diff --git a/tools/lib/logreader.py b/tools/lib/logreader.py
index 29e3acc076..58883c6865 100755
--- a/tools/lib/logreader.py
+++ b/tools/lib/logreader.py
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ import sys
 import urllib.parse
 import warnings
 
-from typing import Iterable, Iterator, List, Type
+from typing import Dict, Iterable, Iterator, List, Type
 from urllib.parse import parse_qs, urlparse
 
 from cereal import log as capnp_log
@@ -232,20 +232,25 @@ class LogReader:
     self.sort_by_time = sort_by_time
     self.only_union_types = only_union_types
 
+    self.__lrs: Dict[int, _LogFileReader] = {}
     self.reset()
 
+  def _get_lr(self, i):
+    if i not in self.__lrs:
+      self.__lrs[i] = _LogFileReader(self.logreader_identifiers[i])
+    return self.__lrs[i]
+
   def __iter__(self):
-    for identifier in self.logreader_identifiers:
-      yield from _LogFileReader(identifier)
+    for i in range(len(self.logreader_identifiers)):
+      yield from self._get_lr(i)
 
-  def _run_on_segment(self, func, identifier):
-    lr = _LogFileReader(identifier)
-    return func(lr)
+  def _run_on_segment(self, func, i):
+    return func(self._get_lr(i))
 
   def run_across_segments(self, num_processes, func):
     with multiprocessing.Pool(num_processes) as pool:
       ret = []
-      for p in pool.map(partial(self._run_on_segment, func), self.logreader_identifiers):
+      for p in pool.map(partial(self._run_on_segment, func), range(len(self.logreader_identifiers))):
         ret.extend(p)
       return ret
 
diff --git a/tools/lib/tests/test_logreader.py b/tools/lib/tests/test_logreader.py
index f7874a3fb3..d8a9c14088 100644
--- a/tools/lib/tests/test_logreader.py
+++ b/tools/lib/tests/test_logreader.py
@@ -3,8 +3,11 @@ import tempfile
 import numpy as np
 import unittest
 import pytest
-from parameterized import parameterized
 import requests
+
+from parameterized import parameterized
+from unittest import mock
+
 from openpilot.tools.lib.logreader import LogReader, parse_indirect, parse_slice, ReadMode
 from openpilot.tools.lib.route import SegmentRange
 
@@ -104,11 +107,15 @@ class TestLogReader(unittest.TestCase):
     self.assertEqual(qlog_len*2, qlog_len_2)
 
   @pytest.mark.slow
-  def test_multiple_iterations(self):
+  @mock.patch("openpilot.tools.lib.logreader._LogFileReader")
+  def test_multiple_iterations(self, init_mock):
     lr = LogReader(f"{TEST_ROUTE}/0/q")
     qlog_len1 = len(list(lr))
     qlog_len2 = len(list(lr))
 
+    # ensure we don't create multiple instances of _LogFileReader, which means downloading the files twice
+    self.assertEqual(init_mock.call_count, 1)
+
     self.assertEqual(qlog_len1, qlog_len2)