diff --git a/hgext/rebase.py b/hgext/rebase.py
--- a/hgext/rebase.py
+++ b/hgext/rebase.py
@@ -343,7 +343,7 @@
         if dest.closesbranch() and not self.keepbranchesf:
             self.ui.status(_('reopening closed branch head %s\n') % dest)
 
-    def _performrebase(self):
+    def _performrebase(self, tr):
         repo, ui, opts = self.repo, self.ui, self.opts
         if self.keepbranchesf:
             # insert _savebranch at the start of extrafns so if
@@ -394,7 +394,7 @@
                                              self.state,
                                              self.destancestors,
                                              self.obsoletenotrebased)
-                self.storestatus()
+                self.storestatus(tr=tr)
                 storecollapsemsg(repo, self.collapsemsg)
                 if len(repo[None].parents()) == 2:
                     repo.ui.debug('resuming interrupted rebase\n')
@@ -641,6 +641,15 @@
       [commands]
       rebase.requiredest = True
 
+    By default, rebase will close the transaction after each commit. For
+    performance purposes, you can configure rebase to use a single transaction
+    across the entire rebase. WARNING: This setting introduces a significant
+    risk of losing the work you've done in a rebase if the rebase aborts
+    unexpectedly::
+
+      [rebase]
+      singletransaction = True
+
     Return Values:
 
     Returns 0 on success, 1 if nothing to rebase or there are
@@ -700,7 +709,18 @@
             if retcode is not None:
                 return retcode
 
-        rbsrt._performrebase()
+        singletr = ui.configbool('rebase', 'singletransaction')
+        if singletr:
+            tr = repo.transaction('rebase')
+        else:
+            tr = util.nullcontextmanager()
+        with tr:
+            try:
+                rbsrt._performrebase(tr if singletr else None)
+            except error.InterventionRequired:
+                tr.close()
+                raise
+
         rbsrt._finishrebase()
 
 def _definesets(ui, repo, destf=None, srcf=None, basef=None, revf=None,
diff --git a/mercurial/util.py b/mercurial/util.py
--- a/mercurial/util.py
+++ b/mercurial/util.py
@@ -589,6 +589,20 @@
             del self[key]
         super(sortdict, self).__setitem__(key, value)
 
+class nullcontextmanager(object):
+    """A no-op context manager.
+    """
+    def __enter__(self):
+        return self
+    def __exit__(self, exc_type, exc_val, exc_tb):
+        pass
+    def close(self):
+        pass
+    def release(self):
+        pass
+    def abort(self):
+        pass
+
 class _lrucachenode(object):
     """A node in a doubly linked list.