diff --git a/sqlite3.go b/sqlite3.go
index ce985ec8..70706e2e 100644
--- a/sqlite3.go
+++ b/sqlite3.go
@@ -137,6 +137,57 @@ _sqlite3_prepare_v2_internal(sqlite3 *db, const char *zSql, int nBytes, sqlite3_
 }
 #endif
 
+static int _sqlite3_prepare_v2(sqlite3 *db, const char *zSql, int nBytes, sqlite3_stmt **ppStmt, int *oBytes) {
+	const char *tail = NULL;
+	int rv = _sqlite3_prepare_v2_internal(db, zSql, nBytes, ppStmt, &tail);
+	if (rv != SQLITE_OK) {
+		return rv;
+	}
+	if (tail == NULL) {
+		return rv; // NB: this should not happen
+	}
+	// Set oBytes to the number of bytes consumed instead of using the **pzTail
+	// out param since that requires storing a Go pointer in a C pointer, which
+	// is not allowed by CGO and will cause runtime.cgoCheckPointer to fail.
+	*oBytes = tail - zSql;
+	return rv;
+}
+
+// _sqlite3_exec_no_args executes all of the statements in sql. None of the
+// statements are allowed to have positional arguments.
+int _sqlite3_exec_no_args(sqlite3 *db, const char *zSql, int nBytes,
+                          int64_t *rowid, int64_t *changes) {
+	sqlite3_stmt *stmt;
+	const char *tail = NULL;
+	while (*zSql && nBytes > 0) {
+		stmt = NULL;
+		int rv = sqlite3_prepare_v2(db, zSql, nBytes, &stmt, &tail);
+		if (rv != SQLITE_OK) {
+			return rv;
+		}
+
+		do {
+			rv = sqlite3_step(stmt);
+		} while (rv == SQLITE_ROW);
+
+		*rowid = sqlite3_last_insert_rowid(db);
+		// We only record the number of changes made by the last statement.
+		*changes = sqlite3_changes64(db);
+
+		if (rv != SQLITE_OK && rv != SQLITE_DONE) {
+			sqlite3_finalize(stmt);
+			return rv;
+		}
+		rv = sqlite3_finalize(stmt);
+		if (rv != SQLITE_OK) {
+			return rv;
+		}
+		nBytes -= tail - zSql;
+		zSql = tail;
+	}
+	return SQLITE_OK;
+}
+
 void _sqlite3_result_text(sqlite3_context* ctx, const char* s) {
   sqlite3_result_text(ctx, s, -1, &free);
 }
@@ -858,54 +909,122 @@ func (c *SQLiteConn) Exec(query string, args []driver.Value) (driver.Result, err
 }
 
 func (c *SQLiteConn) exec(ctx context.Context, query string, args []driver.NamedValue) (driver.Result, error) {
-	start := 0
+	// Trim the query. This is mostly important for getting rid
+	// of any trailing space.
+	query = strings.TrimSpace(query)
+	if len(args) > 0 {
+		return c.execArgs(ctx, query, args)
+	}
+	return c.execNoArgs(ctx, query)
+}
+
+func (c *SQLiteConn) execArgs(ctx context.Context, query string, args []driver.NamedValue) (driver.Result, error) {
+	var (
+		stmtArgs []driver.NamedValue
+		start    int
+		s        SQLiteStmt // escapes to the heap so reuse it
+		sz       C.int      // number of query bytes consumed: escapes to the heap
+	)
 	for {
-		s, err := c.prepare(ctx, query)
-		if err != nil {
-			return nil, err
+		s = SQLiteStmt{c: c} // reset
+		sz = 0
+		rv := C._sqlite3_prepare_v2(c.db, (*C.char)(unsafe.Pointer(stringData(query))),
+			C.int(len(query)), &s.s, &sz)
+		if rv != C.SQLITE_OK {
+			return nil, c.lastError()
 		}
+		query = strings.TrimSpace(query[sz:])
+
 		var res driver.Result
-		if s.(*SQLiteStmt).s != nil {
-			stmtArgs := make([]driver.NamedValue, 0, len(args))
+		if s.s != nil {
 			na := s.NumInput()
 			if len(args)-start < na {
-				s.Close()
+				s.finalize()
 				return nil, fmt.Errorf("not enough args to execute query: want %d got %d", na, len(args))
 			}
 			// consume the number of arguments used in the current
 			// statement and append all named arguments not
 			// contained therein
-			if len(args[start:start+na]) > 0 {
-				stmtArgs = append(stmtArgs, args[start:start+na]...)
-				for i := range args {
-					if (i < start || i >= na) && args[i].Name != "" {
-						stmtArgs = append(stmtArgs, args[i])
-					}
-				}
-				for i := range stmtArgs {
-					stmtArgs[i].Ordinal = i + 1
+			if stmtArgs == nil {
+				stmtArgs = make([]driver.NamedValue, 0, na)
+			}
+			stmtArgs = append(stmtArgs[:0], args[start:start+na]...)
+			for i := range args {
+				if (i < start || i >= na) && args[i].Name != "" {
+					stmtArgs = append(stmtArgs, args[i])
 				}
 			}
-			res, err = s.(*SQLiteStmt).exec(ctx, stmtArgs)
+			for i := range stmtArgs {
+				stmtArgs[i].Ordinal = i + 1
+			}
+			var err error
+			res, err = s.exec(ctx, stmtArgs)
 			if err != nil && err != driver.ErrSkip {
-				s.Close()
+				s.finalize()
 				return nil, err
 			}
 			start += na
 		}
-		tail := s.(*SQLiteStmt).t
-		s.Close()
-		if tail == "" {
+		s.finalize()
+		if len(query) == 0 {
 			if res == nil {
 				// https://github.com/mattn/go-sqlite3/issues/963
 				res = &SQLiteResult{0, 0}
 			}
 			return res, nil
 		}
-		query = tail
 	}
 }
 
