diff --git a/idn/punycode.go b/idn/punycode.go
index a8d16ed2..d3433fbd 100644
--- a/idn/punycode.go
+++ b/idn/punycode.go
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import (
 	"bytes"
 	"strings"
 	"unicode"
+	"unicode/utf8"
 
 	"github.com/miekg/dns"
 )
@@ -27,9 +28,15 @@ const (
 )
 
 // ToPunycode converts unicode domain names to DNS-appropriate punycode names.
-// This function would return an empty string result for domain names with
+// This function will return an empty string result for domain names with
 // invalid unicode strings. This function expects domain names in lowercase.
 func ToPunycode(s string) string {
+	// Early check to see if encoding is needed.
+	// This will prevent making heap allocations when not needed.
+	if !needToPunycode(s) {
+		return s
+	}
+
 	tokens := dns.SplitDomainName(s)
 	switch {
 	case s == "":
@@ -51,7 +58,14 @@ func ToPunycode(s string) string {
 }
 
 // FromPunycode returns unicode domain name from provided punycode string.
+// This function expects punycode strings in lowercase.
 func FromPunycode(s string) string {
+	// Early check to see if decoding is needed.
+	// This will prevent making heap allocations when not needed.
+	if !needFromPunycode(s) {
+		return s
+	}
+
 	tokens := dns.SplitDomainName(s)
 	switch {
 	case s == "":
@@ -143,6 +157,51 @@ func tfunc(k, bias rune) rune {
 	return k - bias
 }
 
+// needToPunycode returns true for strings that require punycode encoding
+// (contain unicode characters).
+func needToPunycode(s string) bool {
+	// This function is very similar to bytes.Runes. We don't use bytes.Runes
+	// because it makes a heap allocation that's not needed here.
+	for i := 0; len(s) > 0; i++ {
+		r, l := utf8.DecodeRuneInString(s)
+		if r > 0x7f {
+			return true
+		}
+		s = s[l:]
+	}
+	return false
+}
+
+// needFromPunycode returns true for strings that require punycode decoding.
+func needFromPunycode(s string) bool {
+	if s == "." {
+		return false
+	}
+
+	off := 0
+	end := false
+	pl := len(_PREFIX)
+	sl := len(s)
+
+	// If s starts with _PREFIX.
+	if sl > pl && s[off:off+pl] == _PREFIX {
+		return true
+	}
+
+	for {
+		// Find the part after the next ".".
+		off, end = dns.NextLabel(s, off)
+		if end {
+			return false
+		}
+		// If this parts starts with _PREFIX.
+		if sl-off > pl && s[off:off+pl] == _PREFIX {
+			return true
+		}
+	}
+	panic("dns: not reached")
+}
+
 // encode transforms Unicode input bytes (that represent DNS label) into
 // punycode bytestream. This function would return nil if there's an invalid
 // character in the label.
diff --git a/idn/punycode_test.go b/idn/punycode_test.go
index 0311ecdb..9c9a15f0 100644
--- a/idn/punycode_test.go
+++ b/idn/punycode_test.go
@@ -8,9 +8,9 @@ import (
 var testcases = [][2]string{
 	{"", ""},
 	{"a", "a"},
-	{"A-B", "a-b"},
-	{"A-B-C", "a-b-c"},
-	{"AbC", "abc"},
+	{"a-b", "a-b"},
+	{"a-b-c", "a-b-c"},
+	{"abc", "abc"},
 	{"я", "xn--41a"},
 	{"zя", "xn--z-0ub"},
 	{"яZ", "xn--z-zub"},