diff --git a/src/Assets/Asset.php b/src/Assets/Asset.php
index a432150acbb..e6aa9b2b4f3 100644
--- a/src/Assets/Asset.php
+++ b/src/Assets/Asset.php
@@ -227,7 +227,7 @@ public function exists()
             return false;
         }
 
-        return $this->container()->files()->contains($path);
+        return $this->container()->contents()->hasFile($path);
     }
 
     public function getRawMeta()
@@ -293,9 +293,11 @@ public function generateMeta()
         if ($this->exists()) {
             $attributes = Attributes::asset($this)->get();
 
+            // The listing already holds the size and timestamp of every file,
+            // so only ask the disk for them when it somehow doesn't.
             $meta = array_merge($meta, [
-                'size' => $this->disk()->size($this->path()),
-                'last_modified' => $this->disk()->lastModified($this->path()),
+                'size' => $this->listingAttribute('size') ?? $this->disk()->size($this->path()),
+                'last_modified' => $this->listingAttribute('timestamp') ?? $this->disk()->lastModified($this->path()),
                 'width' => Arr::get($attributes, 'width'),
                 'height' => Arr::get($attributes, 'height'),
                 'mime_type' => $this->disk()->mimeType($this->path()),
@@ -315,7 +317,7 @@ public function metaPath()
 
     protected function metaExists()
     {
-        return $this->container()->metaFiles()->contains($this->metaPath());
+        return $this->container()->contents()->hasMetaFile($this->metaPath());
     }
 
     public function writeMeta($meta)
@@ -606,7 +608,25 @@ public function mimeType()
      */
     public function lastModified()
     {
-        return Carbon::createFromTimestamp($this->meta('last_modified') ?? 0, config('app.timezone'));
+        $timestamp = $this->listingAttribute('timestamp') ?? $this->meta('last_modified') ?? 0;
+
+        return Carbon::createFromTimestamp($timestamp, config('app.timezone'));
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Get a value the container listing already knows about this file.
+     *
+     * The listing holds the size and timestamp of every file, so these can be
+     * answered without reading (or generating) the asset's meta file, which
+     * is a request per asset when the container is on a remote disk.
+     */
+    private function listingAttribute($key)
+    {
+        if (! $path = $this->path()) {
+            return null;
+        }
+
+        return $this->container()->contents()->file($path)[$key] ?? null;
     }
 
     /**
@@ -925,7 +945,7 @@ public function ratio()
      */
     public function size()
     {
-        return $this->meta('size');
+        return $this->listingAttribute('size') ?? $this->meta('size');
     }
 
     /**
@@ -983,6 +1003,8 @@ public function reupload(ReplacementFile $file)
             );
         }
 
+        $this->container()->contents()->add($this->path())->save();
+
         $this->clearCaches();
         $this->writeMeta($this->generateMeta());
 
diff --git a/src/Assets/AssetContainerContents.php b/src/Assets/AssetContainerContents.php
index 9c32f2defba..231dd5d9b19 100644
--- a/src/Assets/AssetContainerContents.php
+++ b/src/Assets/AssetContainerContents.php
@@ -176,6 +176,48 @@ public function directories()
         return $this->all()->where('type', 'dir');
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Whether an asset file exists at the given path.
+     *
+     * This looks the path up directly rather than filtering the whole listing,
+     * so checking one asset doesn't cost a pass over every file in the container.
+     */
+    public function hasFile($path): bool
+    {
+        return $this->isFile($path) && ! $this->isMetaPath($path) && ! $this->isIgnoredPath($path);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Get the listing attributes (type, path, timestamp, size) of an asset file.
+     */
+    public function file($path): ?array
+    {
+        return $this->hasFile($path) ? $this->all()->get($path) : null;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Whether a meta file exists at the given path.
+     */
+    public function hasMetaFile($path): bool
+    {
+        return $this->isFile($path) && $this->isMetaPath($path);
+    }
+
+    private function isFile($path): bool
+    {
+        return ($this->all()->get($path)['type'] ?? null) === 'file';
+    }
+
+    private function isMetaPath($path): bool
+    {
+        return Str::startsWith($path, '.meta/') || Str::contains($path, '/.meta/');
+    }
+
+    private function isIgnoredPath($path): bool
+    {
+        return Str::endsWith($path, ['.DS_Store', '.gitkeep', '.gitignore']);
+    }
+
     public function metaFilesIn($folder, $recursive)
     {
         if (isset($this->metaFiles[$key = $folder.($recursive ? '-recursive' : '')])) {
diff --git a/tests/Assets/AssetTest.php b/tests/Assets/AssetTest.php
index c5fde7bc263..fd276ecf86c 100644
--- a/tests/Assets/AssetTest.php
+++ b/tests/Assets/AssetTest.php
@@ -540,6 +540,96 @@ public function it_checks_if_it_exists()
         $this->assertFalse($noPath->exists());
     }
 
