diff --git a/config.c b/config.c
index ae3652b08f..8a8332617f 100644
--- a/config.c
+++ b/config.c
@@ -1243,6 +1243,15 @@ ssize_t git_config_ssize_t(const char *name, const char *value,
 	return ret;
 }
 
+double git_config_double(const char *name, const char *value,
+			 const struct key_value_info *kvi)
+{
+	double ret;
+	if (!git_parse_double(value, &ret))
+		die_bad_number(name, value, kvi);
+	return ret;
+}
+
 static const struct fsync_component_name {
 	const char *name;
 	enum fsync_component component_bits;
diff --git a/config.h b/config.h
index f4966e3749..f5f306f373 100644
--- a/config.h
+++ b/config.h
@@ -261,6 +261,13 @@ unsigned long git_config_ulong(const char *, const char *,
 ssize_t git_config_ssize_t(const char *, const char *,
 			   const struct key_value_info *);
 
+/**
+ * Identically to `git_config_double`, but for double-precision floating point
+ * values.
+ */
+double git_config_double(const char *, const char *,
+			 const struct key_value_info *);
+
 /**
  * Same as `git_config_bool`, except that integers are returned as-is, and
  * an `is_bool` flag is unset.
diff --git a/parse.c b/parse.c
index 42d691a0fb..7a60a4f816 100644
--- a/parse.c
+++ b/parse.c
@@ -125,6 +125,35 @@ int git_parse_ssize_t(const char *value, ssize_t *ret)
 	return 1;
 }
 
+int git_parse_double(const char *value, double *ret)
+{
+	char *end;
+	double val;
+	uintmax_t factor;
+
+	if (!value || !*value) {
+		errno = EINVAL;
+		return 0;
+	}
+
+	errno = 0;
+	val = strtod(value, &end);
+	if (errno == ERANGE)
+		return 0;
+	if (end == value) {
+		errno = EINVAL;
+		return 0;
+	}
+	factor = get_unit_factor(end);
+	if (!factor) {
+		errno = EINVAL;
+		return 0;
+	}
+	val *= factor;
+	*ret = val;
+	return 1;
+}
+
 int git_parse_maybe_bool_text(const char *value)
 {
 	if (!value)
diff --git a/parse.h b/parse.h
index 07d2193d69..6bb9a54d9a 100644
--- a/parse.h
+++ b/parse.h
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ int git_parse_ssize_t(const char *, ssize_t *);
 int git_parse_ulong(const char *, unsigned long *);
 int git_parse_int(const char *value, int *ret);
 int git_parse_int64(const char *value, int64_t *ret);
+int git_parse_double(const char *value, double *ret);
 
 /**
  * Same as `git_config_bool`, except that it returns -1 on error rather