diff --git a/Documentation/config/pack.txt b/Documentation/config/pack.txt
index edac75c83f..425c73aa52 100644
--- a/Documentation/config/pack.txt
+++ b/Documentation/config/pack.txt
@@ -105,6 +105,15 @@ pack.useBitmaps::
 	true. You should not generally need to turn this off unless
 	you are debugging pack bitmaps.
 
+pack.useSparse::
+	When true, git will default to using the '--sparse' option in
+	'git pack-objects' when the '--revs' option is present. This
+	algorithm only walks trees that appear in paths that introduce new
+	objects. This can have significant performance benefits when
+	computing a pack to send a small change. However, it is possible
+	that extra objects are added to the pack-file if the included
+	commits contain certain types of direct renames.
+
 pack.writeBitmaps (deprecated)::
 	This is a deprecated synonym for `repack.writeBitmaps`.
 
diff --git a/Documentation/git-pack-objects.txt b/Documentation/git-pack-objects.txt
index 40c825c381..e45f3e680d 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-pack-objects.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-pack-objects.txt
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ SYNOPSIS
 	[--local] [--incremental] [--window=<n>] [--depth=<n>]
 	[--revs [--unpacked | --all]] [--keep-pack=<pack-name>]
 	[--stdout [--filter=<filter-spec>] | base-name]
-	[--shallow] [--keep-true-parents] < object-list
+	[--shallow] [--keep-true-parents] [--sparse] < object-list
 
 
 DESCRIPTION
@@ -196,6 +196,15 @@ depth is 4095.
 	Add --no-reuse-object if you want to force a uniform compression
 	level on all data no matter the source.
 
+--sparse::
+	Use the "sparse" algorithm to determine which objects to include in
+	the pack, when combined with the "--revs" option. This algorithm
+	only walks trees that appear in paths that introduce new objects.
+	This can have significant performance benefits when computing
+	a pack to send a small change. However, it is possible that extra
+	objects are added to the pack-file if the included commits contain
+	certain types of direct renames.
+
 --thin::
 	Create a "thin" pack by omitting the common objects between a
 	sender and a receiver in order to reduce network transfer. This
diff --git a/bisect.c b/bisect.c
index 6bf521138a..3af955c4bc 100644
--- a/bisect.c
+++ b/bisect.c
@@ -658,7 +658,7 @@ static void bisect_common(struct rev_info *revs)
 	if (prepare_revision_walk(revs))
 		die("revision walk setup failed");
 	if (revs->tree_objects)
-		mark_edges_uninteresting(revs, NULL);
+		mark_edges_uninteresting(revs, NULL, 0);
 }
 
 static void exit_if_skipped_commits(struct commit_list *tried,
diff --git a/builtin/pack-objects.c b/builtin/pack-objects.c
index ffef8dcf2f..bd67491c16 100644
--- a/builtin/pack-objects.c
+++ b/builtin/pack-objects.c
@@ -84,6 +84,7 @@ static unsigned long pack_size_limit;
 static int depth = 50;
 static int delta_search_threads;
 static int pack_to_stdout;
+static int sparse;
 static int thin;
 static int num_preferred_base;
 static struct progress *progress_state;
@@ -2703,6 +2704,10 @@ static int git_pack_config(const char *k, const char *v, void *cb)
 		use_bitmap_index_default = git_config_bool(k, v);
 		return 0;
 	}
+	if (!strcmp(k, "pack.usesparse")) {
+		sparse = git_config_bool(k, v);
+		return 0;
+	}
 	if (!strcmp(k, "pack.threads")) {
 		delta_search_threads = git_config_int(k, v);
 		if (delta_search_threads < 0)
@@ -3130,7 +3135,7 @@ static void get_object_list(int ac, const char **av)
 
 	if (prepare_revision_walk(&revs))
 		die(_("revision walk setup failed"));
-	mark_edges_uninteresting(&revs, show_edge);
+	mark_edges_uninteresting(&revs, show_edge, sparse);
 
 	if (!fn_show_object)
 		fn_show_object = show_object;
@@ -3287,6 +3292,8 @@ int cmd_pack_objects(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 		{ OPTION_CALLBACK, 0, "unpack-unreachable", NULL, N_("time"),
 		  N_("unpack unreachable objects newer than <time>"),
 		  PARSE_OPT_OPTARG, option_parse_unpack_unreachable },
+		OPT_BOOL(0, "sparse", &sparse,
+			 N_("use the sparse reachability algorithm")),
 		OPT_BOOL(0, "thin", &thin,
 			 N_("create thin packs")),
 		OPT_BOOL(0, "shallow", &shallow,
@@ -3319,6 +3326,7 @@ int cmd_pack_objects(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 
 	read_replace_refs = 0;
 
