diff --git a/lib/api/entities.rb b/lib/api/entities.rb
index 99eda3b0c4b..94168fa4ebc 100644
--- a/lib/api/entities.rb
+++ b/lib/api/entities.rb
@@ -503,12 +503,20 @@ module API
     class ProjectWithAccess < Project
       expose :permissions do
         expose :project_access, using: Entities::ProjectAccess do |project, options|
-          project.project_members.find_by(user_id: options[:current_user].id)
+          if options.key?(:project_members)
+            (options[:project_members] || []).find { |member| member.source_id == project.id }
+          else
+            project.project_members.find_by(user_id: options[:current_user].id)
+          end
         end
 
         expose :group_access, using: Entities::GroupAccess do |project, options|
           if project.group
-            project.group.group_members.find_by(user_id: options[:current_user].id)
+            if options.key?(:group_members)
+              (options[:group_members] || []).find { |member| member.source_id == project.namespace_id }
+            else
+              project.group.group_members.find_by(user_id: options[:current_user].id)
+            end
           end
         end
       end
diff --git a/lib/api/projects.rb b/lib/api/projects.rb
index 27d49eae844..c459257158d 100644
--- a/lib/api/projects.rb
+++ b/lib/api/projects.rb
@@ -77,9 +77,17 @@ module API
         projects = projects.with_issues_enabled if params[:with_issues_enabled]
         projects = projects.with_merge_requests_enabled if params[:with_merge_requests_enabled]
 
+        if current_user
+          projects = projects.includes(:route, :taggings, namespace: :route)
+          project_members = current_user.project_members
+          group_members = current_user.group_members
+        end
+
         options = options.reverse_merge(
           with: current_user ? Entities::ProjectWithAccess : Entities::BasicProjectDetails,
           statistics: params[:statistics],
+          project_members: project_members,
+          group_members: group_members,
           current_user: current_user
         )
         options[:with] = Entities::BasicProjectDetails if params[:simple]
diff --git a/spec/requests/api/projects_spec.rb b/spec/requests/api/projects_spec.rb
index ee25bd1deb1..fa704f23857 100644
--- a/spec/requests/api/projects_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/requests/api/projects_spec.rb
@@ -52,6 +52,24 @@ describe API::Projects do
       end
     end
 
+    shared_examples_for 'projects response without N + 1 queries' do
+      it 'avoids N + 1 queries' do
+        control_count = ActiveRecord::QueryRecorder.new do
+          get api('/projects', current_user)
+        end.count
+
+        if defined?(additional_project)
+          additional_project
+        else
+          create(:empty_project, :public)
+        end
+
+        expect do
+          get api('/projects', current_user)
+        end.not_to exceed_query_limit(control_count + 8)
+      end
+    end
+
     let!(:public_project) { create(:empty_project, :public, name: 'public_project') }
     before do
       project
@@ -62,9 +80,13 @@ describe API::Projects do
 
     context 'when unauthenticated' do
       it_behaves_like 'projects response' do
-        let(:filter) { {} }
+        let(:filter) { { search: project.name } }
+        let(:current_user) { user }
+        let(:projects) { [project] }
+      end
+
+      it_behaves_like 'projects response without N + 1 queries' do
         let(:current_user) { nil }
-        let(:projects) { [public_project] }
       end
     end
 
@@ -75,6 +97,21 @@ describe API::Projects do
         let(:projects) { [public_project, project, project2, project3] }
       end
 
+      it_behaves_like 'projects response without N + 1 queries' do
+        let(:current_user) { user }
+      end
+
+      context 'when some projects are in a group' do
+        before do
+          create(:empty_project, :public, group: create(:group))
+        end
+
+        it_behaves_like 'projects response without N + 1 queries' do
+          let(:current_user) { user }
+          let(:additional_project) { create(:empty_project, :public, group: create(:group)) }
+        end
+      end
+
       it 'includes the project labels as the tag_list' do
         get api('/projects', user)