diff --git a/coderd/coderd.go b/coderd/coderd.go
index 25ac1afec2f36..3e44bdade20b7 100644
--- a/coderd/coderd.go
+++ b/coderd/coderd.go
@@ -109,13 +109,7 @@ func New(options *Options) *API {
 		options.MetricsCacheRefreshInterval = time.Hour
 	}
 	if options.Authorizer == nil {
-		var err error
-		options.Authorizer, err = rbac.NewAuthorizer()
-		if err != nil {
-			// This should never happen, as the unit tests would fail if the
-			// default built in authorizer failed.
-			panic(xerrors.Errorf("rego authorize panic: %w", err))
-		}
+		options.Authorizer = rbac.NewAuthorizer()
 	}
 	if options.PrometheusRegistry == nil {
 		options.PrometheusRegistry = prometheus.NewRegistry()
diff --git a/coderd/rbac/authz.go b/coderd/rbac/authz.go
index 51ad87b8fbe09..591df4bf5ba76 100644
--- a/coderd/rbac/authz.go
+++ b/coderd/rbac/authz.go
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import (
 	"context"
 	_ "embed"
 	"fmt"
+	"sync"
 
 	"github.com/open-policy-agent/opa/rego"
 	"go.opentelemetry.io/otel/attribute"
@@ -66,32 +67,37 @@ type RegoAuthorizer struct {
 
 var _ Authorizer = (*RegoAuthorizer)(nil)
 
-// Load the policy from policy.rego in this directory.
-//
-//go:embed policy.rego
-var policy string
+var (
+	// Load the policy from policy.rego in this directory.
+	//
+	//go:embed policy.rego
+	policy    string
+	queryOnce sync.Once
+	query     rego.PreparedEvalQuery
+)
 
 const (
 	rolesOkCheck = "role_ok"
 	scopeOkCheck = "scope_ok"
 )
 
-func NewAuthorizer() (*RegoAuthorizer, error) {
-	ctx := context.Background()
-	query, err := rego.New(
-		// Bind the results to 2 variables for easy checking later.
-		rego.Query(
-			fmt.Sprintf("%s := data.authz.role_allow "+
-				"%s := data.authz.scope_allow",
-				rolesOkCheck, scopeOkCheck),
-		),
-		rego.Module("policy.rego", policy),
-	).PrepareForEval(ctx)
-
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, xerrors.Errorf("prepare query: %w", err)
-	}
-	return &RegoAuthorizer{query: query}, nil
+func NewAuthorizer() *RegoAuthorizer {
+	queryOnce.Do(func() {
+		var err error
+		query, err = rego.New(
+			// Bind the results to 2 variables for easy checking later.
+			rego.Query(
+				fmt.Sprintf("%s := data.authz.role_allow "+
+					"%s := data.authz.scope_allow",
+					rolesOkCheck, scopeOkCheck),
+			),
+			rego.Module("policy.rego", policy),
+		).PrepareForEval(context.Background())
+		if err != nil {
+			panic(xerrors.Errorf("compile rego: %w", err))
+		}
+	})
+	return &RegoAuthorizer{query: query}
 }
 
 type authSubject struct {
diff --git a/coderd/rbac/authz_internal_test.go b/coderd/rbac/authz_internal_test.go
index d5c254ecfc3c2..bf5342c3b27e4 100644
--- a/coderd/rbac/authz_internal_test.go
+++ b/coderd/rbac/authz_internal_test.go
@@ -40,10 +40,8 @@ func (w fakeObject) RBACObject() Object {
 
 func TestFilterError(t *testing.T) {
 	t.Parallel()
-	auth, err := NewAuthorizer()
-	require.NoError(t, err)
-
-	_, err = Filter(context.Background(), auth, uuid.NewString(), []string{}, ScopeAll, ActionRead, []Object{ResourceUser, ResourceWorkspace})
+	auth := NewAuthorizer()
+	_, err := Filter(context.Background(), auth, uuid.NewString(), []string{}, ScopeAll, ActionRead, []Object{ResourceUser, ResourceWorkspace})
 	require.ErrorContains(t, err, "object types must be uniform")
 }
 
@@ -160,8 +158,7 @@ func TestFilter(t *testing.T) {
 
 			ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), testutil.WaitShort)
 			defer cancel()
-			auth, err := NewAuthorizer()
-			require.NoError(t, err, "new auth")
+			auth := NewAuthorizer()
 
 			scope := ScopeAll
 			if tc.Scope != "" {
@@ -742,8 +739,7 @@ type authTestCase struct {
 
 func testAuthorize(t *testing.T, name string, subject subject, sets ...[]authTestCase) {
 	t.Helper()
-	authorizer, err := NewAuthorizer()
-	require.NoError(t, err)
+	authorizer := NewAuthorizer()
 	for _, cases := range sets {
 		for i, c := range cases {
 			c := c
diff --git a/coderd/rbac/builtin_test.go b/coderd/rbac/builtin_test.go
index 2616466c39e1e..c915515d2119d 100644
--- a/coderd/rbac/builtin_test.go
+++ b/coderd/rbac/builtin_test.go
@@ -82,10 +82,7 @@ func BenchmarkRBACFilter(b *testing.B) {
 		},
 	}
 
-	authorizer, err := rbac.NewAuthorizer()
-	if err != nil {
-		require.NoError(b, err)
-	}
+	authorizer := rbac.NewAuthorizer()
 	for _, c := range benchCases {
 		b.Run(c.Name, func(b *testing.B) {
 			objects := benchmarkSetup(orgs, users, b.N)
@@ -119,8 +116,7 @@ type authSubject struct {
 func TestRolePermissions(t *testing.T) {
 	t.Parallel()
 
-	auth, err := rbac.NewAuthorizer()
-	require.NoError(t, err, "new rego authorizer")
+	auth := rbac.NewAuthorizer()
 
 	// currentUser is anything that references "me", "mine", or "my".
 	currentUser := uuid.New()