diff --git a/book/src/themes.md b/book/src/themes.md
index ecbbb6e97..6b38fb438 100644
--- a/book/src/themes.md
+++ b/book/src/themes.md
@@ -173,7 +173,6 @@ These scopes are used for theming the editor interface.
 | `ui.cursor.insert`       |                                     |
 | `ui.cursor.select`       |                                     |
 | `ui.cursor.match`        | Matching bracket etc.               |
-| `ui.cursor.primary`      | Cursor with primary selection       |
 | `ui.linenr`              |                                     |
 | `ui.linenr.selected`     |                                     |
 | `ui.statusline`          | Statusline                          |
diff --git a/helix-term/src/ui/editor.rs b/helix-term/src/ui/editor.rs
index 8ad54dbdd..e8f8fd9b0 100644
--- a/helix-term/src/ui/editor.rs
+++ b/helix-term/src/ui/editor.rs
@@ -233,24 +233,23 @@ impl EditorView {
         }
         .unwrap_or(base_cursor_scope);
 
-        let primary_cursor_scope = theme
-            .find_scope_index("ui.cursor.primary")
-            .unwrap_or(cursor_scope);
         let primary_selection_scope = theme
             .find_scope_index("ui.selection.primary")
             .unwrap_or(selection_scope);
 
         let mut spans: Vec<(usize, std::ops::Range<usize>)> = Vec::new();
         for (i, range) in selection.iter().enumerate() {
-            let (cursor_scope, selection_scope) = if i == primary_idx {
-                (primary_cursor_scope, primary_selection_scope)
+            let selection_is_primary = i == primary_idx;
+            let selection_scope = if selection_is_primary {
+                primary_selection_scope
             } else {
-                (cursor_scope, selection_scope)
+                selection_scope
             };
 
             // Special-case: cursor at end of the rope.
             if range.head == range.anchor && range.head == text.len_chars() {
-                if i != primary_idx {
+                if !selection_is_primary {
+                    // Terminal cursor acts as the primary cursor
                     spans.push((cursor_scope, range.head..range.head + 1));
                 }
                 continue;
@@ -261,13 +260,13 @@ impl EditorView {
                 // Standard case.
                 let cursor_start = prev_grapheme_boundary(text, range.head);
                 spans.push((selection_scope, range.anchor..cursor_start));
-                if i != primary_idx {
+                if !selection_is_primary {
                     spans.push((cursor_scope, cursor_start..range.head));
                 }
             } else {
                 // Reverse case.
                 let cursor_end = next_grapheme_boundary(text, range.head);
-                if i != primary_idx {
+                if !selection_is_primary {
                     spans.push((cursor_scope, range.head..cursor_end));
                 }
                 spans.push((selection_scope, cursor_end..range.anchor));
diff --git a/helix-view/src/document.rs b/helix-view/src/document.rs
index 76b19a07d..01975452d 100644
--- a/helix-view/src/document.rs
+++ b/helix-view/src/document.rs
@@ -29,9 +29,9 @@ pub const SCRATCH_BUFFER_NAME: &str = "[scratch]";
 
 #[derive(Debug, Copy, Clone, PartialEq, Eq, Hash)]
 pub enum Mode {
-    Normal,
-    Select,
-    Insert,
+    Normal = 0,
+    Select = 1,
+    Insert = 2,
 }
 
 impl Display for Mode {
diff --git a/helix-view/src/editor.rs b/helix-view/src/editor.rs
index b558c183d..a121a836f 100644
--- a/helix-view/src/editor.rs
+++ b/helix-view/src/editor.rs
@@ -22,10 +22,10 @@ use anyhow::Error;
 
 pub use helix_core::diagnostic::Severity;
 pub use helix_core::register::Registers;
-use helix_core::{hashmap, syntax};
+use helix_core::syntax;
 use helix_core::{Position, Selection};
 
-use serde::Deserialize;
+use serde::{Deserialize, Deserializer};
 
 fn deserialize_duration_millis<'de, D>(deserializer: D) -> Result<Duration, D::Error>
 where
@@ -107,12 +107,28 @@ pub struct Config {
     pub cursor_shape: CursorShapeConfig,
 }
 
-#[derive(Debug, Clone, PartialEq, Deserialize)]
-#[serde(transparent)]
-pub struct CursorShapeConfig(HashMap<Mode, CursorKind>);
+// Cursor shape is read and used on every rendered frame and so needs
+// to be fast. Therefore we avoid a hashmap and use an enum indexed array.
+#[derive(Debug, Clone, PartialEq)]
+pub struct CursorShapeConfig([CursorKind; 3]);
+
+impl<'de> Deserialize<'de> for CursorShapeConfig {
+    fn deserialize<D>(deserializer: D) -> Result<Self, D::Error>
+    where
+        D: Deserializer<'de>,
+    {
+        let m = HashMap::<Mode, CursorKind>::deserialize(deserializer)?;
+        let into_cursor = |mode: Mode| m.get(&mode).copied().unwrap_or_default();
+        Ok(CursorShapeConfig([
+            into_cursor(Mode::Normal),
+            into_cursor(Mode::Select),
+            into_cursor(Mode::Insert),
+        ]))
+    }
+}
 
 impl std::ops::Deref for CursorShapeConfig {
-    type Target = HashMap<Mode, CursorKind>;
+    type Target = [CursorKind; 3];
 
     fn deref(&self) -> &Self::Target {
         &self.0
@@ -121,11 +137,7 @@ impl std::ops::Deref for CursorShapeConfig {
 
 impl Default for CursorShapeConfig {
     fn default() -> Self {
-        Self(hashmap!(
-            Mode::Insert => CursorKind::Block,
-            Mode::Normal => CursorKind::Block,
-            Mode::Select => CursorKind::Block,
-        ))
+        Self([CursorKind::Block; 3])
     }
 }
 
@@ -621,7 +633,7 @@ impl Editor {
             let cursorkind = self
                 .config
                 .cursor_shape
-                .get(&doc.mode())
+                .get(doc.mode() as usize)
                 .copied()
                 .unwrap_or_default();
             (Some(pos), cursorkind)