diff --git a/lib/level-zero/cmdlist.jl b/lib/level-zero/cmdlist.jl
index 0e00f0d4..e75497b1 100644
--- a/lib/level-zero/cmdlist.jl
+++ b/lib/level-zero/cmdlist.jl
@@ -152,25 +152,6 @@ function sync_each_submission(f::Base.Callable, enable::Bool)
     end
 end
 
-function execute!(queue::ZeCommandQueue, lists::Vector{ZeCommandList}, fence = nothing)
-    r = zeCommandQueueExecuteCommandLists(queue, length(lists), lists, something(fence, C_NULL))
-    sync_each_submission() && synchronize(queue)
-    return r
-end
-
-"""
-    execute!(queue::ZeCommandQueue, ...) do list
-        append_...!(list)
-    end
-
-Create a command list for the device that owns `queue`, passing in a do block that appends
-operations. The list is then closed and executed on the queue.
-"""
-function execute!(f::Base.Callable, queue::ZeCommandQueue, fence=nothing; kwargs...)
-    list = ZeCommandList(f, queue.context, queue.device, queue.ordinal; kwargs...)
-    execute!(queue, [list], fence)
-end
-
 """
     execute!(list::ZeImmediateCommandList) do list
         append_...!(list)
diff --git a/lib/level-zero/cmdqueue.jl b/lib/level-zero/cmdqueue.jl
index a308255a..cd00566e 100644
--- a/lib/level-zero/cmdqueue.jl
+++ b/lib/level-zero/cmdqueue.jl
@@ -19,6 +19,15 @@ mutable struct ZeCommandQueue
     # maintained by the scratch hedge (see `scratch_hedge!` in src/compiler/execution.jl)
     scratch_hwm::Int
 
+    # the command lists `execute!` submitted, oldest first, each with the fence signaling
+    # its completion, and those that are free to reuse. creating a list per submission and
+    # leaving its destruction to the GC piles up driver memory the GC doesn't know about.
+    # lists that failed to submit may still execute, so they are kept but never reused.
+    const lock::ReentrantLock
+    const submitted::Vector{Tuple{ZeCommandList, ze_fence_handle_t}}
+    const spare::Vector{Tuple{ZeCommandList, ze_fence_handle_t}}
+    const failed::Vector{Tuple{ZeCommandList, ze_fence_handle_t}}
+
     function ZeCommandQueue(ctx::ZeContext, dev::ZeDevice, ordinal=1, index=1;
                             flags=0,
                             mode::ze_command_queue_mode_t=ZE_COMMAND_QUEUE_MODE_DEFAULT,
@@ -28,9 +37,11 @@ mutable struct ZeCommandQueue
         ))
         handle_ref = Ref{ze_command_queue_handle_t}()
         zeCommandQueueCreate(ctx, dev, desc_ref, handle_ref)
-        obj = new(handle_ref[], ctx, dev, ordinal, 0)
+        obj = new(handle_ref[], ctx, dev, ordinal, 0, ReentrantLock(), [], [], [])
         finalizer(obj) do obj
-            if LTS[]
+            # the fences of the lists `execute!` submitted have to be destroyed before the
+            # queue, and not while in use: drain the queue first if any may still execute.
+            if LTS[] || !isempty(obj.submitted) || !isempty(obj.failed)
                 # the queue may still have work in flight (nothing requires a task to
                 # synchronize before dying), and zeCommandQueueDestroy does not wait for
                 # it: on the LTS NEO stack the still-running work then faults as soon as
@@ -47,6 +58,9 @@ mutable struct ZeCommandQueue
                     return
                 end
             end
+            for (_, fence) in Iterators.flatten((obj.submitted, obj.spare, obj.failed))
+                zeFenceDestroy(fence)
+            end
             zeCommandQueueDestroy(obj)
             if LTS[]
                 # mark the queue as destroyed: it can still be weakly reachable (e.g. from
@@ -67,6 +81,69 @@ Base.hash(e::ZeCommandQueue, h::UInt) = hash(e.handle, h)
 synchronize(queue::ZeCommandQueue, timeout::Number=typemax(UInt64)) =
     zeCommandQueueSynchronize(queue, timeout)
 
