diff --git a/cache.h b/cache.h
index 79066e57dc..5a9813b771 100644
--- a/cache.h
+++ b/cache.h
@@ -1275,6 +1275,7 @@ extern void close_pack_index(struct packed_git *);
 
 extern unsigned char *use_pack(struct packed_git *, struct pack_window **, off_t, unsigned long *);
 extern void close_pack_windows(struct packed_git *);
+extern void close_all_packs(void);
 extern void unuse_pack(struct pack_window **);
 extern void free_pack_by_name(const char *);
 extern void clear_delta_base_cache(void);
diff --git a/sha1_file.c b/sha1_file.c
index 5d75a327bd..fe823fec3f 100644
--- a/sha1_file.c
+++ b/sha1_file.c
@@ -798,6 +798,22 @@ static int close_pack_fd(struct packed_git *p)
 	return 1;
 }
 
+static void close_pack(struct packed_git *p)
+{
+	close_pack_windows(p);
+	close_pack_fd(p);
+	close_pack_index(p);
+}
+
+void close_all_packs(void)
+{
+	struct packed_git *p;
+
+	for (p = packed_git; p; p = p->next)
+		close_pack(p);
+}
+
+
 /*
  * The LRU pack is the one with the oldest MRU window, preferring packs
  * with no used windows, or the oldest mtime if it has no windows allocated.