diff --git a/v3/cache.go b/v3/cache.go
index 4b6d9b4..301ce48 100644
--- a/v3/cache.go
+++ b/v3/cache.go
@@ -17,8 +17,12 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"sync"
 	"time"
+	_ "unsafe"
 )
 
+//go:linkname nanotime runtime.nanotime
+func nanotime() int64
+
 // Cache defines cache interface
 type Cache[K comparable, V any] interface {
 	fmt.Stringer
@@ -26,7 +30,6 @@ type Cache[K comparable, V any] interface {
 	Add(key K, value V) bool
 	Set(key K, value V, ttl time.Duration)
 	Get(key K) (V, bool)
-	GetExpiration(key K) (time.Time, bool)
 	GetOldest() (K, V, bool)
 	Contains(key K) (ok bool)
 	Peek(key K) (V, bool)
@@ -51,7 +54,7 @@ type Stats struct {
 
 // cacheImpl provides Cache interface implementation.
 type cacheImpl[K comparable, V any] struct {
-	ttl       time.Duration
+	ttl       int64 // TTL in nanoseconds
 	maxKeys   int
 	isLRU     bool
 	onEvicted func(key K, value V)
@@ -62,8 +65,8 @@ type cacheImpl[K comparable, V any] struct {
 	evictList *list.List
 }
 
-// noEvictionTTL - very long ttl to prevent eviction
-const noEvictionTTL = time.Hour * 24 * 365 * 10
+// noEvictionTTL - very long ttl to prevent eviction (10 years in nanoseconds)
+const noEvictionTTL = int64(time.Hour * 24 * 365 * 10)
 
 // NewCache returns a new Cache.
 // Default MaxKeys is unlimited (0).
@@ -87,38 +90,40 @@ func (c *cacheImpl[K, V]) Add(key K, value V) (evicted bool) {
 
 // Set key, ttl of 0 would use cache-wide TTL
 func (c *cacheImpl[K, V]) Set(key K, value V, ttl time.Duration) {
-	c.addWithTTL(key, value, ttl)
+	c.addWithTTL(key, value, int64(ttl))
 }
 
 // Returns true if an eviction occurred.
 // Returns false if there was no eviction: the item was already in the cache,
 // or the size was not exceeded.
-func (c *cacheImpl[K, V]) addWithTTL(key K, value V, ttl time.Duration) (evicted bool) {
+func (c *cacheImpl[K, V]) addWithTTL(key K, value V, ttl int64) (evicted bool) {
 	if ttl == 0 {
 		ttl = c.ttl
 	}
-	now := time.Now()
+	now := nanotime()
 	c.Lock()
 	defer c.Unlock()
 	// Check for existing item
 	if ent, ok := c.items[key]; ok {
 		c.evictList.MoveToFront(ent)
-		ent.Value.(*cacheItem[K, V]).value = value
-		ent.Value.(*cacheItem[K, V]).expiresAt = now.Add(ttl)
+		item := ent.Value.(*cacheItem[K, V]) // Single type assertion
+		item.value = value
+		item.expiresAt = now + ttl
 		return false
 	}
 
 	// Add new item
-	ent := &cacheItem[K, V]{key: key, value: value, expiresAt: now.Add(ttl)}
+	ent := &cacheItem[K, V]{key: key, value: value, expiresAt: now + ttl}
 	entry := c.evictList.PushFront(ent)
 	c.items[key] = entry
 	c.stat.Added++
 
 	// Remove the oldest entry if it is expired, only in case of non-default TTL.
 	if c.ttl != noEvictionTTL || ttl != noEvictionTTL {
-		ent := c.evictList.Back()
-		if ent != nil && now.After(ent.Value.(*cacheItem[K, V]).expiresAt) {
-			c.removeElement(ent)
+		if oldEnt := c.evictList.Back(); oldEnt != nil {
+			if now > oldEnt.Value.(*cacheItem[K, V]).expiresAt {
+				c.removeElement(oldEnt)
+			}
 		}
 	}
 
