diff --git a/modules/gdscript/gdscript.cpp b/modules/gdscript/gdscript.cpp
index d286f7971a..d229c70212 100644
--- a/modules/gdscript/gdscript.cpp
+++ b/modules/gdscript/gdscript.cpp
@@ -170,7 +170,7 @@ GDScriptInstance *GDScript::_create_instance(const Variant **p_args, int p_argco
 	/* STEP 2, INITIALIZE AND CONSTRUCT */
 	{
 		MutexLock lock(GDScriptLanguage::singleton->mutex);
-		instances.insert(instance->owner);
+		instances.add(&instance->script_instance_list);
 	}
 
 	_super_implicit_constructor(this, instance, r_error);
@@ -180,7 +180,7 @@ GDScriptInstance *GDScript::_create_instance(const Variant **p_args, int p_argco
 		instance->owner->set_script_instance(nullptr);
 		{
 			MutexLock lock(GDScriptLanguage::singleton->mutex);
-			instances.erase(p_owner);
+			instances.remove(&instance->script_instance_list);
 		}
 		ERR_FAIL_V_MSG(nullptr, "Error constructing a GDScriptInstance: " + error_text);
 	}
@@ -198,7 +198,7 @@ GDScriptInstance *GDScript::_create_instance(const Variant **p_args, int p_argco
 			instance->owner->set_script_instance(nullptr);
 			{
 				MutexLock lock(GDScriptLanguage::singleton->mutex);
-				instances.erase(p_owner);
+				instances.remove(&instance->script_instance_list);
 			}
 			ERR_FAIL_V_MSG(nullptr, "Error constructing a GDScriptInstance: " + error_text);
 		}
@@ -436,9 +436,12 @@ PlaceHolderScriptInstance *GDScript::placeholder_instance_create(Object *p_this)
 }
 
 bool GDScript::instance_has(const Object *p_this) const {
-	MutexLock lock(GDScriptLanguage::singleton->mutex);
+	GDScriptInstance *instance = dynamic_cast<GDScriptInstance *>(p_this->get_script_instance());
 
-	return instances.has((Object *)p_this);
+	if (instance == nullptr) {
+		return false;
+	}
+	return instance->script.ptr() == this;
 }
 
 bool GDScript::has_source_code() const {
@@ -750,7 +753,7 @@ Error GDScript::reload(bool p_keep_state) {
 	{
 		MutexLock lock(GDScriptLanguage::singleton->mutex);
 
-		has_instances = instances.size();
+		has_instances = instances.first() != nullptr;
 	}
 
 	// Check condition but reset flag before early return
@@ -2045,8 +2048,8 @@ GDScriptInstance::~GDScriptInstance() {
 		}
 	}
 
-	if (script.is_valid() && owner) {
-		script->instances.erase(owner);
+	if (script.is_valid()) {
+		script->instances.remove(&script_instance_list);
 	}
 }
 
@@ -2472,15 +2475,13 @@ void GDScriptLanguage::reload_scripts(const Array &p_scripts, bool p_soft_reload
 			//save state and remove script from instances
 			HashMap<ObjectID, List<Pair<StringName, Variant>>> &map = to_reload[scr];
 
-			while (scr->instances.front()) {
-				Object *obj = scr->instances.front()->get();
+			while (scr->instances.first()) {
+				GDScriptInstance *instance = scr->instances.first()->self();
 				//save instance info
 				List<Pair<StringName, Variant>> state;
-				if (obj->get_script_instance()) {
-					obj->get_script_instance()->get_property_state(state);
-					map[obj->get_instance_id()] = state;
-					obj->set_script(Variant());
-				}
+				instance->get_property_state(state);
+				map[instance->get_owner()->get_instance_id()] = state;
+				instance->get_owner()->set_script(Variant());
 			}
 
 			//same thing for placeholders
diff --git a/modules/gdscript/gdscript.h b/modules/gdscript/gdscript.h
index ed6eabd675..a50cce6eec 100644
--- a/modules/gdscript/gdscript.h
+++ b/modules/gdscript/gdscript.h
@@ -172,7 +172,7 @@ private:
 	Error _static_init();
 	void _static_default_init(); // Initialize static variables with default values based on their types.
 
-	RBSet<Object *> instances;
+	SelfList<GDScriptInstance>::List instances;
 	bool destructing = false;
 	bool clearing = false;
 	//exported members
@@ -364,6 +364,9 @@ class GDScriptInstance : public ScriptInstance {
 
 	SelfList<GDScriptFunctionState>::List pending_func_states;
 
+	// Replacing `SelfList` with a better implementation could save 16bytes from the self and list pointer.
+	SelfList<GDScriptInstance> script_instance_list; // Linked list of instances with the same script.
+
 	void _call_implicit_ready_recursively(GDScript *p_script);
 
 public:
@@ -400,7 +403,7 @@ public:
 
 	virtual const Variant get_rpc_config() const;
 
-	GDScriptInstance() {}
+	GDScriptInstance() : script_instance_list(this) {}
 	~GDScriptInstance();
 };
 
diff --git a/modules/gdscript/gdscript_compiler.cpp b/modules/gdscript/gdscript_compiler.cpp
index 46fcff16cc..f3e7cc8d02 100644
--- a/modules/gdscript/gdscript_compiler.cpp
+++ b/modules/gdscript/gdscript_compiler.cpp
@@ -3075,45 +3075,8 @@ Error GDScriptCompiler::_compile_class(GDScript *p_script, const GDScriptParser:
 	//validate instances if keeping state
 
 	if (p_keep_state) {
-		for (RBSet<Object *>::Element *E = p_script->instances.front(); E;) {
-			RBSet<Object *>::Element *N = E->next();
-
-			ScriptInstance *si = E->get()->get_script_instance();
-			if (si->is_placeholder()) {
-#ifdef TOOLS_ENABLED
-				PlaceHolderScriptInstance *psi = static_cast<PlaceHolderScriptInstance *>(si);
-
-				if (p_script->is_tool()) {
-					//re-create as an instance
-					p_script->placeholders.erase(psi); //remove placeholder
-
-					GDScriptInstance *instance = memnew(GDScriptInstance);
-					instance->members.resize(p_script->member_indices.size());
-					instance->script = Ref<GDScript>(p_script);
-					instance->owner = E->get();
-
-					//needed for hot reloading
-					for (const KeyValue<StringName, GDScript::MemberInfo> &F : p_script->member_indices) {
-						instance->member_indices_cache[F.key] = F.value.index;
-					}
-					instance->owner->set_script_instance(instance);
-
-					/* STEP 2, INITIALIZE AND CONSTRUCT */
-
-					Callable::CallError ce;
-					p_script->initializer->call(instance, nullptr, 0, ce);
-
-					if (ce.error != Callable::CallError::CALL_OK) {
-						//well, tough luck, not gonna do anything here
-					}
-				}
-#endif // TOOLS_ENABLED
-			} else {
-				GDScriptInstance *gi = static_cast<GDScriptInstance *>(si);
-				gi->reload_members();
-			}
-
-			E = N;
+		for (SelfList<GDScriptInstance> *E = p_script->instances.first(); E; E = E->next()) {
+			E->self()->reload_members();
 		}
 	}
 #endif //DEBUG_ENABLED