diff --git a/FU.xs b/FU.xs
index f5cf9a3..9f9b779 100644
--- a/FU.xs
+++ b/FU.xs
@@ -380,16 +380,12 @@ void prepare_time(fupg_st *st)
     ST(0) = !st->prepared ? &PL_sv_undef : sv_2mortal(newSVnv(st->preptime));
 
 void get_cache(fupg_st *st)
+  ALIAS:
+    FU::Pg::st::get_text_params  = FUPG_TEXT_PARAMS
+    FU::Pg::st::get_text_results = FUPG_TEXT_RESULTS
   CODE:
-    ST(0) = st->stflags & FUPG_CACHE ? &PL_sv_yes : &PL_sv_no;
-
-void get_text_params(fupg_st *st)
-  CODE:
-    ST(0) = st->stflags & FUPG_TEXT_PARAMS ? &PL_sv_yes : &PL_sv_no;
-
-void get_text_results(fupg_st *st)
-  CODE:
-    ST(0) = st->stflags & FUPG_TEXT_RESULTS ? &PL_sv_yes : &PL_sv_no;
+    if (!ix) ix = FUPG_CACHE;
+    ST(0) = st->stflags & ix ? &PL_sv_yes : &PL_sv_no;
 
 void DESTROY(fupg_st *st)
   CODE:
diff --git a/FU/Pg.pm b/FU/Pg.pm
index d676dd2..c058a93 100644
--- a/FU/Pg.pm
+++ b/FU/Pg.pm
@@ -371,7 +371,9 @@ parameter in the given C<$sql> string. Example:
   # $oids = []
 
 This method can be called before the query has been executed, but will then
-trigger a prepare operation.
+trigger a prepare operation. An empty array is also returned if the query has
+already been executed without a separate preparation step; this happens if
+prepared statement caching is disabled and C<text_params> is enabled.
 
 =item $st->columns
 
diff --git a/c/pgst.c b/c/pgst.c
index a9e3448..94c8072 100644
--- a/c/pgst.c
+++ b/c/pgst.c
@@ -271,10 +271,13 @@ static void fupg_st_execute(pTHX_ fupg_st *st) {
      * results in a streaming fashion without breaking API compat. */
     if (st->result) fu_confess("Invalid attempt to execute statement multiple times");
 
-    /* TODO: prepare can be skipped when prepared statement caching is disabled and (text-format queries or no bind params) */
-    fupg_st_prepare(aTHX_ st);
-    if (PQnparams(st->describe) != st->nbind)
-        fu_confess("Statement expects %d bind parameters but %d were given", PQnparams(st->describe), st->nbind);
+    /* Whether we can do a direct call or need to prepare first */
+    int direct = !st->describe && (st->nbind == 0 || st->stflags & FUPG_TEXT_PARAMS) && !(st->stflags & FUPG_CACHE);
+    if (!direct) {
+        fupg_st_prepare(aTHX_ st);
+        if (PQnparams(st->describe) != st->nbind)
+            fu_confess("Statement expects %d bind parameters but %d were given", PQnparams(st->describe), st->nbind);
+    }
     int refresh_done = 0;
     fupg_params_setup(aTHX_ st, &refresh_done);
 
@@ -290,13 +293,17 @@ static void fupg_st_execute(pTHX_ fupg_st *st) {
      * improvement */
     struct timespec t_start;
     clock_gettime(CLOCK_MONOTONIC, &t_start);
-    PGresult *r = PQexecPrepared(st->conn->conn,
-            st->name,
-            st->nbind,
+    PGresult *r = direct ? PQexecParams(st->conn->conn,
+            st->query, st->nbind, NULL,
             (const char * const *)st->param_values,
-            st->param_lengths,
-            st->param_formats,
-            st->stflags & FUPG_TEXT_RESULTS ? 0 : 1);
+            st->param_lengths, st->param_formats,
+            st->stflags & FUPG_TEXT_RESULTS ? 0 : 1
+        ) : PQexecPrepared(st->conn->conn,
+            st->name, st->nbind,
+            (const char * const *)st->param_values,
+            st->param_lengths, st->param_formats,
+            st->stflags & FUPG_TEXT_RESULTS ? 0 : 1
+        );
     struct timespec t_end;
     clock_gettime(CLOCK_MONOTONIC, &t_end);
     st->exectime = fu_timediff(&t_end, &t_start);
diff --git a/t/pgconnect.t b/t/pgconnect.t
index 27f339a..b7d1996 100644
--- a/t/pgconnect.t
+++ b/t/pgconnect.t
@@ -73,10 +73,10 @@ subtest '$st prepare & exec', sub {
     is $conn->exec('SELECT 1 FROM pg_prepared_statements'), 0;
 
     ok !eval { $conn->q('SELECT 1', 1)->exec; 1 };
-    like $@, qr/Statement expects 0 bind parameters but 1 were given/;
+    like $@, qr/bind message supplies 1 parameters, but prepared statement/;
 
     ok !eval { $conn->q('SELECT $1')->exec; 1 };
-    like $@, qr/Statement expects 1 bind parameters but 0 were given/;
+    like $@, qr/bind message supplies 0 parameters, but prepared statement/;
 
     # prepare + describe won't let us detect empty queries, hmm...
     is_deeply $conn->q('')->param_types, [];
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ subtest '$st prepare & exec', sub {
     is $conn->q('SET client_encoding=utf8')->exec, undef;
 
     ok !eval { $conn->q('select 1; select 2')->exec; 1 };
-    okerr ERROR => prepare => qr/cannot insert multiple commands into a prepared statement/;
+    okerr ERROR => exec => qr/cannot insert multiple commands into a prepared statement/;
 
     # Interleaved
     {
@@ -400,7 +400,7 @@ subtest 'Tracing', sub {
     my @log;
     $conn->query_trace(sub($st) { push @log, $st });
 
-    is_deeply $conn->q('SELECT 1 AS a, $1 AS b', 123)->rowa, [ 1, 123 ];
+    is_deeply $conn->q('SELECT 1 AS a, $1 AS b', 123)->text_params(0)->rowa, [ 1, 123 ];
     is scalar @log, 1;
     my $st = shift @log;
     is ref $st, 'FU::Pg::st';
@@ -412,8 +412,8 @@ subtest 'Tracing', sub {
     ok $st->exec_time > 0 && $st->exec_time < 1;
     ok $st->prepare_time > 0 && $st->prepare_time < 1;
     ok !$st->get_cache;
-    ok $st->text_params;
-    ok $st->text_results;
+    ok !$st->get_text_params;
+    ok $st->get_text_results;
 
     $conn->exec('SET client_encoding=UTF8');
     is scalar @log, 1;
@@ -427,8 +427,8 @@ subtest 'Tracing', sub {
     ok $st->exec_time > 0 && $st->exec_time < 1;
     ok !defined $st->prepare_time;
     ok !$st->get_cache;
-    ok $st->text_params;
-    ok $st->text_results;
+    ok $st->get_text_params;
+    ok $st->get_text_results;
 
     $conn->query_trace(undef);
     $conn->exec('SELECT 1');