diff --git a/src/artifactapi/artifact/virtual.py b/src/artifactapi/artifact/virtual.py
index a3cd3b7..9c2bb7a 100644
--- a/src/artifactapi/artifact/virtual.py
+++ b/src/artifactapi/artifact/virtual.py
@@ -11,8 +11,15 @@ from fastapi import HTTPException, Request, Response
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
+try:
+    _YamlLoader = yaml.CSafeLoader
+    _YamlDumperBase = yaml.CDumper
+except AttributeError:
+    _YamlLoader = yaml.SafeLoader
+    _YamlDumperBase = yaml.Dumper
 
-class _HelmDumper(yaml.Dumper):
+
+class _HelmDumper(_YamlDumperBase):
     """YAML dumper that serializes datetime/date objects back to ISO 8601 strings.
 
     yaml.safe_load converts timestamp-shaped YAML scalars (e.g. chart `created`
@@ -109,7 +116,7 @@ def _merge_helm_indexes(raw_indexes: list[bytes], member_names: list[str], membe
         base_url = member_cfg.get("base_url", "").rstrip("/")
 
         try:
-            index = yaml.safe_load(raw_data)
+            index = yaml.load(raw_data, Loader=_YamlLoader)
         except Exception as e:
             logger.warning(f"Virtual: failed to parse index.yaml from member '{member_name}': {e}")
             continue
diff --git a/tests/test_virtual.py b/tests/test_virtual.py
index 749aa23..bfbee56 100644
--- a/tests/test_virtual.py
+++ b/tests/test_virtual.py
@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@ from artifactapi.artifact.virtual import (
     _merge_helm_indexes,
     _rewrite_urls,
     _VirtualHandler,
+    _YamlDumperBase,
+    _YamlLoader,
 )
 
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -82,6 +84,34 @@ _CFG_A = {"base_url": "https://helm.releases.hashicorp.com", "cache": {"mutable_
 _CFG_B = {"base_url": "https://charts.example.com", "cache": {"mutable_ttl": 1800}}
 
 
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# _YamlLoader / _YamlDumperBase — C extension selection
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+class TestYamlExtensionSelection:
+    def test_loader_is_a_class(self):
+        assert isinstance(_YamlLoader, type)
+
+    def test_dumper_base_is_a_class(self):
+        assert isinstance(_YamlDumperBase, type)
+
+    def test_helm_dumper_uses_selected_base(self):
+        assert issubclass(_HelmDumper, _YamlDumperBase)
+
+    def test_c_extensions_used_when_available(self):
+        try:
+            assert _YamlLoader is yaml.CSafeLoader
+            assert _YamlDumperBase is yaml.CDumper
+        except AttributeError:
+            assert _YamlLoader is yaml.SafeLoader
+            assert _YamlDumperBase is yaml.Dumper
+
+    def test_loader_can_parse_yaml(self):
+        result = yaml.load(b"key: value", Loader=_YamlLoader)
+        assert result == {"key": "value"}
+
+
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # _HelmDumper — datetime/date YAML serialization
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------