diff --git a/cache.h b/cache.h
index a5eeead1e2..767a50e4ed 100644
--- a/cache.h
+++ b/cache.h
@@ -525,6 +525,7 @@ extern int auto_crlf;
 extern int read_replace_refs;
 extern int fsync_object_files;
 extern int core_preload_index;
+extern int hide_dotfiles;
 
 enum safe_crlf {
 	SAFE_CRLF_FALSE = 0,
diff --git a/compat/mingw.c b/compat/mingw.c
index e1ac77d0ed..126b784119 100644
--- a/compat/mingw.c
+++ b/compat/mingw.c
@@ -131,8 +131,9 @@ static int make_hidden(const char *path)
 #undef mkdir
 int mingw_mkdir(const char *path, int mode)
 {
+	extern int hide_dotfiles;
 	int ret = mkdir(path);
-	if (!ret) {
+	if (!ret && hide_dotfiles) {
 		/*
 		 * In Windows a file or dir starting with a dot is not
 		 * automatically hidden. So lets mark it as hidden when
diff --git a/config.c b/config.c
index c644061136..49010e4890 100644
--- a/config.c
+++ b/config.c
@@ -503,6 +503,11 @@ static int git_default_core_config(const char *var, const char *value)
 		return 0;
 	}
 
+	if (!strcmp(var, "core.hidedotfiles")) {
+		hide_dotfiles = git_config_bool(var, value);
+		return 0;
+	}
+
 	/* Add other config variables here and to Documentation/config.txt. */
 	return 0;
 }
diff --git a/environment.c b/environment.c
index 5de6837840..ea1abbf289 100644
--- a/environment.c
+++ b/environment.c
@@ -50,6 +50,7 @@ enum push_default_type push_default = PUSH_DEFAULT_MATCHING;
 #endif
 enum object_creation_mode object_creation_mode = OBJECT_CREATION_MODE;
 int grafts_replace_parents = 1;
+int hide_dotfiles = 1;
 
 /* Parallel index stat data preload? */
 int core_preload_index = 0;