diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 70ab30dfa..77c976d48 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ help: ## Display this help text
 	mkdir -p .state && touch .state/db-migrated
 
 .state/db-initialized: .state/docker-build-web .state/db-migrated
+	docker compose run --rm web ./manage.py createcachetable
 	docker compose run --rm web ./manage.py loaddata fixtures/*.json
 	mkdir -p .state && touch .state/db-initialized
 
diff --git a/apps/sponsors/tests/test_models.py b/apps/sponsors/tests/test_models.py
index 24d5ecf26..c5a71ad68 100644
--- a/apps/sponsors/tests/test_models.py
+++ b/apps/sponsors/tests/test_models.py
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 from django.core.cache import cache
 from django.core.mail import EmailMessage
 from django.db import IntegrityError
-from django.test import TestCase
+from django.test import TestCase, override_settings
 from django.utils import timezone
 from model_bakery import baker, seq
 
@@ -327,6 +327,14 @@ def test_singleton_object_cannot_be_deleted(self):
 
         self.assertIn("Singleton object cannot be delete. Try updating it instead.", str(context.exception))
 
+    @override_settings(
+        CACHES={
+            "default": {
+                "BACKEND": "django.core.cache.backends.locmem.LocMemCache",
+                "LOCATION": "pythondotorg-local-cache",
+            }
+        }
+    )
     def test_current_year_is_cached(self):
         # cleans cached from previous test runs
         cache.clear()
diff --git a/pydotorg/apps.py b/pydotorg/apps.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..4b823818b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pydotorg/apps.py
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+"""Core pydotorg application configuration."""
+
+from django.apps import AppConfig
+
+
+class PyDotOrgConfig(AppConfig):
+    """AppConfig for the pydotorg core application."""
+
+    name = "pydotorg"
+
+    def ready(self):
+        """Register signal handlers."""
+        import pydotorg.signals  # noqa: F401
diff --git a/pydotorg/settings/base.py b/pydotorg/settings/base.py
index 81b3f4d3e..5d3f53f86 100644
--- a/pydotorg/settings/base.py
+++ b/pydotorg/settings/base.py
@@ -195,6 +195,7 @@
     "widget_tweaks",
     "django_countries",
     "sorl.thumbnail",
+    "pydotorg",
     "apps.banners",
     "apps.blogs",
     "apps.boxes",
diff --git a/pydotorg/settings/local.py b/pydotorg/settings/local.py
index c853fcbad..e93395bc5 100644
--- a/pydotorg/settings/local.py
+++ b/pydotorg/settings/local.py
@@ -41,8 +41,8 @@
 
 CACHES = {
     "default": {
-        "BACKEND": "django.core.cache.backends.locmem.LocMemCache",
-        "LOCATION": "pythondotorg-local-cache",
+        "BACKEND": "django.core.cache.backends.db.DatabaseCache",
+        "LOCATION": "django_cache_table",
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/pydotorg/signals.py b/pydotorg/signals.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e17934562
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pydotorg/signals.py
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+"""Signal handlers for sitetree cache invalidation."""
+
+from django.db.models.signals import m2m_changed, post_delete, post_save
+from django.dispatch import receiver
+from sitetree.models import Tree, TreeItem
+from sitetree.sitetreeapp import get_sitetree
+
+
+@receiver(post_save, sender=Tree)
+@receiver(post_save, sender=TreeItem)
+@receiver(post_delete, sender=TreeItem)
+@receiver(m2m_changed, sender=TreeItem.access_permissions)
+def purge_sitetree_cache(sender, instance, **kwargs):
+    """Purge sitetree cache on tree or item changes for cross-process invalidation."""
+    cache_ = get_sitetree().cache
+    cache_.empty()
+    cache_.reset()