diff --git a/Lib/test/test_minidom.py b/Lib/test/test_minidom.py
index 446bbe096bd19dc..b19a0cfd94b8ddd 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_minidom.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_minidom.py
@@ -1605,6 +1605,21 @@ def testNormalizeDeleteAndCombine(self):
                 , "testNormalizeDeleteAndCombine -- result")
         doc.unlink()
 
+    def testNormalizeManyTextNodes(self):
+        # Ensure that normalize() is fast with many adjacent text nodes.
+        N = 100_000
+        doc = parseString("<doc/>")
+        root = doc.documentElement
+        for i in range(N):
+            root.appendChild(doc.createTextNode("x" * 16))
+            if i % 3 == 0:
+                root.appendChild(doc.createTextNode(""))
+        doc.normalize()
+        self.assertEqual(len(root.childNodes), 1)
+        self.assertEqual(root.firstChild.data, "x" * 16 * N)
+        self.assertIsNone(root.firstChild.nextSibling)
+        doc.unlink()
+
     def testNormalizeRecursion(self):
         doc = parseString("<doc>"
                             "<o>"
diff --git a/Lib/xml/dom/minidom.py b/Lib/xml/dom/minidom.py
index 7cb652a323dcc22..d4166a2bce20e5e 100644
--- a/Lib/xml/dom/minidom.py
+++ b/Lib/xml/dom/minidom.py
@@ -196,6 +196,9 @@ def removeChild(self, oldChild):
 
     def normalize(self):
         L = []
+        # (text node, [data, ...]) for each text node that absorbs others.
+        # Join each run once at the end; concatenating as we go is quadratic.
+        runs = None
         for child in self.childNodes:
             if child.nodeType == Node.TEXT_NODE:
                 if not child.data:
@@ -208,7 +211,12 @@ def normalize(self):
                 elif L and L[-1].nodeType == child.nodeType:
                     # collapse text node
                     node = L[-1]
-                    node.data = node.data + child.data
+                    if runs is None:
+                        runs = []
+                    if runs and runs[-1][0] is node:
+                        runs[-1][1].append(child.data)
+                    else:
+                        runs.append((node, [node.data, child.data]))
                     node.nextSibling = child.nextSibling
                     if child.nextSibling:
                         child.nextSibling.previousSibling = node
@@ -219,6 +227,9 @@ def normalize(self):
                 L.append(child)
                 if child.nodeType == Node.ELEMENT_NODE:
                     child.normalize()
+        if runs is not None:
+            for node, data in runs:
+                node.data = ''.join(data)
         self.childNodes[:] = L
 
     def cloneNode(self, deep):
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2026-10-05-16-40-00.gh-issue-158860.Mn7dXk.rst b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2026-10-05-16-40-00.gh-issue-158860.Mn7dXk.rst
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000000..3e4051e21beee0c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2026-10-05-16-40-00.gh-issue-158860.Mn7dXk.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+:meth:`xml.dom.minidom.Node.normalize` now merges runs of adjacent text
+nodes in linear time instead of quadratic time.