diff --git a/infra/ec2-userdata.sh b/infra/ec2-userdata.sh
index 594ccfa..380a3cf 100755
--- a/infra/ec2-userdata.sh
+++ b/infra/ec2-userdata.sh
@@ -9,6 +9,14 @@ export HOME=/root
 
 echo "=== EveryTab EC2 Bootstrap ==="
 
+# --- EBS readahead ---
+# Large readahead improves bundle gen throughput by prefetching icon files into page cache.
+# 16MB readahead (32768 sectors × 512 bytes). Safe for all pipeline stages.
+echo "--- Setting EBS readahead ---"
+ROOT_DEV=$(findmnt -no SOURCE / | sed 's/p[0-9]*$//')
+sudo blockdev --setra 32768 "$ROOT_DEV"
+echo "Readahead: $(blockdev --getra "$ROOT_DEV") sectors on $ROOT_DEV"
+
 # --- File descriptor limits ---
 echo "--- Raising file descriptor limits ---"
 echo '* soft nofile 65536' | sudo tee -a /etc/security/limits.conf