo.m */; };
 		58114A161AAE854800E7D092 /* RCTPicker.m in Sources */ = {isa = PBXBuildFile; fileRef = 58114A131AAE854800E7D092 /* RCTPicker.m */; };
 		58114A171AAE854800E7D092 /* RCTPickerManager.m in Sources */ = {isa = PBXBuildFile; fileRef = 58114A151AAE854800E7D092 /* RCTPickerManager.m */; };
@@ -279,7 +279,7 @@
 		3D1E68D81CABD13900DD7465 /* RCTDisplayLink.h */ = {isa = PBXFileReference; fileEncoding = 4; lastKnownFileType = sourcecode.c.h; path = RCTDisplayLink.h; sourceTree = "<group>"; };
 		3D1E68D91CABD13900DD7465 /* RCTDisplayLink.m */ = {isa = PBXFileReference; fileEncoding = 4; lastKnownFileType = sourcecode.c.objc; path = RCTDisplayLink.m; sourceTree = "<group>"; };
 		3D37B5801D522B190042D5B5 /* RCTFont.h */ = {isa = PBXFileReference; fileEncoding = 4; lastKnownFileType = sourcecode.c.h; path = RCTFont.h; sourceTree = "<group>"; };
-		3D37B5811D522B190042D5B5 /* RCTFont.m */ = {isa = PBXFileReference; fileEncoding = 4; lastKnownFileType = sourcecode.c.objc; path = RCTFont.m; sourceTree = "<group>"; };
+		3D37B5811D522B190042D5B5 /* RCTFont.mm */ = {isa = PBXFileReference; fileEncoding = 4; lastKnownFileType = sourcecode.cpp.objcpp; path = RCTFont.mm; sourceTree = "<group>"; };
 		3DB910701C74B21600838BBE /* RCTWebSocketProxy.h */ = {isa = PBXFileReference; fileEncoding = 4; lastKnownFileType = sourcecode.c.h; path = RCTWebSocketProxy.h; sourceTree = "<group>"; };
 		3DB910711C74B21600838BBE /* RCTWebSocketProxyDelegate.h */ = {isa = PBXFileReference; fileEncoding = 4; lastKnownFileType = sourcecode.c.h; path = RCTWebSocketProxyDelegate.h; sourceTree = "<group>"; };
 		3EDCA8A21D3591E700450C31 /* RCTErrorCustomizer.h */ = {isa = PBXFileReference; fileEncoding = 4; lastKnownFileType = sourcecode.c.h; path = RCTErrorCustomizer.h; sourceTree = "<group>"; };
@@ -435,7 +435,7 @@
 				58C571C01AA56C1900CDF9C8 /* RCTDatePickerManager.h */,
 				58C571BF1AA56C1900CDF9C8 /* RCTDatePickerManager.m */,
 				3D37B5801D522B190042D5B5 /* RCTFont.h */,
-				3D37B5811D522B190042D5B5 /* RCTFont.m */,
+				3D37B5811D522B190042D5B5 /* RCTFont.mm */,
 				14435CE11AAC4AE100FC20F4 /* RCTMap.h */,
 				14435CE21AAC4AE100FC20F4 /* RCTMap.m */,
 				13B202021BFB948C00C07393 /* RCTMapAnnotation.h */,
@@ -757,7 +757,7 @@
 				14F7A0EC1BDA3B3C003C6C10 /* RCTPerfMonitor.m in Sources */,
 				1450FF881BCFF28A00208362 /* RCTProfileTrampoline-arm64.S in Sources */,
 				13E41EEB1C05CA0B00CD8DAC /* RCTProfileTrampoline-i386.S in Sources */,
-				3D37B5821D522B190042D5B5 /* RCTFont.m in Sources */,
+				3D37B5821D522B190042D5B5 /* RCTFont.mm in Sources */,
 				13B080061A6947C200A75B9A /* RCTScrollViewManager.m in Sources */,
 				14200DAA1AC179B3008EE6BA /* RCTJavaScriptLoader.m in Sources */,
 				137327EA1AA5CF210034F82E /* RCTTabBarManager.m in Sources */,
diff --git a/React/Views/RCTFont.m b/React/Views/RCTFont.mm
similarity index 87%
rename from React/Views/RCTFont.m
rename to React/Views/RCTFont.mm
index 32f8b7739..f023a09c7 100644
--- a/React/Views/RCTFont.m
+++ b/React/Views/RCTFont.mm
@@ -9,6 +9,8 @@
 
 #import "RCTFont.h"
 
+#import <mutex>
+
 typedef CGFloat RCTFontWeight;
 static RCTFontWeight weightOfFont(UIFont *font)
 {
@@ -56,6 +58,46 @@ static BOOL isCondensedFont(UIFont *font)
   return (symbolicTraits & UIFontDescriptorTraitCondensed) != 0;
 }
 
+static UIFont *cachedSystemFont(CGFloat size, RCTFontWeight weight)
+{
+  static NSCache *fontCache;
+  static std::mutex fontCacheMutex;
+
+  NSString *cacheKey = [NSString stringWithFormat:@"%.1f/%.2f", size, weight];
+  UIFont *font;
+  {
+    std::lock_guard<std::mutex> lock(fontCacheMutex);
+    if (!fontCache) {
+      fontCache = [NSCache new];
+    }
+    font = [fontCache objectForKey:cacheKey];
+  }
+
+  if (!font) {
+    // Only supported on iOS8.2 and above
+    if ([UIFont respondsToSelector:@selector(systemFontOfSize:weight:)]) {
+      font = [UIFont systemFontOfSize:size weight:weight];
+    } else {
+      if (weight >= UIFontWeightBold) {
+        font = [UIFont boldSystemFontOfSize:size];
+      } else if (weight >= UIFontWeightMedium) {
+        font = [UIFont fontWithName:@"HelveticaNeue-Medium" size:size];
+      } else if (weight <= UIFontWeightLight) {
+        font = [UIFont fontWithName:@"HelveticaNeue-Light" size:size];
+      } else {
+        font = [UIFont systemFontOfSize:size];
+      }
+    }
+
+    {
+      std::lock_guard<std::mutex> lock(fontCacheMutex);
+      [fontCache setObject:font forKey:cacheKey];
+    }
+  }
+
+  return font;
+}
+
 @implementation RCTConvert (RCTFont)
 
 + (UIFont *)UIFont:(id)json
@@ -137,8 +179,8 @@ RCT_ENUM_CONVERTER(RCTFontStyle, (@{
   // Handle system font as special case. This ensures that we preserve
   // the specific metrics of the standard system font as closely as possible.
   if ([familyName isEqual:defaultFontFamily] || [familyName isEqualToString:@"System"]) {
-    if ([UIFont respondsToSelector:@selector(systemFontOfSize:weight:)]) {
-      font = [UIFont systemFontOfSize:fontSize weight:fontWeight];
+    font = cachedSystemFont(fontSize, fontWeight);
+    if (font) {
       if (isItalic || isCondensed) {
         UIFontDescriptor *fontDescriptor = [font fontDescriptor];
         UIFontDescriptorSymbolicTraits symbolicTraits = fontDescriptor.symbolicTraits;