+	sparse = git_env_bool("GIT_TEST_PACK_SPARSE", 0);
 	reset_pack_idx_option(&pack_idx_opts);
 	git_config(git_pack_config, NULL);
 
diff --git a/builtin/rev-list.c b/builtin/rev-list.c
index 14ef659c12..5b5b6dbb1c 100644
--- a/builtin/rev-list.c
+++ b/builtin/rev-list.c
@@ -546,7 +546,7 @@ int cmd_rev_list(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	if (prepare_revision_walk(&revs))
 		die("revision walk setup failed");
 	if (revs.tree_objects)
-		mark_edges_uninteresting(&revs, show_edge);
+		mark_edges_uninteresting(&revs, show_edge, 0);
 
 	if (bisect_list) {
 		int reaches, all;
diff --git a/http-push.c b/http-push.c
index bb802d80ee..77e2e22852 100644
--- a/http-push.c
+++ b/http-push.c
@@ -1933,7 +1933,7 @@ int cmd_main(int argc, const char **argv)
 		pushing = 0;
 		if (prepare_revision_walk(&revs))
 			die("revision walk setup failed");
-		mark_edges_uninteresting(&revs, NULL);
+		mark_edges_uninteresting(&revs, NULL, 0);
 		objects_to_send = get_delta(&revs, ref_lock);
 		finish_all_active_slots();
 
diff --git a/list-objects.c b/list-objects.c
index a2296a8e7b..dc77361e11 100644
--- a/list-objects.c
+++ b/list-objects.c
@@ -226,25 +226,73 @@ static void mark_edge_parents_uninteresting(struct commit *commit,
 	}
 }
 
-void mark_edges_uninteresting(struct rev_info *revs, show_edge_fn show_edge)
+static void add_edge_parents(struct commit *commit,
+			     struct rev_info *revs,
+			     show_edge_fn show_edge,
+			     struct oidset *set)
+{
+	struct commit_list *parents;
+
+	for (parents = commit->parents; parents; parents = parents->next) {
+		struct commit *parent = parents->item;
+		struct tree *tree = get_commit_tree(parent);
+
+		if (!tree)
+			continue;
+
+		oidset_insert(set, &tree->object.oid);
+
+		if (!(parent->object.flags & UNINTERESTING))
+			continue;
+		tree->object.flags |= UNINTERESTING;
+
+		if (revs->edge_hint && !(parent->object.flags & SHOWN)) {
+			parent->object.flags |= SHOWN;
+			show_edge(parent);
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+void mark_edges_uninteresting(struct rev_info *revs,
+			      show_edge_fn show_edge,
+			      int sparse)
 {
 	struct commit_list *list;
 	int i;
 
-	for (list = revs->commits; list; list = list->next) {
-		struct commit *commit = list->item;
+	if (sparse) {
+		struct oidset set;
+		oidset_init(&set, 16);
 
-		if (commit->object.flags & UNINTERESTING) {
-			mark_tree_uninteresting(revs->repo,
-						get_commit_tree(commit));
-			if (revs->edge_hint_aggressive && !(commit->object.flags & SHOWN)) {
-				commit->object.flags |= SHOWN;
-				show_edge(commit);
-			}
-			continue;
+		for (list = revs->commits; list; list = list->next) {
+			struct commit *commit = list->item;
+			struct tree *tree = get_commit_tree(commit);
+
+			if (commit->object.flags & UNINTERESTING)
+				tree->object.flags |= UNINTERESTING;
+
+			oidset_insert(&set, &tree->object.oid);
+			add_edge_parents(commit, revs, show_edge, &set);
+		}
+
+		mark_trees_uninteresting_sparse(revs->repo, &set);
+		oidset_clear(&set);
+	} else {
+		for (list = revs->commits; list; list = list->next) {
+			struct commit *commit = list->item;
+			if (commit->object.flags & UNINTERESTING) {
+				mark_tree_uninteresting(revs->repo,
+							get_commit_tree(commit));
+				if (revs->edge_hint_aggressive && !(commit->object.flags & SHOWN)) {
+					commit->object.flags |= SHOWN;
+					show_edge(commit);
+				}
+				continue;
+			}
+			mark_edge_parents_uninteresting(commit, revs, show_edge);
 		}
-		mark_edge_parents_uninteresting(commit, revs, show_edge);
 	}
+
 	if (revs->edge_hint_aggressive) {
 		for (i = 0; i < revs->cmdline.nr; i++) {
 			struct object *obj = revs->cmdline.rev[i].item;
diff --git a/list-objects.h b/list-objects.h
index ad40762926..a952680e46 100644
--- a/list-objects.h
+++ b/list-objects.h
@@ -10,7 +10,9 @@ typedef void (*show_object_fn)(struct object *, const char *, void *);
 void traverse_commit_list(struct rev_info *, show_commit_fn, show_object_fn, void *);
 
