htaccess include_path performance

I am loading some content via ajax.. the content has a require_once in it that seems to be causing it to hang for at least one second before it loads, which is really distracting on the page. I haven't had these delays before, the only thing I've changed recently is setting a php_include_path (C:/wamp/www/project) in an htaccess file.. when I take it out it loads immediately (though it also doesn't find the file).

It's only that directory in the include path, though, so it seems strange it would slow things down that much (right?). Is that abnormal? Where could I look for what's causing the delay.

I have a symlink to mirror my files and folders to dropbox (so that 开发者_如何学编程my dropbox folder is where they are technically), but I copied the files directly into C:/wamp/www and the slowness persisted.

My suggestion would be to define the php include path in your PHP, rather than in your .htaccess to see if that speeds it up.

For example, define it as a constant

define('PHP_INCLUDE_PATH', 'C:/wamp/www');