diff --git a/Documentation/config.txt b/Documentation/config.txt
index 2cd6bdd7d2..283bf04091 100644
--- a/Documentation/config.txt
+++ b/Documentation/config.txt
@@ -1153,6 +1153,15 @@ difftool.<tool>.cmd::
 difftool.prompt::
 	Prompt before each invocation of the diff tool.
 
+fastimport.unpackLimit::
+	If the number of objects imported by linkgit:git-fast-import[1]
+	is below this limit, then the objects will be unpacked into
+	loose object files.  However if the number of imported objects
+	equals or exceeds this limit then the pack will be stored as a
+	pack.  Storing the pack from a fast-import can make the import
+	operation complete faster, especially on slow filesystems.  If
+	not set, the value of `transfer.unpackLimit` is used instead.
+
 fetch.recurseSubmodules::
 	This option can be either set to a boolean value or to 'on-demand'.
 	Setting it to a boolean changes the behavior of fetch and pull to
diff --git a/Documentation/git-fast-import.txt b/Documentation/git-fast-import.txt
index 66910aa2fa..644df993f9 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-fast-import.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-fast-import.txt
@@ -136,6 +136,8 @@ Performance and Compression Tuning
 	Maximum size of each output packfile.
 	The default is unlimited.
 
+fastimport.unpackLimit::
+	See linkgit:git-config[1]
 
 Performance
 -----------
diff --git a/fast-import.c b/fast-import.c
index 9fc7093406..4fb464c1ef 100644
--- a/fast-import.c
+++ b/fast-import.c
@@ -166,6 +166,7 @@ Format of STDIN stream:
 #include "quote.h"
 #include "exec_cmd.h"
 #include "dir.h"
+#include "run-command.h"
 
 #define PACK_ID_BITS 16
 #define MAX_PACK_ID ((1<<PACK_ID_BITS)-1)
@@ -282,6 +283,7 @@ struct recent_command {
 /* Configured limits on output */
 static unsigned long max_depth = 10;
 static off_t max_packsize;
+static int unpack_limit = 100;
 static int force_update;
 static int pack_compression_level = Z_DEFAULT_COMPRESSION;
 static int pack_compression_seen;
@@ -950,6 +952,23 @@ static void unkeep_all_packs(void)
 	}
 }
 
+static int loosen_small_pack(const struct packed_git *p)
+{
+	struct child_process unpack = CHILD_PROCESS_INIT;
+
+	if (lseek(p->pack_fd, 0, SEEK_SET) < 0)
+		die_errno("Failed seeking to start of '%s'", p->pack_name);
+
+	unpack.in = p->pack_fd;
+	unpack.git_cmd = 1;
+	unpack.stdout_to_stderr = 1;
+	argv_array_push(&unpack.args, "unpack-objects");
+	if (!show_stats)
+		argv_array_push(&unpack.args, "-q");
+
+	return run_command(&unpack);
+}
+
 static void end_packfile(void)
 {
 	static int running;
@@ -972,6 +991,12 @@ static void end_packfile(void)
 		fixup_pack_header_footer(pack_data->pack_fd, pack_data->sha1,
 				    pack_data->pack_name, object_count,
 				    cur_pack_sha1, pack_size);
+
+		if (object_count <= unpack_limit) {
+			if (!loosen_small_pack(pack_data))
+				goto discard_pack;
+		}
+
 		close(pack_data->pack_fd);
 		idx_name = keep_pack(create_index());
 
@@ -1002,6 +1027,7 @@ static void end_packfile(void)
 		pack_id++;
 	}
 	else {
+discard_pack:
 		close(pack_data->pack_fd);
 		unlink_or_warn(pack_data->pack_name);
 	}
@@ -3317,6 +3343,7 @@ static void parse_option(const char *option)
 static void git_pack_config(void)
 {
 	int indexversion_value;
+	int limit;
 	unsigned long packsizelimit_value;
 
 	if (!git_config_get_ulong("pack.depth", &max_depth)) {
@@ -3341,6 +3368,11 @@ static void git_pack_config(void)
 	if (!git_config_get_ulong("pack.packsizelimit", &packsizelimit_value))
 		max_packsize = packsizelimit_value;
 
+	if (!git_config_get_int("fastimport.unpacklimit", &limit))
+		unpack_limit = limit;
+	else if (!git_config_get_int("transfer.unpacklimit", &limit))
+		unpack_limit = limit;
+
 	git_config(git_default_config, NULL);
 }
 
diff --git a/t/t9300-fast-import.sh b/t/t9300-fast-import.sh
index 25bb60b281..e6a2b8a4d7 100755
--- a/t/t9300-fast-import.sh
+++ b/t/t9300-fast-import.sh
@@ -52,6 +52,7 @@ echo "$@"'
 ###
 
 test_expect_success 'empty stream succeeds' '
+	git config fastimport.unpackLimit 0 &&
 	git fast-import </dev/null
 '
 
@@ -2675,6 +2676,7 @@ test_expect_success 'R: blob bigger than threshold' '
 	echo >>input &&
 
 	test_create_repo R &&
+	git --git-dir=R/.git config fastimport.unpackLimit 0 &&
 	git --git-dir=R/.git fast-import --big-file-threshold=1 <input
 '
 
diff --git a/t/t9302-fast-import-unpack-limit.sh b/t/t9302-fast-import-unpack-limit.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..0f686d2199
--- /dev/null
+++ b/t/t9302-fast-import-unpack-limit.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+test_description='test git fast-import unpack limit'
+. ./test-lib.sh
+
+test_expect_success 'create loose objects on import' '
+	test_tick &&
+	cat >input <<-INPUT_END &&
+	commit refs/heads/master
+	committer $GIT_COMMITTER_NAME <$GIT_COMMITTER_EMAIL> $GIT_COMMITTER_DATE
+	data <<COMMIT
+	initial
+	COMMIT
+
+	done
+	INPUT_END
+
+	git -c fastimport.unpackLimit=2 fast-import --done <input &&
+	git fsck --no-progress &&
+	test $(find .git/objects/?? -type f | wc -l) -eq 2 &&
+	test $(find .git/objects/pack -type f | wc -l) -eq 0
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'bigger packs are preserved' '
+	test_tick &&
+	cat >input <<-INPUT_END &&
+	commit refs/heads/master
+	committer $GIT_COMMITTER_NAME <$GIT_COMMITTER_EMAIL> $GIT_COMMITTER_DATE
+	data <<COMMIT
+	incremental should create a pack
+	COMMIT
+	from refs/heads/master^0
+
+	commit refs/heads/branch
+	committer $GIT_COMMITTER_NAME <$GIT_COMMITTER_EMAIL> $GIT_COMMITTER_DATE
+	data <<COMMIT
+	branch
+	COMMIT
+
+	done
+	INPUT_END
+
+	git -c fastimport.unpackLimit=2 fast-import --done <input &&
+	git fsck --no-progress &&
+	test $(find .git/objects/?? -type f | wc -l) -eq 2 &&
+	test $(find .git/objects/pack -type f | wc -l) -eq 2
+'
+
+test_done