diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 5150a0e5c..f23fbcb89 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@
 
 ### Added
 
+- Add a `preserve_dict` parameter to `ItemCollection.from_dict` and set it to False when using `ItemCollection.from_file`. ([#468](https://github.com/stac-utils/pystac/pull/468))
+
 ### Changed
 
 ### Fixed
diff --git a/pystac/item_collection.py b/pystac/item_collection.py
index 33cab9c6a..6744f4606 100644
--- a/pystac/item_collection.py
+++ b/pystac/item_collection.py
@@ -134,16 +134,26 @@ def clone(self) -> "ItemCollection":
         )
 
     @classmethod
-    def from_dict(cls, d: Dict[str, Any]) -> "ItemCollection":
+    def from_dict(
+        cls, d: Dict[str, Any], preserve_dict: bool = True
+    ) -> "ItemCollection":
         """Creates a :class:`ItemCollection` instance from a dictionary.
 
         Arguments:
             d : The dictionary from which the :class:`~ItemCollection` will be created
+            preserve_dict: If False, the dict parameter ``d`` may be modified
+                during this method call. Otherwise the dict is not mutated.
+                Defaults to True, which results results in a deepcopy of the
+                parameter. Set to False when possible to avoid the performance
+                hit of a deepcopy.
         """
         if not cls.is_item_collection(d):
             raise STACTypeError("Dict is not a valid ItemCollection")
 
-        items = [pystac.Item.from_dict(item) for item in d.get("features", [])]
+        items = [
+            pystac.Item.from_dict(item, preserve_dict=preserve_dict)
+            for item in d.get("features", [])
+        ]
         extra_fields = {k: v for k, v in d.items() if k not in ("features", "type")}
 
         return cls(items=items, extra_fields=extra_fields)
@@ -166,7 +176,7 @@ def from_file(
 
         d = stac_io.read_json(href)
 
-        return cls.from_dict(d)
+        return cls.from_dict(d, preserve_dict=False)
 
     def save_object(
         self,
diff --git a/tests/test_collection.py b/tests/test_collection.py
index ddb67be92..3a681c7f4 100644
--- a/tests/test_collection.py
+++ b/tests/test_collection.py
@@ -183,7 +183,7 @@ def test_assets(self) -> None:
         collection = pystac.Collection.from_dict(data)
         collection.validate()
 
-    def test_to_dict_preserves_dict(self) -> None:
+    def test_from_dict_preserves_dict(self) -> None:
         path = TestCases.get_path("data-files/collections/with-assets.json")
         with open(path) as f:
             collection_dict = json.load(f)
diff --git a/tests/test_item_collection.py b/tests/test_item_collection.py
index cec478cd1..14c1116cb 100644
--- a/tests/test_item_collection.py
+++ b/tests/test_item_collection.py
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
+from copy import deepcopy
 import json
+from pystac.item_collection import ItemCollection
 import unittest
 import pystac
 
@@ -149,3 +151,15 @@ def test_identify_0_9_itemcollection(self) -> None:
             pystac.ItemCollection.is_item_collection(itemcollection_dict),
             msg="Did not correctly identify valid STAC 0.9 ItemCollection.",
         )
+
+    def test_from_dict_preserves_dict(self) -> None:
+        param_dict = deepcopy(self.item_collection_dict)
+
+        # test that the parameter is preserved
+        _ = ItemCollection.from_dict(param_dict)
+        self.assertEqual(param_dict, self.item_collection_dict)
+
+        # assert that the parameter is not preserved with
+        # non-default parameter
+        _ = ItemCollection.from_dict(param_dict, preserve_dict=False)
+        self.assertNotEqual(param_dict, self.item_collection_dict)