@@ -136,16 +141,17 @@ func (c *cacheImpl[K, V]) Get(key K) (V, bool) {
 	c.Lock()
 	defer c.Unlock()
 	if ent, ok := c.items[key]; ok {
+		item := ent.Value.(*cacheItem[K, V])
 		// Expired item check
-		if time.Now().After(ent.Value.(*cacheItem[K, V]).expiresAt) {
+		if nanotime() > item.expiresAt {
 			c.stat.Misses++
-			return ent.Value.(*cacheItem[K, V]).value, false
+			return item.value, false
 		}
 		if c.isLRU {
 			c.evictList.MoveToFront(ent)
 		}
 		c.stat.Hits++
-		return ent.Value.(*cacheItem[K, V]).value, true
+		return item.value, true
 	}
 	c.stat.Misses++
 	return def, false
@@ -167,28 +173,19 @@ func (c *cacheImpl[K, V]) Peek(key K) (V, bool) {
 	c.Lock()
 	defer c.Unlock()
 	if ent, ok := c.items[key]; ok {
+		item := ent.Value.(*cacheItem[K, V]) // Single type assertion
 		// Expired item check
-		if time.Now().After(ent.Value.(*cacheItem[K, V]).expiresAt) {
+		if nanotime() > item.expiresAt {
 			c.stat.Misses++
-			return ent.Value.(*cacheItem[K, V]).value, false
+			return item.value, false
 		}
 		c.stat.Hits++
-		return ent.Value.(*cacheItem[K, V]).value, true
+		return item.value, true
 	}
 	c.stat.Misses++
 	return def, false
 }
 
-// GetExpiration returns the expiration time of the key. Non-existing key returns zero time.
-func (c *cacheImpl[K, V]) GetExpiration(key K) (time.Time, bool) {
-	c.Lock()
-	defer c.Unlock()
-	if ent, ok := c.items[key]; ok {
-		return ent.Value.(*cacheItem[K, V]).expiresAt, true
-	}
-	return time.Time{}, false
-}
-
 // Keys returns a slice of the keys in the cache, from oldest to newest.
 func (c *cacheImpl[K, V]) Keys() []K {
 	c.Lock()
@@ -200,11 +197,11 @@ func (c *cacheImpl[K, V]) Keys() []K {
 // Expired entries are filtered out.
 func (c *cacheImpl[K, V]) Values() []V {
 	values := make([]V, 0, len(c.items))
-	now := time.Now()
+	now := nanotime()
 	c.Lock()
 	defer c.Unlock()
 	for ent := c.evictList.Back(); ent != nil; ent = ent.Prev() {
-		if !now.After(ent.Value.(*cacheItem[K, V]).expiresAt) {
+		if now <= ent.Value.(*cacheItem[K, V]).expiresAt {
 			values = append(values, ent.Value.(*cacheItem[K, V]).value)
 		}
 	}
@@ -292,13 +289,13 @@ func (c *cacheImpl[K, V]) GetOldest() (key K, value V, ok bool) {
 
 // DeleteExpired clears cache of expired items
 func (c *cacheImpl[K, V]) DeleteExpired() {
-	now := time.Now()
+	now := nanotime()
 	c.Lock()
 	defer c.Unlock()
 	var nextEnt *list.Element
 	for ent := c.evictList.Back(); ent != nil; ent = nextEnt {
 		nextEnt = ent.Prev()
-		if now.After(ent.Value.(*cacheItem[K, V]).expiresAt) {
+		if now > ent.Value.(*cacheItem[K, V]).expiresAt {
 			c.removeElement(ent)
 		}
 	}
@@ -360,8 +357,9 @@ func (c *cacheImpl[K, V]) removeElement(e *list.Element) {
 }
 
 // cacheItem is used to hold a value in the evictList
+// Uses int64 nanotime instead of time.Time for 16 bytes memory savings per item
 type cacheItem[K comparable, V any] struct {
-	expiresAt time.Time
+	expiresAt int64 // nanotime() value - monotonic nanoseconds
 	key       K
 	value     V
 }
diff --git a/v3/cache_test.go b/v3/cache_test.go
index ea56d48..fea9100 100644
--- a/v3/cache_test.go
+++ b/v3/cache_test.go
@@ -10,7 +10,6 @@ import (
 	"testing"
 	"time"
 
-	"github.com/hashicorp/golang-lru/v2/simplelru"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
 )
 
@@ -128,10 +127,6 @@ func BenchmarkLRU_Freq_WithExpire(b *testing.B) {
 	b.Logf("hit: %d miss: %d ratio: %f", hit, miss, float64(hit)/float64(hit+miss))
 }
 
-func TestSimpleLRUInterface(_ *testing.T) {
-	var _ simplelru.LRUCache[int, int] = NewCache[int, int]()
-}
-
 func TestCacheNoPurge(t *testing.T) {
 	lc := NewCache[string, string]()
 