 typedef void (*show_edge_fn)(struct commit *);
-void mark_edges_uninteresting(struct rev_info *, show_edge_fn);
+void mark_edges_uninteresting(struct rev_info *revs,
+			      show_edge_fn show_edge,
+			      int sparse);
 
 struct oidset;
 struct list_objects_filter_options;
diff --git a/revision.c b/revision.c
index 5c7d3c75d7..162d511d46 100644
--- a/revision.c
+++ b/revision.c
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@
 #include "commit-reach.h"
 #include "commit-graph.h"
 #include "prio-queue.h"
+#include "hashmap.h"
 
 volatile show_early_output_fn_t show_early_output;
 
@@ -99,6 +100,148 @@ void mark_tree_uninteresting(struct repository *r, struct tree *tree)
 	mark_tree_contents_uninteresting(r, tree);
 }
 
+struct path_and_oids_entry {
+	struct hashmap_entry ent;
+	char *path;
+	struct oidset trees;
+};
+
+static int path_and_oids_cmp(const void *hashmap_cmp_fn_data,
+			     const struct path_and_oids_entry *e1,
+			     const struct path_and_oids_entry *e2,
+			     const void *keydata)
+{
+	return strcmp(e1->path, e2->path);
+}
+
+static void paths_and_oids_init(struct hashmap *map)
+{
+	hashmap_init(map, (hashmap_cmp_fn) path_and_oids_cmp, NULL, 0);
+}
+
+static void paths_and_oids_clear(struct hashmap *map)
+{
+	struct hashmap_iter iter;
+	struct path_and_oids_entry *entry;
+	hashmap_iter_init(map, &iter);
+
+	while ((entry = (struct path_and_oids_entry *)hashmap_iter_next(&iter))) {
+		oidset_clear(&entry->trees);
+		free(entry->path);
+	}
+
+	hashmap_free(map, 1);
+}
+
+static void paths_and_oids_insert(struct hashmap *map,
+				  const char *path,
+				  const struct object_id *oid)
+{
+	int hash = strhash(path);
+	struct path_and_oids_entry key;
+	struct path_and_oids_entry *entry;
+
+	hashmap_entry_init(&key, hash);
+
+	/* use a shallow copy for the lookup */
+	key.path = (char *)path;
+	oidset_init(&key.trees, 0);
+
+	if (!(entry = (struct path_and_oids_entry *)hashmap_get(map, &key, NULL))) {
+		entry = xcalloc(1, sizeof(struct path_and_oids_entry));
+		hashmap_entry_init(entry, hash);
+		entry->path = xstrdup(key.path);
+		oidset_init(&entry->trees, 16);
+		hashmap_put(map, entry);
+	}
+
+	oidset_insert(&entry->trees, oid);
+}
+
+static void add_children_by_path(struct repository *r,
+				 struct tree *tree,
+				 struct hashmap *map)
+{
+	struct tree_desc desc;
+	struct name_entry entry;
+
+	if (!tree)
+		return;
+
+	if (parse_tree_gently(tree, 1) < 0)
+		return;
+
+	init_tree_desc(&desc, tree->buffer, tree->size);
+	while (tree_entry(&desc, &entry)) {
+		switch (object_type(entry.mode)) {
+		case OBJ_TREE:
+			paths_and_oids_insert(map, entry.path, &entry.oid);
+
+			if (tree->object.flags & UNINTERESTING) {
+				struct tree *child = lookup_tree(r, &entry.oid);
+				if (child)
+					child->object.flags |= UNINTERESTING;
+			}
+			break;
+		case OBJ_BLOB:
+			if (tree->object.flags & UNINTERESTING) {
+				struct blob *child = lookup_blob(r, &entry.oid);
+				if (child)
+					child->object.flags |= UNINTERESTING;
+			}
+			break;
+		default:
+			/* Subproject commit - not in this repository */
+			break;
+		}
+	}
+
+	free_tree_buffer(tree);
+}
+
+void mark_trees_uninteresting_sparse(struct repository *r,
+				     struct oidset *trees)
+{
+	unsigned has_interesting = 0, has_uninteresting = 0;
+	struct hashmap map;
+	struct hashmap_iter map_iter;
+	struct path_and_oids_entry *entry;
+	struct object_id *oid;
+	struct oidset_iter iter;
+
+	oidset_iter_init(trees, &iter);
+	while ((!has_interesting || !has_uninteresting) &&
+	       (oid = oidset_iter_next(&iter))) {
+		struct tree *tree = lookup_tree(r, oid);
+
+		if (!tree)
+			continue;
+
+		if (tree->object.flags & UNINTERESTING)
+			has_uninteresting = 1;
+		else
+			has_interesting = 1;
+	}
+
+	/* Do not walk unless we have both types of trees. */
+	if (!has_uninteresting || !has_interesting)
+		return;
+
+	paths_and_oids_init(&map);
+
+	oidset_iter_init(trees, &iter);
+	while ((oid = oidset_iter_next(&iter))) {
+		struct tree *tree = lookup_tree(r, oid);
+		add_children_by_path(r, tree, &map);
+	}
+
+	hashmap_iter_init(&map, &map_iter);
+	while ((entry = hashmap_iter_next(&map_iter)))
+		mark_trees_uninteresting_sparse(r, &entry->trees);
+
+	paths_and_oids_clear(&map);
+}
+
 struct commit_stack {
 	struct commit **items;
 	size_t nr, alloc;
diff --git a/revision.h b/revision.h
index 52e5a88ff5..d32d62abc6 100644
--- a/revision.h
+++ b/revision.h
@@ -67,6 +67,7 @@ struct rev_cmdline_info {
 #define REVISION_WALK_NO_WALK_SORTED 1
 #define REVISION_WALK_NO_WALK_UNSORTED 2
 