+// execNoArgsSync processes every SQL statement in query. All processing occurs
+// in C code, which reduces the overhead of CGO calls.
+func (c *SQLiteConn) execNoArgsSync(query string) (_ driver.Result, err error) {
+	var rowid, changes C.int64_t
+	rv := C._sqlite3_exec_no_args(c.db, (*C.char)(unsafe.Pointer(stringData(query))),
+		C.int(len(query)), &rowid, &changes)
+	if rv != C.SQLITE_OK {
+		err = c.lastError()
+	}
+	return &SQLiteResult{id: int64(rowid), changes: int64(changes)}, err
+}
+
+func (c *SQLiteConn) execNoArgs(ctx context.Context, query string) (driver.Result, error) {
+	done := ctx.Done()
+	if done == nil {
+		return c.execNoArgsSync(query)
+	}
+
+	// Fast check if the Context is cancelled
+	if err := ctx.Err(); err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	ch := make(chan struct{})
+	defer close(ch)
+	go func() {
+		select {
+		case <-done:
+			C.sqlite3_interrupt(c.db)
+			// Wait until signaled. We need to ensure that this goroutine
+			// will not call interrupt after this method returns, which is
+			// why we can't check if only done is closed when waiting below.
+			<-ch
+		case <-ch:
+		}
+	}()
+
+	res, err := c.execNoArgsSync(query)
+
+	// Stop the goroutine and make sure we're at a point where
+	// sqlite3_interrupt cannot be called again.
+	ch <- struct{}{}
+
+	if isInterruptErr(err) {
+		err = ctx.Err()
+	}
+	return res, err
+}
+
 // Query implements Queryer.
 func (c *SQLiteConn) Query(query string, args []driver.Value) (driver.Rows, error) {
 	list := make([]driver.NamedValue, len(args))
@@ -1914,6 +2033,13 @@ func (s *SQLiteStmt) Close() error {
 	return nil
 }
 
+func (s *SQLiteStmt) finalize() {
+	if s.s != nil {
+		C.sqlite3_finalize(s.s)
+		s.s = nil
+	}
+}
+
 // NumInput return a number of parameters.
 func (s *SQLiteStmt) NumInput() int {
 	return int(C.sqlite3_bind_parameter_count(s.s))
diff --git a/unsafe_go120.go b/unsafe_go120.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..95d673ed
--- /dev/null
+++ b/unsafe_go120.go
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+//go:build !go1.21
+// +build !go1.21
+
+package sqlite3
+
+import "unsafe"
+
+// stringData is a safe version of unsafe.StringData that handles empty strings.
+func stringData(s string) *byte {
+	if len(s) != 0 {
+		b := *(*[]byte)(unsafe.Pointer(&s))
+		return &b[0]
+	}
+	// The return value of unsafe.StringData
+	// is unspecified if the string is empty.
+	return &placeHolder[0]
+}
diff --git a/unsafe_go121.go b/unsafe_go121.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b9c00a12
--- /dev/null
+++ b/unsafe_go121.go
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+//go:build go1.21
+// +build go1.21
+
+// The unsafe.StringData function was made available in Go 1.20 but it
+// was not until Go 1.21 that Go was changed to interpret the Go version
+// in go.mod (1.19 as of writing this) as the minimum version required
+// instead of the exact version.
+//
+// See: https://github.com/golang/go/issues/59033
+
+package sqlite3
+
+import "unsafe"
+
+// stringData is a safe version of unsafe.StringData that handles empty strings.
+func stringData(s string) *byte {
+	if len(s) != 0 {
+		return unsafe.StringData(s)
+	}
+	// The return value of unsafe.StringData
+	// is unspecified if the string is empty.
+	return &placeHolder[0]
+}