@@ -331,30 +326,6 @@ func TestCacheExpired(t *testing.T) {
 	assert.Empty(t, lc.Values())
 }
 
-func TestCache_GetExpiration(t *testing.T) {
-	lc := NewCache[string, string]().WithTTL(time.Second * 5)
-
-	lc.Set("key1", "val1", time.Second*5)
-	assert.Equal(t, 1, lc.Len())
-
-	exp, ok := lc.GetExpiration("key1")
-	assert.True(t, ok)
-	assert.True(t, exp.After(time.Now().Add(time.Second*4)))
-	assert.True(t, exp.Before(time.Now().Add(time.Second*6)))
-
-	lc.Set("key2", "val2", time.Second*10)
-	assert.Equal(t, 2, lc.Len())
-
-	exp, ok = lc.GetExpiration("key2")
-	assert.True(t, ok)
-	assert.True(t, exp.After(time.Now().Add(time.Second*9)))
-	assert.True(t, exp.Before(time.Now().Add(time.Second*11)))
-
-	exp, ok = lc.GetExpiration("non-existing-key")
-	assert.False(t, ok)
-	assert.Zero(t, exp)
-}
-
 func TestCacheRemoveOldest(t *testing.T) {
 	lc := NewCache[string, string]().WithLRU().WithMaxKeys(2)
 
diff --git a/v3/go.mod b/v3/go.mod
index 558dc78..d91fd8c 100644
--- a/v3/go.mod
+++ b/v3/go.mod
@@ -1,12 +1,13 @@
 module github.com/go-pkgz/expirable-cache/v3
 
-go 1.20
+go 1.25
 
-require github.com/stretchr/testify v1.10.0
+require (
+	github.com/stretchr/testify v1.11.1
+)
 
 require (
 	github.com/davecgh/go-spew v1.1.1 // indirect
-	github.com/hashicorp/golang-lru/v2 v2.0.7 // indirect
 	github.com/pmezard/go-difflib v1.0.0 // indirect
 	gopkg.in/yaml.v3 v3.0.1 // indirect
 )
diff --git a/v3/go.sum b/v3/go.sum
index bba5334..1dabeb5 100644
--- a/v3/go.sum
+++ b/v3/go.sum
@@ -8,6 +8,8 @@ github.com/stretchr/testify v1.8.4 h1:CcVxjf3Q8PM0mHUKJCdn+eZZtm5yQwehR5yeSVQQcU
 github.com/stretchr/testify v1.8.4/go.mod h1:sz/lmYIOXD/1dqDmKjjqLyZ2RngseejIcXlSw2iwfAo=
 github.com/stretchr/testify v1.10.0 h1:Xv5erBjTwe/5IxqUQTdXv5kgmIvbHo3QQyRwhJsOfJA=
 github.com/stretchr/testify v1.10.0/go.mod h1:r2ic/lqez/lEtzL7wO/rwa5dbSLXVDPFyf8C91i36aY=
+github.com/stretchr/testify v1.11.1 h1:7s2iGBzp5EwR7/aIZr8ao5+dra3wiQyKjjFuvgVKu7U=
+github.com/stretchr/testify v1.11.1/go.mod h1:wZwfW3scLgRK+23gO65QZefKpKQRnfz6sD981Nm4B6U=
 gopkg.in/check.v1 v0.0.0-20161208181325-20d25e280405 h1:yhCVgyC4o1eVCa2tZl7eS0r+SDo693bJlVdllGtEeKM=
 gopkg.in/check.v1 v0.0.0-20161208181325-20d25e280405/go.mod h1:Co6ibVJAznAaIkqp8huTwlJQCZ016jof/cbN4VW5Yz0=
 gopkg.in/yaml.v3 v3.0.1 h1:fxVm/GzAzEWqLHuvctI91KS9hhNmmWOoWu0XTYJS7CA=
diff --git a/v3/options.go b/v3/options.go
index b5fe65d..70ca797 100644
--- a/v3/options.go
+++ b/v3/options.go
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ type options[K comparable, V any] interface {
 // WithTTL functional option defines TTL for all cache entries.
 // By default, it is set to 10 years, sane option for expirable cache might be 5 minutes.
 func (c *cacheImpl[K, V]) WithTTL(ttl time.Duration) Cache[K, V] {
-	c.ttl = ttl
+	c.ttl = int64(ttl) // Convert time.Duration to int64 nanoseconds
 	return c
 }