+    #[Test]
+    public function checking_existence_does_not_filter_the_whole_container_listing()
+    {
+        $disk = Storage::fake('test');
+        $disk->put('yes.txt', '');
+        $disk->put('.meta/yes.txt.yaml', '');
+        $disk->put('sub/.meta/nested.txt.yaml', '');
+        $disk->put('sub/.gitkeep', '');
+
+        $contents = new class extends \Statamic\Assets\AssetContainerContents
+        {
+            public $filtered = 0;
+
+            public function filteredFilesIn($folder, $recursive)
+            {
+                $this->filtered++;
+
+                return parent::filteredFilesIn($folder, $recursive);
+            }
+
+            public function metaFilesIn($folder, $recursive)
+            {
+                $this->filtered++;
+
+                return parent::metaFilesIn($folder, $recursive);
+            }
+        };
+
+        $this->app->bind(\Statamic\Assets\AssetContainerContents::class, fn () => $contents);
+
+        $asset = fn ($path) => (new Asset)->container($this->container)->path($path);
+
+        $this->assertTrue($asset('yes.txt')->exists());
+        $this->assertFalse($asset('no.txt')->exists());
+        $this->assertFalse($asset('sub')->exists());
+        $this->assertFalse($asset('.meta/yes.txt.yaml')->exists());
+        $this->assertFalse($asset('sub/.meta/nested.txt.yaml')->exists());
+        $this->assertFalse($asset('sub/.gitkeep')->exists());
+
+        $this->assertTrue($contents->hasMetaFile('.meta/yes.txt.yaml'));
+        $this->assertTrue($contents->hasMetaFile('sub/.meta/nested.txt.yaml'));
+        $this->assertFalse($contents->hasMetaFile('yes.txt'));
+        $this->assertFalse($contents->hasMetaFile('.meta/no.txt.yaml'));
+
+        $this->assertSame(0, $contents->filtered);
+    }
+
+    #[Test]
+    public function it_gets_size_and_last_modified_from_the_container_listing_without_touching_meta()
+    {
+        Carbon::setTestNow('2017-01-02 14:35:00');
+        $disk = Storage::fake('test');
+        $disk->put('foo/test.txt', 'four');
+        touch($disk->path('foo/test.txt'), Carbon::now()->timestamp);
+
+        $asset = (new Asset)->container($this->container)->path('foo/test.txt');
+
+        $this->assertSame(4, $asset->size());
+        $this->assertEquals(Carbon::now()->timestamp, $asset->lastModified()->timestamp);
+        $this->assertSame(4, $asset->getQueryableValue('size'));
+
+        // Neither needed the meta, so it was not read, generated or written.
+        $disk->assertMissing('foo/.meta/test.txt.yaml');
+        $this->assertNull($asset->getRawMeta());
+    }
+
+    #[Test]
+    public function generating_meta_uses_the_size_and_timestamp_the_listing_already_has()
+    {
+        Storage::fake('test');
+        $file = UploadedFile::fake()->image('image.jpg', 30, 60);
+        Storage::disk('test')->putFileAs('foo', $file, 'image.jpg');
+        touch(Storage::disk('test')->path('foo/image.jpg'), $listed = Carbon::parse('2021-02-22 09:41:42')->timestamp);
+
+        $container = Facades\AssetContainer::make('test')->disk('test');
+        $asset = (new Asset)->container($container)->path('foo/image.jpg');
+        $container->contents()->all();
+
+        // If the disk were asked again it would report this newer time.
+        touch(Storage::disk('test')->path('foo/image.jpg'), $listed + 100);
+        clearstatcache();
+
+        $meta = $asset->generateMeta();
+
+        $this->assertSame($listed, $meta['last_modified']);
+        $this->assertSame(Storage::disk('test')->size('foo/image.jpg'), $meta['size']);
+        $this->assertSame(30, $meta['width']);
+        $this->assertSame('image/jpeg', $meta['mime_type']);
+    }
+
     #[Test]
     public function it_gets_the_filename()
     {
@@ -911,7 +1001,7 @@ public function it_generates_meta_on_demand_if_a_required_value_is_missing()
 
         Storage::disk('test')->put('foo/.meta/image.jpg.yaml', YAML::dump($incompleteMeta));
 
-        $asset->size();
+        $asset->mimeType();
 
         $this->assertEquals($completeMeta, YAML::parse(Storage::disk('test')->get('foo/.meta/image.jpg.yaml')));
     }