diff --git a/lib/std/mem.zig b/lib/std/mem.zig
index 79291871b993..d41c20e8e633 100644
--- a/lib/std/mem.zig
+++ b/lib/std/mem.zig
@@ -787,11 +787,14 @@ fn eqlBytes(a: []const u8, b: []const u8) bool {
 /// Compares two slices and returns the index of the first inequality.
 /// Returns null if the slices are equal.
 pub fn indexOfDiff(comptime T: type, a: []const T, b: []const T) ?usize {
+    if (!std.debug.inValgrind() // https://github.com/ziglang/zig/issues/17717
+    and backend_supports_vectors and !@inComptime() and @sizeOf(T) != 0 and std.meta.hasUniqueRepresentation(T))
+        return if (indexOfDiffBytes(sliceAsBytes(a), sliceAsBytes(b))) |index| index / @sizeOf(T) else null;
+
     const shortest = @min(a.len, b.len);
-    if (a.ptr == b.ptr)
-        return if (a.len == b.len) null else shortest;
-    var index: usize = 0;
-    while (index < shortest) : (index += 1) if (a[index] != b[index]) return index;
+    if (a.ptr == b.ptr) return if (a.len == b.len) null else shortest;
+
+    for (0..shortest) |index| if (a[index] != b[index]) return index;
     return if (a.len == b.len) null else shortest;
 }
 
@@ -801,6 +804,120 @@ test indexOfDiff {
     try testing.expectEqual(indexOfDiff(u8, "one", "one two"), 3);
     try testing.expectEqual(indexOfDiff(u8, "one twx", "one two"), 6);
     try testing.expectEqual(indexOfDiff(u8, "xne", "one"), 0);
+    try testing.expectEqual(indexOfDiff(u16, &.{ 0x4e00, 0x4e8c, 0x4e09, 0x56db }, &.{ 0x4e00, 0x4e8c, 0x4e09 }), 3);
+    try testing.expectEqual(indexOfDiff(u16, &.{ 0x96f6, 0x4e8c, 0x4e09, 0x56db }, &.{ 0x4e00, 0x4e8c, 0x4e09, 0x56db }), 0);
+    try testing.expectEqual(indexOfDiff(f64, &.{ 0x8000000000000000, 0x0000000000000000 }, &.{ 0x0000000000000000, 0x0000000000000000 }), 0);
+    try testing.expectEqual(indexOfDiff(u64, &.{ 0xaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, 0xaaaaaaaaaaaabbbb }, &.{ 0xaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, 0xaaaaaaaaaaaacccc }), 1);
+    comptime {
+        try testing.expectEqual(indexOfDiff(type, &.{ bool, f32 }, &.{ bool, f32 }), null);
+        try testing.expectEqual(indexOfDiff(type, &.{ bool, f32 }, &.{ f32, bool }), 0);
+        try testing.expectEqual(indexOfDiff(type, &.{ bool, f32 }, &.{bool}), 1);
+        try testing.expectEqual(indexOfDiff(comptime_int, &.{ 1, 2, 3 }, &.{ 1, 2, 3 }), null);
+        try testing.expectEqual(indexOfDiff(comptime_int, &.{ 1, 2, 3 }, &.{ 1, 2, 4 }), 2);
+        try testing.expectEqual(indexOfDiff(comptime_int, &.{1}, &.{ 1, 2 }), 1);
+    }
+    try testing.expectEqual(indexOfDiff(void, &.{ {}, {} }, &.{ {}, {} }), null);
+    try testing.expectEqual(indexOfDiff(void, &.{{}}, &.{ {}, {} }), 1);
+}
+
+/// std.mem.indexOfDiff heavily optimized for slices of bytes.