+function execute!(queue::ZeCommandQueue, lists::Vector{ZeCommandList}, fence = nothing)
+    r = zeCommandQueueExecuteCommandLists(queue, length(lists), lists, something(fence, C_NULL))
+    sync_each_submission() && synchronize(queue)
+    return r
+end
+
+"""
+    execute!(queue::ZeCommandQueue, ...) do list
+        append_...!(list)
+    end
+
+Pass a do block that appends operations to a command list for the device that owns
+`queue`. The list is then closed and executed on the queue. Lists are reused once they have
+executed, unless a `fence` or keyword arguments for the list are passed.
+"""
+function execute!(f::Base.Callable, queue::ZeCommandQueue, fence=nothing; kwargs...)
+    if fence !== nothing || !isempty(kwargs)
+        list = ZeCommandList(f, queue.context, queue.device, queue.ordinal; kwargs...)
+        return execute!(queue, [list], fence)
+    end
+
+    list, fence = take_list!(queue)
+    try
+        f(list)
+        close(list)
+    catch
+        @lock queue.lock push!(queue.spare, (list, fence))
+        rethrow()
+    end
+    r = try
+        zeCommandQueueExecuteCommandLists(queue, 1, [list], fence)
+    catch
+        @lock queue.lock push!(queue.failed, (list, fence))
+        rethrow()
+    end
+    @lock queue.lock push!(queue.submitted, (list, fence))
+    sync_each_submission() && synchronize(queue)
+    return r
+end
+
+function take_list!(queue::ZeCommandQueue)
+    @lock queue.lock begin
+        while !isempty(queue.submitted)
+            _, fence = first(queue.submitted)
+            res = unchecked_zeFenceQueryStatus(fence)
+            res == RESULT_NOT_READY && break
+            res == RESULT_SUCCESS || throw_api_error(res)
+            push!(queue.spare, popfirst!(queue.submitted))
+        end
+        if !isempty(queue.spare)
+            list, fence = last(queue.spare)
+            reset(list)
+            zeFenceReset(fence)
+            return pop!(queue.spare)
+        end
+    end
+
+    list = ZeCommandList(queue.context, queue.device, queue.ordinal)
+    fence_ref = Ref{ze_fence_handle_t}()
+    zeFenceCreate(queue, Ref(ze_fence_desc_t()), fence_ref)
+    return list, fence_ref[]
+end
+
 
 ## groups
 
diff --git a/lib/level-zero/oneL0.jl b/lib/level-zero/oneL0.jl
index f8e32e8a..565391f3 100644
--- a/lib/level-zero/oneL0.jl
+++ b/lib/level-zero/oneL0.jl
@@ -122,8 +122,8 @@ function Base.showerror(io::IO, err::OutOfGPUMemoryError)
 end
 
 include("context.jl")
-include("cmdqueue.jl")
 include("cmdlist.jl")
+include("cmdqueue.jl")
 include("fence.jl")
 include("event.jl")
 include("synchronization.jl")
diff --git a/src/compiler/execution.jl b/src/compiler/execution.jl
index b5b3a180..34bfc7bf 100644
--- a/src/compiler/execution.jl
+++ b/src/compiler/execution.jl
@@ -41,8 +41,7 @@ launches the kernel on the GPU.
 - `groups`: Number of workgroups (required). Can be an integer or tuple.
 - `items`: Number of work-items per workgroup (required). Can be an integer or tuple.
 - `queue=global_stream(...)`: Submission target — the task's `oneStream` by default. An
-  explicit `ZeCommandQueue` is also accepted and submits through a per-dispatch command
-  list.
+  explicit `ZeCommandQueue` is also accepted and submits each launch as a command list.
 
 # Examples
 
@@ -428,8 +427,7 @@ end
     return
 end
 
-# explicit-queue compatibility: `@oneapi queue=...` submits through a per-dispatch
-# command list, as it always has
+# explicit-queue compatibility: `@oneapi queue=...` submits each launch as a command list
 @inline function launch!(queue::ZeCommandQueue, kernel::ZeKernel, groups::ZeDim, roots=nothing)
     spill = oneL0.spill_mem_size(kernel)
     spill > queue.scratch_hwm && scratch_hedge!(queue, spill)
diff --git a/test/level-zero.jl b/test/level-zero.jl
index 76048d11..d994f63f 100644
--- a/test/level-zero.jl
+++ b/test/level-zero.jl
@@ -95,6 +95,26 @@ execute!(queue) do list
     @test list isa ZeCommandList
 end
 
+# lists are reused once they have executed
+synchronize(queue)
+handles = Set{oneL0.ze_command_list_handle_t}()
+for _ in 1:100
+    execute!(queue) do list
+        push!(handles, list.handle)
+    end
+    synchronize(queue)
+end
+@test length(handles) == 1
+
+# including when appending fails
+@test_throws ErrorException execute!(queue) do list
+    error("append failed")
+end
+execute!(queue) do list
+    @test list.handle in handles
+end
+synchronize(queue)
+
 end
 
 group = first(compute_groups(dev))
@@ -154,6 +174,22 @@ end
 # @test kernel_timestamp(timed_event).global.start != nothing
 # @test kernel_timestamp(timed_event).context.start != nothing
 
+# a command list that hasn't executed yet is not reused. this submits work that waits on an
+# event signaled afterwards, which the ONEAPI_SYNC_EACH_SUBMISSION workaround would deadlock
+event = ZeEventPool(ctx, 1)[1]
+oneL0.sync_each_submission(false) do
+    gated = Ref{oneL0.ze_command_list_handle_t}()
+    execute!(queue) do list
+        append_wait!(list, event)
+        gated[] = list.handle
+    end
+    execute!(queue) do list
+        @test list.handle != gated[]
+    end
+    signal(event)
+    synchronize(queue)
+end
+
 end