diff --git a/BitFaster.Caching.Benchmarks/BitFaster.Caching.Benchmarks.csproj b/BitFaster.Caching.Benchmarks/BitFaster.Caching.Benchmarks.csproj
index f61ff6a9..1e8071a5 100644
--- a/BitFaster.Caching.Benchmarks/BitFaster.Caching.Benchmarks.csproj
+++ b/BitFaster.Caching.Benchmarks/BitFaster.Caching.Benchmarks.csproj
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
   <PropertyGroup>
     <OutputType>Exe</OutputType>
     <TargetFrameworks>net48;net6.0;net8.0</TargetFrameworks>
+    <LangVersion>10.0</LangVersion>
     <AllowUnsafeBlocks>True</AllowUnsafeBlocks>
     <!-- https://stackoverflow.com/a/59916801/131345 -->
     <IsWindows Condition="'$([System.Runtime.InteropServices.RuntimeInformation]::IsOSPlatform($([System.Runtime.InteropServices.OSPlatform]::Windows)))' == 'true'">true</IsWindows> 
diff --git a/BitFaster.Caching/Lru/AfterAccessPolicy.cs b/BitFaster.Caching/Lru/AfterAccessPolicy.cs
index 98c6c5dd..f40b0a73 100644
--- a/BitFaster.Caching/Lru/AfterAccessPolicy.cs
+++ b/BitFaster.Caching/Lru/AfterAccessPolicy.cs
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ public LongTickCountLruItem<K, V> CreateItem(K key, V value)
         public void Touch(LongTickCountLruItem<K, V> item)
         {
             item.TickCount = this.time.Last;
-            item.WasAccessed = true;
+            item.MarkAccessed();
         }
 
         ///<inheritdoc/>
diff --git a/BitFaster.Caching/Lru/DiscretePolicy.cs b/BitFaster.Caching/Lru/DiscretePolicy.cs
index 8e70a327..636244d9 100644
--- a/BitFaster.Caching/Lru/DiscretePolicy.cs
+++ b/BitFaster.Caching/Lru/DiscretePolicy.cs
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ public void Touch(LongTickCountLruItem<K, V> item)
             var currentExpiry = new Duration(item.TickCount - this.time.Last);
             var newExpiry = expiry.GetExpireAfterRead(item.Key, item.Value, currentExpiry);
             item.TickCount = this.time.Last + newExpiry.raw;
-            item.WasAccessed = true;
+            item.MarkAccessed();
         }
 
         ///<inheritdoc/>
diff --git a/BitFaster.Caching/Lru/LruItem.cs b/BitFaster.Caching/Lru/LruItem.cs
index f2e865c9..77b639fe 100644
--- a/BitFaster.Caching/Lru/LruItem.cs
+++ b/BitFaster.Caching/Lru/LruItem.cs
@@ -14,8 +14,8 @@ public class LruItem<K, V>
     {
         private V data;
 
-        private volatile bool wasAccessed;
-        private volatile bool wasRemoved;
+        private bool wasAccessed;
+        private bool wasRemoved;
 
         // only used when V is a non-atomic value type to prevent torn reads
         private int sequence;
@@ -72,8 +72,8 @@ public V Value
         /// </summary>
         public bool WasAccessed
         {
-            get => this.wasAccessed;
-            set => this.wasAccessed = value;
+            get => Volatile.Read(ref this.wasAccessed);
+            set => Volatile.Write(ref this.wasAccessed, value);
         }
 
         /// <summary>
@@ -81,8 +81,19 @@ public bool WasAccessed
         /// </summary>
         public bool WasRemoved
         {
-            get => this.wasRemoved;
-            set => this.wasRemoved = value;
+            get => Volatile.Read(ref this.wasRemoved);
+            set => Volatile.Write(ref this.wasRemoved, value);
+        }
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Marks the item as accessed, if it was not already accessed.
+        /// </summary>
+        public void MarkAccessed()
+        { 
+            if (!Volatile.Read(ref this.wasAccessed))
+            { 
+                 Volatile.Write(ref this.wasAccessed, true);
+            }
         }
 
         internal V SeqLockRead()
diff --git a/BitFaster.Caching/Lru/LruPolicy.cs b/BitFaster.Caching/Lru/LruPolicy.cs
index cc1d93a0..12495dd9 100644
--- a/BitFaster.Caching/Lru/LruPolicy.cs
+++ b/BitFaster.Caching/Lru/LruPolicy.cs
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ public LruItem<K, V> CreateItem(K key, V value)
         [MethodImpl(MethodImplOptions.AggressiveInlining)]
         public void Touch(LruItem<K, V> item)
         {
-            item.WasAccessed = true;
+            item.MarkAccessed();
         }
 
         ///<inheritdoc/>
diff --git a/BitFaster.Caching/Lru/TLruLongTicksPolicy.cs b/BitFaster.Caching/Lru/TLruLongTicksPolicy.cs
index fb64ca3e..41ee8355 100644
--- a/BitFaster.Caching/Lru/TLruLongTicksPolicy.cs
+++ b/BitFaster.Caching/Lru/TLruLongTicksPolicy.cs
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ public LongTickCountLruItem<K, V> CreateItem(K key, V value)
         [MethodImpl(MethodImplOptions.AggressiveInlining)]
         public void Touch(LongTickCountLruItem<K, V> item)
         {
-            item.WasAccessed = true;
+            item.MarkAccessed();
         }
 
         ///<inheritdoc/>
diff --git a/BitFaster.Caching/Lru/TlruDateTimePolicy.cs b/BitFaster.Caching/Lru/TlruDateTimePolicy.cs
index 81e3a078..b7207a5b 100644
--- a/BitFaster.Caching/Lru/TlruDateTimePolicy.cs
+++ b/BitFaster.Caching/Lru/TlruDateTimePolicy.cs
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ public TimeStampedLruItem<K, V> CreateItem(K key, V value)
         [MethodImpl(MethodImplOptions.AggressiveInlining)]
         public void Touch(TimeStampedLruItem<K, V> item)
         {
-            item.WasAccessed = true;
+            item.MarkAccessed();
         }
 
         ///<inheritdoc/>
diff --git a/BitFaster.Caching/Lru/TlruTicksPolicy.cs b/BitFaster.Caching/Lru/TlruTicksPolicy.cs
index 1ce6bd5a..d6bc0047 100644
--- a/BitFaster.Caching/Lru/TlruTicksPolicy.cs
+++ b/BitFaster.Caching/Lru/TlruTicksPolicy.cs
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ public TickCountLruItem<K, V> CreateItem(K key, V value)
         [MethodImpl(MethodImplOptions.AggressiveInlining)]
         public void Touch(TickCountLruItem<K, V> item)
         {
-            item.WasAccessed = true;
+            item.MarkAccessed();
         }
 
         ///<inheritdoc/>