diff --git a/src/os.c b/src/os.c
index 510d0dfc..500229f9 100644
--- a/src/os.c
+++ b/src/os.c
@@ -180,7 +180,7 @@ static bool mi_os_mem_free(void* addr, size_t size, mi_stats_t* stats)
 static void* mi_win_virtual_allocx(void* addr, size_t size, size_t try_alignment, DWORD flags) {
 #if defined(MEM_EXTENDED_PARAMETER_TYPE_BITS)
   if (try_alignment > 0 && (try_alignment % _mi_os_page_size()) == 0 && pVirtualAlloc2 != NULL) {
-    // on modern Windows try use VirtualAlloc2
+    // on modern Windows try use VirtualAlloc2 for aligned allocation
     MEM_ADDRESS_REQUIREMENTS reqs = { 0 };
     reqs.Alignment = try_alignment;
     MEM_EXTENDED_PARAMETER param = { 0 };
@@ -193,10 +193,22 @@ static void* mi_win_virtual_allocx(void* addr, size_t size, size_t try_alignment
 }
 
 static void* mi_win_virtual_alloc(void* addr, size_t size, size_t try_alignment, DWORD flags) {
+  static size_t large_page_try_ok = 0;
   void* p = NULL;
   if (use_large_os_page(size, try_alignment)) {
-    p = mi_win_virtual_allocx(addr, size, try_alignment, MEM_LARGE_PAGES | flags);
-    // fall back to non-large page allocation on error (`p == NULL`).
+    if (large_page_try_ok > 0) {
+      // if a large page page allocation fails, it seems the calls to VirtualAlloc get very expensive.
+      // therefore, once a large page allocation failed, we don't try again for `large_page_try_ok` times.
+      large_page_try_ok--;
+    }
+    else {
+      // large OS pages must always reserve and commit.
+      p = mi_win_virtual_allocx(addr, size, try_alignment, MEM_LARGE_PAGES | MEM_COMMIT | MEM_RESERVE | flags);
+      // fall back to non-large page allocation on error (`p == NULL`).
+      if (p == NULL) {
+        large_page_try_ok = 10;  // on error, don't try again for the next N allocations
+      }
+    }
   }
   if (p == NULL) {
     p = mi_win_virtual_allocx(addr, size, try_alignment, flags);