diff --git a/builtin/add.c b/builtin/add.c
index f8ebf1c8e3..1fab75ff6e 100644
--- a/builtin/add.c
+++ b/builtin/add.c
@@ -461,7 +461,7 @@ int cmd_add(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 
 	die_path_inside_submodule(&the_index, &pathspec);
 
-	enable_fscache(1);
+	enable_fscache(0);
 	/* We do not really re-read the index but update the up-to-date flags */
 	preload_index(&the_index, &pathspec);
 
diff --git a/builtin/checkout.c b/builtin/checkout.c
index 07cc016e5c..ec0318231f 100644
--- a/builtin/checkout.c
+++ b/builtin/checkout.c
@@ -360,7 +360,7 @@ static int checkout_paths(const struct checkout_opts *opts,
 	state.istate = &the_index;
 
 	enable_delayed_checkout(&state);
-	enable_fscache(1);
+	enable_fscache(active_nr);
 	for (pos = 0; pos < active_nr; pos++) {
 		struct cache_entry *ce = active_cache[pos];
 		if (ce->ce_flags & CE_MATCHED) {
@@ -375,7 +375,7 @@ static int checkout_paths(const struct checkout_opts *opts,
 			pos = skip_same_name(ce, pos) - 1;
 		}
 	}
-	enable_fscache(0);
+	disable_fscache();
 	errs |= finish_delayed_checkout(&state);
 
 	if (write_locked_index(&the_index, &lock_file, COMMIT_LOCK))
diff --git a/builtin/commit.c b/builtin/commit.c
index 8445d19dee..e98432a752 100644
--- a/builtin/commit.c
+++ b/builtin/commit.c
@@ -1376,7 +1376,7 @@ int cmd_status(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 		       PATHSPEC_PREFER_FULL,
 		       prefix, argv);
 
-	enable_fscache(1);
+	enable_fscache(0);
 	read_cache_preload(&s.pathspec);
 	refresh_index(&the_index, REFRESH_QUIET|REFRESH_UNMERGED, &s.pathspec, NULL, NULL);
 
@@ -1410,7 +1410,7 @@ int cmd_status(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 		s.prefix = prefix;
 
 	wt_status_print(&s);
-	enable_fscache(0);
+	disable_fscache();
 	return 0;
 }
 
diff --git a/compat/win32/fscache.c b/compat/win32/fscache.c
index b81eb62e4f..96fe7e335c 100644
--- a/compat/win32/fscache.c
+++ b/compat/win32/fscache.c
@@ -401,7 +401,7 @@ static struct fsentry *fscache_get(struct fsentry *key)
  * Enables or disables the cache. Note that the cache is read-only, changes to
  * the working directory are NOT reflected in the cache while enabled.
  */
-int fscache_enable(int enable)
+int fscache_enable(int enable, size_t initial_size)
 {
 	int result;
 
@@ -417,7 +417,11 @@ int fscache_enable(int enable)
 		InitializeCriticalSection(&mutex);
 		lstat_requests = opendir_requests = 0;
 		fscache_misses = fscache_requests = 0;
-		hashmap_init(&map, (hashmap_cmp_fn) fsentry_cmp, NULL, 0);
+		/*
+		 * avoid having to rehash by leaving room for the parent dirs.
+		 * '4' was determined empirically by testing several repos
+		 */
+		hashmap_init(&map, (hashmap_cmp_fn) fsentry_cmp, NULL, initial_size * 4);
 		initialized = 1;
 	}
 
diff --git a/compat/win32/fscache.h b/compat/win32/fscache.h
index 2f06f8df97..d49c938111 100644
--- a/compat/win32/fscache.h
+++ b/compat/win32/fscache.h
@@ -1,8 +1,9 @@
 #ifndef FSCACHE_H
 #define FSCACHE_H
 
-int fscache_enable(int enable);
-#define enable_fscache(x) fscache_enable(x)
+int fscache_enable(int enable, size_t initial_size);
+#define enable_fscache(initial_size) fscache_enable(1, initial_size)
+#define disable_fscache() fscache_enable(0, 0)
 
 int fscache_enabled(const char *path);
 #define is_fscache_enabled(path) fscache_enabled(path)
diff --git a/fetch-pack.c b/fetch-pack.c
index 43e0945da1..d4f27db27c 100644
--- a/fetch-pack.c
+++ b/fetch-pack.c
@@ -678,7 +678,7 @@ static void mark_complete_and_common_ref(struct fetch_negotiator *negotiator,
 
 	save_commit_buffer = 0;
 
-	enable_fscache(1);
+	enable_fscache(0);
 	for (ref = *refs; ref; ref = ref->next) {
 		struct object *o;
 		unsigned int flags = OBJECT_INFO_QUICK;
@@ -708,7 +708,7 @@ static void mark_complete_and_common_ref(struct fetch_negotiator *negotiator,
 				cutoff = commit->date;
 		}
 	}
-	enable_fscache(0);
+	disable_fscache();
 
 	oidset_clear(&loose_oid_set);
 
diff --git a/git-compat-util.h b/git-compat-util.h
index 64a5d43a0e..e1b9e55683 100644
--- a/git-compat-util.h
+++ b/git-compat-util.h
@@ -1259,6 +1259,10 @@ static inline int is_missing_file_error(int errno_)
 #define enable_fscache(x) /* noop */
 #endif
 
+#ifndef disable_fscache
+#define disable_fscache() /* noop */
+#endif
+
 #ifndef is_fscache_enabled
 #define is_fscache_enabled(path) (0)
 #endif
diff --git a/preload-index.c b/preload-index.c
index 6857573ce6..af34c3dc59 100644
--- a/preload-index.c
+++ b/preload-index.c
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ void preload_index(struct index_state *index, const struct pathspec *pathspec)
 	offset = 0;
 	work = DIV_ROUND_UP(index->cache_nr, threads);
 	memset(&data, 0, sizeof(data));
-	enable_fscache(1);
+	enable_fscache(index->cache_nr);
 	for (i = 0; i < threads; i++) {
 		struct thread_data *p = data+i;
 		p->index = index;
@@ -109,7 +109,7 @@ void preload_index(struct index_state *index, const struct pathspec *pathspec)
 			die("unable to join threaded lstat");
 	}
 	trace_performance_since(start, "preload index");
-	enable_fscache(0);
+	disable_fscache();
 }
 #endif
 
diff --git a/read-cache.c b/read-cache.c
index 18b6fb4214..6be61e5d0c 100644
--- a/read-cache.c
+++ b/read-cache.c
@@ -1483,7 +1483,7 @@ int refresh_index(struct index_state *istate, unsigned int flags,
 	typechange_fmt = (in_porcelain ? "T\t%s\n" : "%s needs update\n");
 	added_fmt = (in_porcelain ? "A\t%s\n" : "%s needs update\n");
 	unmerged_fmt = (in_porcelain ? "U\t%s\n" : "%s: needs merge\n");
-	enable_fscache(1);
+	enable_fscache(0);
 	for (i = 0; i < istate->cache_nr; i++) {
 		struct cache_entry *ce, *new_entry;
 		int cache_errno = 0;
@@ -1548,7 +1548,7 @@ int refresh_index(struct index_state *istate, unsigned int flags,
 
 		replace_index_entry(istate, i, new_entry);
 	}
-	enable_fscache(0);
+	disable_fscache();
 	trace_performance_since(start, "refresh index");
 	return has_errors;
 }