+fn indexOfDiffBytes(a: []const u8, b: []const u8) ?usize {
+    const shortest = @min(a.len, b.len);
+    if (a.ptr == b.ptr) return if (a.len == b.len) null else shortest;
+
+    const swar_thr = @sizeOf(usize) * 2;
+    const max_vec_size = std.simd.suggestVectorLength(u8) orelse 0;
+    const unroll_factor = 4;
+    // Context used to generate corresponding scanning strategies (SWAR/SIMD) at compile time
+    const Ctx = struct {
+        fn Scan(vec_size: comptime_int) type {
+            return if (vec_size != 0) struct { // SIMD path
+                const size = vec_size;
+                const Chunk = @Vector(size, u8);
+                const Mask = @Vector(size, bool);
+                inline fn load(src: []const u8) Chunk {
+                    return @bitCast(src[0..size].*);
+                }
+                inline fn toMask(lhs: Chunk, rhs: Chunk) Mask {
+                    return lhs != rhs;
+                }
+                inline fn firstTrue(mask: Mask) ?usize {
+                    return if (std.simd.firstTrue(mask)) |offset| @intCast(offset) else null;
+                }
+            } else struct { // SWAR path
+                const size = @sizeOf(usize);
+                const Chunk = usize;
+                const Mask = usize;
+                inline fn load(src: []const u8) Chunk {
+                    return @bitCast(src[0..size].*);
+                }
+                inline fn toMask(lhs: Chunk, rhs: Chunk) Mask {
+                    return lhs ^ rhs;
+                }
+                inline fn hasDiff(mask: Mask) bool {
+                    return mask != 0;
+                }
+                inline fn firstTrue(mask: Mask) ?usize {
+                    // Endian-aware
+                    const offset = if (native_endian == .little) @ctz(mask) else @clz(mask);
+                    return if (offset == @bitSizeOf(Mask)) null else offset / 8;
+                }
+            };
+        }
+    };
+    // Samll slices (0, @sizeOf(usize) * 2]
+    if (shortest <= swar_thr) {
+        const Scan = Ctx.Scan(0);
+        // (0, @sizeOf(usize))
+        if (shortest < Scan.size) {
+            for (0..shortest) |index| if (a[index] != b[index]) return index;
+            return if (a.len == b.len) null else shortest;
+        }
+        // [@sizeOf(usize), @sizeOf(usize) * 2]
+        inline for ([_]usize{ 0, shortest - Scan.size }) |index| {
+            const mask = Scan.toMask(Scan.load(a[index..]), Scan.load(b[index..]));
+            if (Scan.firstTrue(mask)) |offset| return index + offset;
+        }
+        return if (a.len == b.len) null else shortest;
+    }
+    // Medium slices (@sizeOf(usize) * 2, max_vec_size)
+    if (shortest < max_vec_size) {
+        // Finding the appropriate vector length through doubling method
+        comptime var cur_vec_size = swar_thr;
+        inline while (cur_vec_size < max_vec_size) : (cur_vec_size *= 2) {
+            if (cur_vec_size < shortest and shortest <= cur_vec_size * 2) {
+                const Scan = Ctx.Scan(cur_vec_size);
+                inline for ([_]usize{ 0, shortest - Scan.size }) |index| {
+                    const mask = Scan.toMask(Scan.load(a[index..]), Scan.load(b[index..]));
+                    if (Scan.firstTrue(mask)) |offset| return index + offset;
+                }
+                return if (a.len == b.len) null else shortest;
+            }
+        }
+    }
+    // Large slices [max_vec_size, +∞)
+    const Scan = Ctx.Scan(max_vec_size);
+
+    var index: usize = 0;
+    // Main unrolled loop
+    while (index + Scan.size * unroll_factor <= shortest) : (index += Scan.size * unroll_factor) {
+        inline for (0..unroll_factor) |i| {
+            const mask = Scan.toMask(Scan.load(a[index + Scan.size * i ..]), Scan.load(b[index + Scan.size * i ..]));
+            if (Scan.firstTrue(mask)) |offset| return index + Scan.size * i + offset;
+        }
+    }
+    // Residual iterations
+    while (index + Scan.size <= shortest) : (index += Scan.size) {
+        const mask = Scan.toMask(Scan.load(a[index..]), Scan.load(b[index..]));
+        if (Scan.firstTrue(mask)) |offset| return index + offset;
+    }
+    // Final overlapping check
+    if (index < shortest) {
+        const mask = Scan.toMask(Scan.load(a[shortest - Scan.size ..]), Scan.load(b[shortest - Scan.size ..]));
+        if (Scan.firstTrue(mask)) |offset| return shortest - Scan.size + offset;
+    }
+
+    return if (a.len == b.len) null else shortest;
 }
 
 /// Takes a sentinel-terminated pointer and returns a slice preserving pointer attributes.