diff --git a/modules/ve-mw/init/ve.init.mw.LinkCache.js b/modules/ve-mw/init/ve.init.mw.LinkCache.js
index 364ca6bd86..07bba4821b 100644
--- a/modules/ve-mw/init/ve.init.mw.LinkCache.js
+++ b/modules/ve-mw/init/ve.init.mw.LinkCache.js
@@ -51,6 +51,26 @@
 		return this.cache[name].promise();
 	};
 
+	/**
+	 * Look up data about a page in the cache. If the data about this page is already in the cache,
+	 * this returns that data. Otherwise, it returns undefined.
+	 *
+	 * @param {string} name Normalized page title
+	 * @returns {Object} Cache data for this name.
+	 */
+	ve.init.mw.LinkCache.prototype.getCached = function ( name ) {
+		var res;
+		if (
+			Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty.call( this.cache, name ) &&
+			this.cache[name].state() === 'resolved'
+		) {
+			this.cache[name].done( function ( data ) {
+				res = data;
+			} );
+			return res;
+		}
+	};
+
 	/**
 	 * Add entries to the cache.
 	 * @param {Object} entries Object keyed by page title, with the values being data objects
diff --git a/modules/ve-mw/ui/widgets/ve.ui.MWCategoryInputWidget.js b/modules/ve-mw/ui/widgets/ve.ui.MWCategoryInputWidget.js
index 14af21b65a..623664f61f 100644
--- a/modules/ve-mw/ui/widgets/ve.ui.MWCategoryInputWidget.js
+++ b/modules/ve-mw/ui/widgets/ve.ui.MWCategoryInputWidget.js
@@ -69,14 +69,16 @@ ve.ui.MWCategoryInputWidget.prototype.getLookupRequest = function () {
  * @param {Mixed} data Response from server
  */
 ve.ui.MWCategoryInputWidget.prototype.getLookupCacheItemFromData = function ( data ) {
-	var result = [];
+	var result = [], linkCacheUpdate = {};
 	data.query = data.query || {};
 
 	$.each( data.query.allcategories || [], function ( index, category ) {
 		result.push( category['*'] );
-		this.categoryWidget.categoryHiddenStatus[category['*']] = category.hasOwnProperty( 'hidden' );
+		linkCacheUpdate['Category:' + category['*']] = { missing: false, hidden: category.hasOwnProperty( 'hidden' ) };
 	}.bind( this ) );
 
+	ve.init.platform.linkCache.set( linkCacheUpdate );
+
 	return result;
 };
 
@@ -91,7 +93,6 @@ ve.ui.MWCategoryInputWidget.prototype.getLookupMenuItemsFromData = function ( da
 		itemWidgets = [],
 		existingCategoryItems = [], matchingCategoryItems = [],
 		hiddenCategoryItems = [], newCategoryItems = [],
-		category = this.getCategoryItemFromValue( this.value ),
 		existingCategories = this.categoryWidget.getCategories(),
 		linkCacheUpdate = {},
 		canonicalQueryValue = mw.Title.newFromText( this.value );
@@ -101,12 +102,18 @@ ve.ui.MWCategoryInputWidget.prototype.getLookupMenuItemsFromData = function ( da
 	} // Invalid titles just end up with canonicalQueryValue being null.
 
 	$.each( data, function ( index, suggestedCategory ) {
+		var suggestedCacheEntry = ve.init.platform.linkCache.getCached( 'Category:' + suggestedCategory );
 		if ( canonicalQueryValue === suggestedCategory ) {
 			exactMatch = true;
 		}
-		linkCacheUpdate['Category:' + suggestedCategory] = { missing: false };
-		if ( ve.indexOf( suggestedCategory, existingCategories ) === -1 && suggestedCategory.lastIndexOf( canonicalQueryValue, 0 ) === 0 ) {
-			if ( this.categoryWidget.categoryHiddenStatus[suggestedCategory] ) {
+		if ( !suggestedCacheEntry ) {
+			linkCacheUpdate['Category:' + suggestedCategory] = { missing: false };
+		}
+		if (
+			ve.indexOf( suggestedCategory, existingCategories ) === -1 &&
+			suggestedCategory.lastIndexOf( canonicalQueryValue, 0 ) === 0
+		) {
+			if ( suggestedCacheEntry && suggestedCacheEntry.hidden ) {
 				hiddenCategoryItems.push( suggestedCategory );
 			} else {
 				matchingCategoryItems.push( suggestedCategory );
@@ -128,7 +135,7 @@ ve.ui.MWCategoryInputWidget.prototype.getLookupMenuItemsFromData = function ( da
 	// New category
 	if ( !exactMatch ) {
 		newCategoryItems.push( canonicalQueryValue );
-		linkCacheUpdate['Category:' + category.value] = { missing: true };
+		linkCacheUpdate['Category:' + canonicalQueryValue] = { missing: true };
 	}
 
