diff --git a/data/cache/impl.py b/data/cache/impl.py
index a851dbe07..982e950e9 100644
--- a/data/cache/impl.py
+++ b/data/cache/impl.py
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ class NoopDataModelCache(DataModelCache):
 class InMemoryDataModelCache(DataModelCache):
   """ Implementation of the data model cache backed by an in-memory dictionary. """
   def __init__(self):
-    self.cache = ExpiresDict(rebuilder=lambda: {})
+    self.cache = ExpiresDict()
 
   def retrieve(self, cache_key, loader, should_cache=is_not_none):
     not_found = [None]
diff --git a/util/expiresdict.py b/util/expiresdict.py
index 952cad26b..62c87b9d9 100644
--- a/util/expiresdict.py
+++ b/util/expiresdict.py
@@ -17,9 +17,9 @@ class ExpiresEntry(object):
 class ExpiresDict(object):
   """ ExpiresDict defines a dictionary-like class whose keys have expiration. The rebuilder is
       a function that returns the full contents of the cached dictionary as a dict of the keys
-      and whose values are TTLEntry's.
+      and whose values are TTLEntry's. If the rebuilder is None, then no rebuilding is performed.
   """
-  def __init__(self, rebuilder):
+  def __init__(self, rebuilder=None):
     self._rebuilder = rebuilder
     self._items = {}
 
@@ -49,6 +49,9 @@ class ExpiresDict(object):
     return self.get(key) is not None
 
   def _rebuild(self):
+    if self._rebuilder is None:
+      return self._items
+
     items = self._rebuilder()
     self._items = items
     return items