diff --git a/CHANGELOG b/CHANGELOG
index 7723361a7..f3db7d2ec 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG
+++ b/CHANGELOG
@@ -349,6 +349,7 @@
 - memcached support can be configured (still rarely used)
 - fix folder parameter passed to hook 'folderRowAction'
 - require unrestricted access on document/folder for deletion by rest api
+- use php-cache instead of native memcached
 
 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                      Changes in version 5.1.41
diff --git a/composer-dist.json b/composer-dist.json
index 8d63f2f38..c914d1c32 100644
--- a/composer-dist.json
+++ b/composer-dist.json
@@ -13,6 +13,9 @@
     "config": {
         "platform": {
             "php": "8.2"
+        },
+        "allow-plugins": {
+            "wikimedia/composer-merge-plugin": true
         }
     },
     "require": {
@@ -46,11 +49,27 @@
         "seeddms/lucene": "dev-master",
         "seeddms/preview": "dev-master",
         "seeddms/sqlitefts": "dev-master",
-        "seeddms/http_webdav_server": "dev-master"
+        "seeddms/http_webdav_server": "dev-master",
+        "wikimedia/composer-merge-plugin": "dev-master",
+        "cache/memcached-adapter": "^1.2"
     },
     "require-dev": {
         "composer/composer": "dev-main"
     },
+    "extra": {
+        "merge-plugin": {
+            "include": [
+                "composer.local.json"
+            ],
+            "recurse": false,
+            "replace": true,
+            "ignore-duplicates": true,
+            "merge-dev": true,
+            "merge-extra": false,
+            "merge-extra-deep": false,
+            "merge-scripts": true
+        }
+    },
     "repositories": [
         {
             "type": "path",
diff --git a/composer.json b/composer.json
index 61d29fb83..bddd61a96 100644
--- a/composer.json
+++ b/composer.json
@@ -52,7 +52,9 @@
         "seeddms/lucene": "dev-master",
         "seeddms/preview": "dev-master",
         "seeddms/sqlitefts": "dev-master",
-        "seeddms/http_webdav_server": "dev-master"
+        "seeddms/http_webdav_server": "dev-master",
+        "wikimedia/composer-merge-plugin": "dev-master",
+        "cache/memcached-adapter": "^1.2"
     },
     "require-dev": {
         "composer/composer": "dev-main",
@@ -110,9 +112,9 @@
             "include": [
                 "composer.local.json"
             ],
-            "recurse": true,
+            "recurse": false,
             "replace": true,
-            "ignore-duplicates": false,
+            "ignore-duplicates": true,
             "merge-dev": true,
             "merge-extra": false,
             "merge-extra-deep": false,
diff --git a/inc/inc.DBInit.php b/inc/inc.DBInit.php
index c0714245c..26817f45e 100644
--- a/inc/inc.DBInit.php
+++ b/inc/inc.DBInit.php
@@ -58,11 +58,12 @@ $dms = new SeedDMS_Core_DMS($db, $storage ? $storage : $settings->_contentDir.$s
 
 $memcache = null;
 if($settings->_enableMemcached && extension_loaded('memcached')) {
-	$memcache = new Memcached('seeddms');
-	$memcache->addServers(array(
+	$mc = new Memcached('seeddms');
+	$mc->addServers(array(
 		array($settings->_memcachedHost ?? 'localhost', $settings->_memcachedPort ?? 11211),
 	));
-	$dms->setMemcache($memcache);
+	$memcache = new \Cache\Adapter\Memcached\MemcachedCachePool($mc);
+	$dms->setCache($memcache);
 }
 
 if(!$settings->_doNotCheckDBVersion && !$dms->checkVersion()) {