diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 14e2b6bde9..1e64a6a138 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -167,6 +167,7 @@
 /test-genrandom
 /test-index-version
 /test-match-trees
+/test-obj-pool
 /test-parse-options
 /test-path-utils
 /test-run-command
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 0b6454d3e8..47cbf26421 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -409,6 +409,7 @@ TEST_PROGRAMS_NEED_X += test-delta
 TEST_PROGRAMS_NEED_X += test-dump-cache-tree
 TEST_PROGRAMS_NEED_X += test-genrandom
 TEST_PROGRAMS_NEED_X += test-match-trees
+TEST_PROGRAMS_NEED_X += test-obj-pool
 TEST_PROGRAMS_NEED_X += test-parse-options
 TEST_PROGRAMS_NEED_X += test-path-utils
 TEST_PROGRAMS_NEED_X += test-run-command
@@ -1864,7 +1865,8 @@ xdiff-interface.o $(XDIFF_OBJS): \
 	xdiff/xinclude.h xdiff/xmacros.h xdiff/xdiff.h xdiff/xtypes.h \
 	xdiff/xutils.h xdiff/xprepare.h xdiff/xdiffi.h xdiff/xemit.h
 
-$(VCSSVN_OBJS):
+$(VCSSVN_OBJS): \
+	vcs-svn/obj_pool.h
 endif
 
 exec_cmd.s exec_cmd.o: EXTRA_CPPFLAGS = \
diff --git a/t/t0080-vcs-svn.sh b/t/t0080-vcs-svn.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..3f29496bf8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/t/t0080-vcs-svn.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,79 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+test_description='check infrastructure for svn importer'
+
+. ./test-lib.sh
+uint32_max=4294967295
+
+test_expect_success 'obj pool: store data' '
+	cat <<-\EOF >expected &&
+	0
+	1
+	EOF
+
+	test-obj-pool <<-\EOF >actual &&
+	alloc one 16
+	set one 13
+	test one 13
+	reset one
+	EOF
+	test_cmp expected actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'obj pool: NULL is offset ~0' '
+	echo "$uint32_max" >expected &&
+	echo null one | test-obj-pool >actual &&
+	test_cmp expected actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'obj pool: out-of-bounds access' '
+	cat <<-EOF >expected &&
+	0
+	0
+	$uint32_max
+	$uint32_max
+	16
+	20
+	$uint32_max
+	EOF
+
+	test-obj-pool <<-\EOF >actual &&
+	alloc one 16
+	alloc two 16
+	offset one 20
+	offset two 20
+	alloc one 5
+	offset one 20
+	free one 1
+	offset one 20
+	reset one
+	reset two
+	EOF
+	test_cmp expected actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'obj pool: high-water mark' '
+	cat <<-\EOF >expected &&
+	0
+	0
+	10
+	20
+	20
+	20
+	EOF
+
+	test-obj-pool <<-\EOF >actual &&
+	alloc one 10
+	committed one
+	alloc one 10
+	commit one
+	committed one
+	alloc one 10
+	free one 20
+	committed one
+	reset one
+	EOF
+	test_cmp expected actual
+'
+
+test_done
diff --git a/test-obj-pool.c b/test-obj-pool.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..5018863ef5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test-obj-pool.c
@@ -0,0 +1,116 @@
+/*
+ * test-obj-pool.c: code to exercise the svn importer's object pool
+ */
+
+#include "cache.h"
+#include "vcs-svn/obj_pool.h"
+
+enum pool { POOL_ONE, POOL_TWO };
+obj_pool_gen(one, int, 1)
+obj_pool_gen(two, int, 4096)
+
+static uint32_t strtouint32(const char *s)
+{
+	char *end;
+	uintmax_t n = strtoumax(s, &end, 10);
+	if (*s == '\0' || (*end != '\n' && *end != '\0'))
+		die("invalid offset: %s", s);
+	return (uint32_t) n;
+}
+
+static void handle_command(const char *command, enum pool pool, const char *arg)
+{
+	switch (*command) {
+	case 'a':
+		if (!prefixcmp(command, "alloc ")) {
+			uint32_t n = strtouint32(arg);
+			printf("%"PRIu32"\n",
+				pool == POOL_ONE ?
+				one_alloc(n) : two_alloc(n));
+			return;
+		}
+	case 'c':
+		if (!prefixcmp(command, "commit ")) {
+			pool == POOL_ONE ? one_commit() : two_commit();
+			return;
+		}
+		if (!prefixcmp(command, "committed ")) {
+			printf("%"PRIu32"\n",
+				pool == POOL_ONE ?
