diff --git a/builtin/cat-file.c b/builtin/cat-file.c
index 0663661c0b..50cf38999d 100644
--- a/builtin/cat-file.c
+++ b/builtin/cat-file.c
@@ -360,6 +360,13 @@ static void print_object_or_die(struct batch_options *opt, struct expand_data *d
 	}
 }
 
+static void print_default_format(struct strbuf *scratch, struct expand_data *data)
+{
+	strbuf_addf(scratch, "%s %s %"PRIuMAX"\n", oid_to_hex(&data->oid),
+		    type_name(data->type),
+		    (uintmax_t)data->size);
+}
+
 /*
  * If "pack" is non-NULL, then "offset" is the byte offset within the pack from
  * which the object may be accessed (though note that we may also rely on
@@ -391,8 +398,14 @@ static void batch_object_write(const char *obj_name,
 	}
 
 	strbuf_reset(scratch);
-	strbuf_expand(scratch, opt->format, expand_format, data);
-	strbuf_addch(scratch, '\n');
+
+	if (!opt->format) {
+		print_default_format(scratch, data);
+	} else {
+		strbuf_expand(scratch, opt->format, expand_format, data);
+		strbuf_addch(scratch, '\n');
+	}
+
 	batch_write(opt, scratch->buf, scratch->len);
 
 	if (opt->batch_mode == BATCH_MODE_CONTENTS) {
@@ -646,6 +659,8 @@ static void batch_objects_command(struct batch_options *opt,
 	strbuf_release(&input);
 }
 
+#define DEFAULT_FORMAT "%(objectname) %(objecttype) %(objectsize)"
+
 static int batch_objects(struct batch_options *opt)
 {
 	struct strbuf input = STRBUF_INIT;
@@ -654,9 +669,6 @@ static int batch_objects(struct batch_options *opt)
 	int save_warning;
 	int retval = 0;
 
-	if (!opt->format)
-		opt->format = "%(objectname) %(objecttype) %(objectsize)";
-
 	/*
 	 * Expand once with our special mark_query flag, which will prime the
 	 * object_info to be handed to oid_object_info_extended for each
@@ -664,12 +676,17 @@ static int batch_objects(struct batch_options *opt)
 	 */
 	memset(&data, 0, sizeof(data));
 	data.mark_query = 1;
-	strbuf_expand(&output, opt->format, expand_format, &data);
+	strbuf_expand(&output,
+		      opt->format ? opt->format : DEFAULT_FORMAT,
+		      expand_format,
+		      &data);
 	data.mark_query = 0;
 	strbuf_release(&output);
 	if (opt->transform_mode)
 		data.split_on_whitespace = 1;
 
+	if (opt->format && !strcmp(opt->format, DEFAULT_FORMAT))
+		opt->format = NULL;
 	/*
 	 * If we are printing out the object, then always fill in the type,
 	 * since we will want to decide whether or not to stream.
diff --git a/t/perf/p1006-cat-file.sh b/t/perf/p1006-cat-file.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..dcd8015379
--- /dev/null
+++ b/t/perf/p1006-cat-file.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+test_description='Tests listing object info performance'
+. ./perf-lib.sh
+
+test_perf_large_repo
+
+test_perf 'cat-file --batch-check' '
+	git cat-file --batch-all-objects --batch-check
+'
+
+test_done