 	ve.init.platform.linkCache.set( linkCacheUpdate );
diff --git a/modules/ve-mw/ui/widgets/ve.ui.MWCategoryWidget.js b/modules/ve-mw/ui/widgets/ve.ui.MWCategoryWidget.js
index 151ede838a..f76bf0fbb3 100644
--- a/modules/ve-mw/ui/widgets/ve.ui.MWCategoryWidget.js
+++ b/modules/ve-mw/ui/widgets/ve.ui.MWCategoryWidget.js
@@ -28,7 +28,6 @@ ve.ui.MWCategoryWidget = function VeUiMWCategoryWidget( config ) {
 
 	// Properties
 	this.categories = {};
-	this.categoryHiddenStatus = {};
 	this.categoryRedirects = {}; // Source -> target
 	this.popupState = false;
 	this.savedPopupState = false;
@@ -193,7 +192,7 @@ ve.ui.MWCategoryWidget.prototype.getCategories = function () {
 };
 
 /**
- * Starts a request to update categoryHiddenStatus for the given titles.
+ * Starts a request to update the link cache's hidden status for the given titles.
  * The returned promise will be resolved with an API result if an API call was made,
  * or no arguments if it was unnecessary.
  *
@@ -204,7 +203,8 @@ ve.ui.MWCategoryWidget.prototype.queryCategoryHiddenStatus = function ( category
 	var categoryWidget = this, categoryNamesToQuery = [];
 	// Get rid of any we already know the hidden status of.
 	categoryNamesToQuery = $.grep( categoryNames, function ( categoryTitle ) {
-		return !Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty.call( categoryWidget.categoryHiddenStatus, categoryTitle );
+		var cacheEntry = ve.init.platform.linkCache.getCached( categoryTitle );
+		return !( cacheEntry && cacheEntry.hidden );
 	} );
 
 	if ( !categoryNamesToQuery.length ) {
@@ -218,10 +218,13 @@ ve.ui.MWCategoryWidget.prototype.queryCategoryHiddenStatus = function ( category
 		ppprop: 'hiddencat',
 		redirects: ''
 	} ).then( function ( result ) {
+		var linkCacheUpdate = {};
 		if ( result && result.query && result.query.pages ) {
 			$.each( result.query.pages, function ( index, pageInfo ) {
-				var hiddenStatus = !!( pageInfo.pageprops && pageInfo.pageprops.hiddencat !== undefined );
-				categoryWidget.categoryHiddenStatus[pageInfo.title] = hiddenStatus;
+				linkCacheUpdate[pageInfo.title] = {
+					missing: false,
+					hidden: Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty( pageInfo.pageprops, 'hiddencat' )
+				};
 			} );
 		}
 		if ( result && result.query && result.query.redirects ) {
@@ -229,6 +232,7 @@ ve.ui.MWCategoryWidget.prototype.queryCategoryHiddenStatus = function ( category
 				categoryWidget.categoryRedirects[redirectInfo.from] = redirectInfo.to;
 			} );
 		}
+		ve.init.platform.linkCache.set( linkCacheUpdate );
 	} );
 };
 
@@ -259,14 +263,14 @@ ve.ui.MWCategoryWidget.prototype.addItems = function ( items, index ) {
 			config = {
 				$: categoryWidget.$,
 				item: item,
-				hidden: categoryWidget.categoryHiddenStatus[item.name]
+				hidden: ve.init.platform.linkCache.getCached( item.name ).hidden
 			};
 			if ( Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty.call( categoryWidget.categoryRedirects, itemTitle ) ) {
 				config.redirectTo = new mw.Title(
 					categoryWidget.categoryRedirects[itemTitle],
 					mw.config.get( 'wgNamespaceIds' ).category
 				).getMainText();
-				config.hidden = categoryWidget.categoryHiddenStatus[categoryWidget.categoryRedirects[itemTitle]];
+				config.hidden = ve.init.platform.linkCache.getCached( categoryWidget.categoryRedirects[itemTitle] ).hidden;
 			}
 			categoryItem = new ve.ui.MWCategoryItemWidget( config );
 			categoryItem.connect( categoryWidget, {