diff --git a/src/rntuple.cpp b/src/rntuple.cpp
index 7796ec0..263b68f 100644
--- a/src/rntuple.cpp
+++ b/src/rntuple.cpp
@@ -103,7 +103,6 @@ void gather_ntuple_metadata(Arena *arena, RMicroFileReader &reader, const RNTupl
 
     for (const RClusterDescriptor::RColumnRange &col_range : cluster_desc.GetColumnRangeIterable()) {
       // insert page infos sorted by byte range
-      // @Speed: this is slow! speed it up!
       const auto &page_range = cluster_desc.GetPageRange(col_range.fPhysicalColumnId);
       for (const auto &page_info : page_range.fPageInfos) {
         const u64 checksum_size = sizeof(u64);
@@ -120,22 +119,54 @@ void gather_ntuple_metadata(Arena *arena, RMicroFileReader &reader, const RNTupl
         } else if (pinfo->range.start >= pinfo_tail->range.end()) {
           // after tail
           pinfo_tail->next = pinfo;
+          pinfo->prev = pinfo_tail;
           pinfo_tail = pinfo;
         } else if (pinfo->range.end() <= pinfo_head->range.start) {
           // before head
           pinfo->next = pinfo_head;
+          pinfo_head->prev = pinfo;
           pinfo_head = pinfo;
-        } else if (last_inserted_pinfo && pinfo->range.start == last_inserted_pinfo->range.end()) {
-          // common case: insert after previous
-          pinfo->next = last_inserted_pinfo->next;
-          last_inserted_pinfo->next = pinfo;
-        } else for (Page_Info_Node *node = pinfo_head->next, *prev = pinfo_head; node; prev = node, node = node->next) {
-          if (pinfo->range.end() <= node->range.start) {
-            prev->next = pinfo;
-            pinfo->next = node;
-            ++n_slow;
-            break;
+        } else {
+          // Very commonly pages are already sorted either in increasing or decreasing order.
+          // By starting to look from the last inserted page we are very likely to find the
+          // proper slot immediately.
+          b8 inserted = false;
+          b8 pinfo_is_after_last = pinfo->range.start >= last_inserted_pinfo->range.end();
+          if (pinfo_is_after_last) {
+            for (Page_Info_Node *node = last_inserted_pinfo->next; node; node = node->next) {
+              // check if `pinfo` fits right before the node we're looking at
+              if (pinfo->range.end() <= node->range.start) {
+                Page_Info_Node *prev = node->prev;
+                if (UNLIKELY(!prev) || prev->range.end() <= pinfo->range.start) {
+                  if (LIKELY(prev)) {
+                    prev->next = pinfo;
+                    pinfo->prev = prev;
+                  }
+                  pinfo->next = node;
+                  inserted = true;
+                  break;
+                }
+              }
+            }
+          } else {
+            for (Page_Info_Node *node = last_inserted_pinfo; node; node = node->prev) {
+              // check if `pinfo` fits right before the node we're looking at
+              if (pinfo->range.end() <= node->range.start) {
+                Page_Info_Node *prev = node->prev;
+                if (UNLIKELY(!prev) || prev->range.end() <= pinfo->range.start) {
+                  if (LIKELY(prev)) {
+                    prev->next = pinfo;
+                    pinfo->prev = prev;
+                  }
+                  pinfo->next = node;
+                  inserted = true;
+                  break;
+                }
+              }
+            }
           }
+
+          assert(inserted);
         }
 
         last_inserted_pinfo = pinfo;
@@ -171,8 +202,11 @@ void gather_ntuple_metadata(Arena *arena, RMicroFileReader &reader, const RNTupl
   u64 n_chunks = 1;
 
   u64 idx = 1;
-
+  [[maybe_unused]] Page_Info_Node *prev = pinfo_head;
   for (Page_Info_Node *pinfo = pinfo_head->next; pinfo; pinfo = pinfo->next) {
+    assert(prev->range.end() <= pinfo->range.start);
+    prev = pinfo;
+    
     if (pinfo->range.start != chunks_tail->range.end()) {
       // close current chunk and open new one
       Page_Info_Chunk *chunk = arena_push<Page_Info_Chunk>(arena);
diff --git a/src/rntuple.h b/src/rntuple.h
index a6fc00f..b6485aa 100644
--- a/src/rntuple.h
+++ b/src/rntuple.h
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ struct Range_Seq {
 
 struct Page_Info_Node {
   Page_Info_Node *next;
+  Page_Info_Node *prev;
 
   Byte_Range range; // len includes checksum
   i32 n_elems; // negative = page has checksum