diff --git a/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Core_and_Builtins/2026-08-11-13-21-02.gh-issue-155555.CYo1PR.rst b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Core_and_Builtins/2026-08-11-13-21-02.gh-issue-155555.CYo1PR.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..e215edca19b084
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Core_and_Builtins/2026-08-11-13-21-02.gh-issue-155555.CYo1PR.rst
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+String search is now up to to 20x faster when string and pattern are of the same size.
diff --git a/Objects/stringlib/fastsearch.h b/Objects/stringlib/fastsearch.h
index 26bb0555ca9b6c..9dd514e452796e 100644
--- a/Objects/stringlib/fastsearch.h
+++ b/Objects/stringlib/fastsearch.h
@@ -795,6 +795,15 @@ FASTSEARCH(const STRINGLIB_CHAR* s, Py_ssize_t n,
             return STRINGLIB(count_char)(s, n, p[0], maxcount);
         }
     }
+    else if (n == m) {
+         /* use special case when both strings are of equal length */
+         int res = memcmp(s, p, m * sizeof(STRINGLIB_CHAR));
+         if (mode == FAST_COUNT){
+             return res == 0 ? 1 : 0;
+         } else {
+             return res == 0 ? 0 : -1;
+         }
+    }
 
     if (mode != FAST_RSEARCH) {
         if (n < 2500 || (m < 100 && n < 30000) || m < 6) {