+				one_pool.committed : two_pool.committed);
+			return;
+		}
+	case 'f':
+		if (!prefixcmp(command, "free ")) {
+			uint32_t n = strtouint32(arg);
+			pool == POOL_ONE ? one_free(n) : two_free(n);
+			return;
+		}
+	case 'n':
+		if (!prefixcmp(command, "null ")) {
+			printf("%"PRIu32"\n",
+				pool == POOL_ONE ?
+				one_offset(NULL) : two_offset(NULL));
+			return;
+		}
+	case 'o':
+		if (!prefixcmp(command, "offset ")) {
+			uint32_t n = strtouint32(arg);
+			printf("%"PRIu32"\n",
+				pool == POOL_ONE ?
+				one_offset(one_pointer(n)) :
+				two_offset(two_pointer(n)));
+			return;
+		}
+	case 'r':
+		if (!prefixcmp(command, "reset ")) {
+			pool == POOL_ONE ? one_reset() : two_reset();
+			return;
+		}
+	case 's':
+		if (!prefixcmp(command, "set ")) {
+			uint32_t n = strtouint32(arg);
+			if (pool == POOL_ONE)
+				*one_pointer(n) = 1;
+			else
+				*two_pointer(n) = 1;
+			return;
+		}
+	case 't':
+		if (!prefixcmp(command, "test ")) {
+			uint32_t n = strtouint32(arg);
+			printf("%d\n", pool == POOL_ONE ?
+				*one_pointer(n) : *two_pointer(n));
+			return;
+		}
+	default:
+		die("unrecognized command: %s", command);
+	}
+}
+
+static void handle_line(const char *line)
+{
+	const char *arg = strchr(line, ' ');
+	enum pool pool;
+
+	if (arg && !prefixcmp(arg + 1, "one"))
+		pool = POOL_ONE;
+	else if (arg && !prefixcmp(arg + 1, "two"))
+		pool = POOL_TWO;
+	else
+		die("no pool specified: %s", line);
+
+	handle_command(line, pool, arg + strlen("one "));
+}
+
+int main(int argc, char *argv[])
+{
+	struct strbuf sb = STRBUF_INIT;
+	if (argc != 1)
+		usage("test-obj-str < script");
+
+	while (strbuf_getline(&sb, stdin, '\n') != EOF)
+		handle_line(sb.buf);
+	strbuf_release(&sb);
+	return 0;
+}
diff --git a/vcs-svn/obj_pool.h b/vcs-svn/obj_pool.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..deb6eb8135
--- /dev/null
+++ b/vcs-svn/obj_pool.h
@@ -0,0 +1,61 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed under a two-clause BSD-style license.
+ * See LICENSE for details.
+ */
+
+#ifndef OBJ_POOL_H_
+#define OBJ_POOL_H_
+
+#include "git-compat-util.h"
+
+#define MAYBE_UNUSED __attribute__((__unused__))
+
+#define obj_pool_gen(pre, obj_t, initial_capacity) \
+static struct { \
+	uint32_t committed; \
+	uint32_t size; \
+	uint32_t capacity; \
+	obj_t *base; \
+} pre##_pool = {0, 0, 0, NULL}; \
+static MAYBE_UNUSED uint32_t pre##_alloc(uint32_t count) \
+{ \
+	uint32_t offset; \
+	if (pre##_pool.size + count > pre##_pool.capacity) { \
+		while (pre##_pool.size + count > pre##_pool.capacity) \
+			if (pre##_pool.capacity) \
+				pre##_pool.capacity *= 2; \
+			else \
+				pre##_pool.capacity = initial_capacity; \
+		pre##_pool.base = realloc(pre##_pool.base, \
+					pre##_pool.capacity * sizeof(obj_t)); \
+	} \
+	offset = pre##_pool.size; \
+	pre##_pool.size += count; \
+	return offset; \
+} \
+static MAYBE_UNUSED void pre##_free(uint32_t count) \
+{ \
+	pre##_pool.size -= count; \
+} \
+static MAYBE_UNUSED uint32_t pre##_offset(obj_t *obj) \
+{ \
+	return obj == NULL ? ~0 : obj - pre##_pool.base; \
+} \
+static MAYBE_UNUSED obj_t *pre##_pointer(uint32_t offset) \
+{ \
+	return offset >= pre##_pool.size ? NULL : &pre##_pool.base[offset]; \
+} \
+static MAYBE_UNUSED void pre##_commit(void) \
+{ \
+	pre##_pool.committed = pre##_pool.size; \
+} \
+static MAYBE_UNUSED void pre##_reset(void) \
+{ \
+	free(pre##_pool.base); \
+	pre##_pool.base = NULL; \
+	pre##_pool.size = 0; \
+	pre##_pool.capacity = 0; \
+	pre##_pool.committed = 0; \
+}
+
+#endif