+struct oidset;
 struct topo_walk_info;
 
 struct rev_info {
@@ -327,6 +328,7 @@ void put_revision_mark(const struct rev_info *revs,
 
 void mark_parents_uninteresting(struct commit *commit);
 void mark_tree_uninteresting(struct repository *r, struct tree *tree);
+void mark_trees_uninteresting_sparse(struct repository *r, struct oidset *trees);
 
 void show_object_with_name(FILE *, struct object *, const char *);
 
diff --git a/t/README b/t/README
index 25864ec883..6140b8c45b 100644
--- a/t/README
+++ b/t/README
@@ -358,6 +358,10 @@ GIT_TEST_INDEX_VERSION=<n> exercises the index read/write code path
 for the index version specified.  Can be set to any valid version
 (currently 2, 3, or 4).
 
+GIT_TEST_PACK_SPARSE=<boolean> if enabled will default the pack-objects
+builtin to use the sparse object walk. This can still be overridden by
+the --no-sparse command-line argument.
+
 GIT_TEST_PRELOAD_INDEX=<boolean> exercises the preload-index code path
 by overriding the minimum number of cache entries required per thread.
 
diff --git a/t/t5322-pack-objects-sparse.sh b/t/t5322-pack-objects-sparse.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..7124b5581a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/t/t5322-pack-objects-sparse.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,136 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+test_description='pack-objects object selection using sparse algorithm'
+. ./test-lib.sh
+
+test_expect_success 'setup repo' '
+	test_commit initial &&
+	for i in $(test_seq 1 3)
+	do
+		mkdir f$i &&
+		for j in $(test_seq 1 3)
+		do
+			mkdir f$i/f$j &&
+			echo $j >f$i/f$j/data.txt
+		done
+	done &&
+	git add . &&
+	git commit -m "Initialized trees" &&
+	for i in $(test_seq 1 3)
+	do
+		git checkout -b topic$i master &&
+		echo change-$i >f$i/f$i/data.txt &&
+		git commit -a -m "Changed f$i/f$i/data.txt"
+	done &&
+	cat >packinput.txt <<-EOF &&
+	topic1
+	^topic2
+	^topic3
+	EOF
+	git rev-parse			\
+		topic1			\
+		topic1^{tree}		\
+		topic1:f1		\
+		topic1:f1/f1		\
+		topic1:f1/f1/data.txt | sort >expect_objects.txt
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'non-sparse pack-objects' '
+	git pack-objects --stdout --revs --no-sparse <packinput.txt >nonsparse.pack &&
+	git index-pack -o nonsparse.idx nonsparse.pack &&
+	git show-index <nonsparse.idx | awk "{print \$2}" >nonsparse_objects.txt &&
+	test_cmp expect_objects.txt nonsparse_objects.txt
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'sparse pack-objects' '
+	git pack-objects --stdout --revs --sparse <packinput.txt >sparse.pack &&
+	git index-pack -o sparse.idx sparse.pack &&
+	git show-index <sparse.idx | awk "{print \$2}" >sparse_objects.txt &&
+	test_cmp expect_objects.txt sparse_objects.txt
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'duplicate a folder from f3 and commit to topic1' '
+	git checkout topic1 &&
+	echo change-3 >f3/f3/data.txt &&
+	git commit -a -m "Changed f3/f3/data.txt" &&
+	git rev-parse			\
+		topic1~1		\
+		topic1~1^{tree}		\
