diff --git a/src/managers/BreakpointManager.ts b/src/managers/BreakpointManager.ts
index 9c00ffe8..77bbf58f 100644
--- a/src/managers/BreakpointManager.ts
+++ b/src/managers/BreakpointManager.ts
@@ -780,8 +780,9 @@ export class BreakpointManager {
             //map via applySourceMap. This collapses staging→rootDir→src into a single staging→src map,
             //so the debugger can always trace breakpoints back to the true source file in one hop.
             if (breakpoints[0].type === 'sourceMap') {
-                //follow any sourceMappingURL comment to find the existing map (read-only)
-                const existingMapPath = await this.sourceMapManager.getSourceMapPath(stagingFilePath);
+                //follow any sourceMappingURL comment to find the existing map (read-only). Reuse the
+                //fileContents we already loaded above instead of making getSourceMapPath re-read the file.
+                const existingMapPath = await this.sourceMapManager.getSourceMapPath(stagingFilePath, fileContents);
                 const existingMap = await this.sourceMapManager.getSourceMap(existingMapPath);
                 if (existingMap) {
                     await SourceMapConsumer.with(existingMap, null, (consumer) => {
diff --git a/src/managers/SourceMapManager.spec.ts b/src/managers/SourceMapManager.spec.ts
index 0e98ca0c..a8aa6dd1 100644
--- a/src/managers/SourceMapManager.spec.ts
+++ b/src/managers/SourceMapManager.spec.ts
@@ -1,10 +1,12 @@
 import { expect } from 'chai';
 import * as fsExtra from 'fs-extra';
 import * as path from 'path';
+import * as sinonActual from 'sinon';
 import { standardizePath as s } from '../FileUtils';
 import { SourceMapManager } from './SourceMapManager';
 import { forceDeleteDir } from '../testHelpers.spec';
 let tmpPath = s`${process.cwd()}/.tmp`;
+const sinon = sinonActual.createSandbox();
 describe('SourceMapManager', () => {
     let manager: SourceMapManager;
 
@@ -14,6 +16,7 @@ describe('SourceMapManager', () => {
         manager = new SourceMapManager();
     });
     afterEach(async () => {
+        sinon.restore();
         await forceDeleteDir(tmpPath);
     });
 
@@ -181,6 +184,49 @@ describe('SourceMapManager', () => {
         });
     });
 
+    describe('getSourceMapPath', () => {
+        it('reads the file from disk to find the sourceMappingURL comment when no contents are provided', async () => {
+            const brsPath = s`${tmpPath}/staging/source/main.brs`;
+            fsExtra.ensureDirSync(path.dirname(brsPath));
+            fsExtra.writeFileSync(brsPath, `sub main()\nend sub\n'//# sourceMappingURL=custom.brs.map`);
+
+            const result = await manager.getSourceMapPath(brsPath);
+            expect(s`${result}`).to.equal(s`${tmpPath}/staging/source/custom.brs.map`);
+        });
+
+        it('uses the provided fileContents instead of reading from disk', async () => {
+            const brsPath = s`${tmpPath}/staging/source/main.brs`;
+            const readFile = sinon.spy(fsExtra, 'readFile');
+
+            const result = await manager.getSourceMapPath(brsPath, `sub main()\nend sub\n'//# sourceMappingURL=custom.brs.map`);
+
+            expect(s`${result}`).to.equal(s`${tmpPath}/staging/source/custom.brs.map`);
+            //it did NOT read the file from disk
+            expect(readFile.called).to.be.false;
+        });
+
+        it('falls back to the colocated .map path when contents have no comment', async () => {
+            const brsPath = s`${tmpPath}/staging/source/main.brs`;
+            const result = await manager.getSourceMapPath(brsPath, `sub main()\nend sub`);
+            expect(s`${result}`).to.equal(s`${brsPath}.map`);
+        });
+
+        it('caches the resolved path and does not read again on subsequent calls', async () => {
+            const brsPath = s`${tmpPath}/staging/source/main.brs`;
+            fsExtra.ensureDirSync(path.dirname(brsPath));
+            fsExtra.writeFileSync(brsPath, `sub main()\nend sub\n'//# sourceMappingURL=custom.brs.map`);
+
+            //first call populates the cache (reading from disk)
+            await manager.getSourceMapPath(brsPath);
+
+            const readFile = sinon.spy(fsExtra, 'readFile');
+            const result = await manager.getSourceMapPath(brsPath);
+            expect(s`${result}`).to.equal(s`${tmpPath}/staging/source/custom.brs.map`);
+            //second call served from cache — no disk read
+            expect(readFile.called).to.be.false;
+        });
+    });
+
     describe('getOriginalLocation', () => {
         it('resolves location using a map with a relative sourceRoot', async () => {
             // staging/components/foo.brs maps back to src/components/foo.brs
diff --git a/src/managers/SourceMapManager.ts b/src/managers/SourceMapManager.ts
index 7000ce53..0c525b05 100644
--- a/src/managers/SourceMapManager.ts
+++ b/src/managers/SourceMapManager.ts
@@ -94,18 +94,23 @@ export class SourceMapManager {
      *
      * Returns undefined if no source map is found.
      * @param stagingFilePath
+     * @param fileContents the already-loaded contents of `stagingFilePath`. Pass this when the caller
+     * already has the file in memory to avoid a redundant disk read; omit it to have this method read
+     * the file itself. Ignored once the result for this path is cached.
      * @returns
      */
-    public async getSourceMapPath(stagingFilePath: string) {
+    public async getSourceMapPath(stagingFilePath: string, fileContents?: string) {
         stagingFilePath = s`${stagingFilePath}`;
         let sourceMapPath = this.sourceMapPathCache.get(stagingFilePath);
         if (!sourceMapPath) {
-            //read the file on disk and find the sourceMapURL comment (if available)
-            let contents: string | undefined;
-            try {
-                contents = await fsExtra.readFile(stagingFilePath, 'utf8');
-            } catch {
-                // file doesn't exist — fall through to the colocated map assumption
+            //use the caller-provided contents when available; otherwise read the file on disk
+            let contents = fileContents;
+            if (contents === undefined) {
+                try {
+                    contents = await fsExtra.readFile(stagingFilePath, 'utf8');
+                } catch {
+                    // file doesn't exist — fall through to the colocated map assumption
+                }
             }
             const match = contents ? Project.getSourceMapComment(contents) : undefined;
             //if we have a comment, use it