+		topic1^{tree}		\
+		topic1			\
+		topic1:f1		\
+		topic1:f1/f1		\
+		topic1:f1/f1/data.txt | sort >required_objects.txt
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'non-sparse pack-objects' '
+	git pack-objects --stdout --revs --no-sparse <packinput.txt >nonsparse.pack &&
+	git index-pack -o nonsparse.idx nonsparse.pack &&
+	git show-index <nonsparse.idx | awk "{print \$2}" >nonsparse_objects.txt &&
+	comm -1 -2 required_objects.txt nonsparse_objects.txt >nonsparse_required_objects.txt &&
+	test_cmp required_objects.txt nonsparse_required_objects.txt
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'sparse pack-objects' '
+	git pack-objects --stdout --revs --sparse <packinput.txt >sparse.pack &&
+	git index-pack -o sparse.idx sparse.pack &&
+	git show-index <sparse.idx | awk "{print \$2}" >sparse_objects.txt &&
+	comm -1 -2 required_objects.txt sparse_objects.txt >sparse_required_objects.txt &&
+	test_cmp required_objects.txt sparse_required_objects.txt
+'
+
+# Demonstrate that the algorithms differ when we copy a tree wholesale
+# from one folder to another.
+
+test_expect_success 'duplicate a folder from f1 into f3' '
+	mkdir f3/f4 &&
+	cp -r f1/f1/* f3/f4 &&
+	git add f3/f4 &&
+	git commit -m "Copied f1/f1 to f3/f4" &&
+	cat >packinput.txt <<-EOF &&
+	topic1
+	^topic1~1
+	EOF
+	git rev-parse		\
+		topic1		\
+		topic1^{tree}   \
+		topic1:f3 | sort >required_objects.txt
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'non-sparse pack-objects' '
+	git pack-objects --stdout --revs --no-sparse <packinput.txt >nonsparse.pack &&
+	git index-pack -o nonsparse.idx nonsparse.pack &&
+	git show-index <nonsparse.idx | awk "{print \$2}" >nonsparse_objects.txt &&
+	comm -1 -2 required_objects.txt nonsparse_objects.txt >nonsparse_required_objects.txt &&
+	test_cmp required_objects.txt nonsparse_required_objects.txt
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'sparse pack-objects' '
+	git rev-parse			\
+		topic1			\
+		topic1^{tree}		\
+		topic1:f3		\
+		topic1:f3/f4		\
+		topic1:f3/f4/data.txt | sort >expect_sparse_objects.txt &&
+	git pack-objects --stdout --revs --sparse <packinput.txt >sparse.pack &&
+	git index-pack -o sparse.idx sparse.pack &&
+	git show-index <sparse.idx | awk "{print \$2}" >sparse_objects.txt &&
+	test_cmp expect_sparse_objects.txt sparse_objects.txt
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'pack.useSparse enables algorithm' '
+	git config pack.useSparse true &&
+	git pack-objects --stdout --revs <packinput.txt >sparse.pack &&
+	git index-pack -o sparse.idx sparse.pack &&
+	git show-index <sparse.idx | awk "{print \$2}" >sparse_objects.txt &&
+	test_cmp expect_sparse_objects.txt sparse_objects.txt
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'pack.useSparse overridden' '
+	git pack-objects --stdout --revs --no-sparse <packinput.txt >sparse.pack &&
+	git index-pack -o sparse.idx sparse.pack &&
+	git show-index <sparse.idx | awk "{print \$2}" >sparse_objects.txt &&
+	test_cmp required_objects.txt sparse_objects.txt
+'
+
+test_done