diff --git a/builtin/rm.c b/builtin/rm.c
index 4858631e0f..5559a0b453 100644
--- a/builtin/rm.c
+++ b/builtin/rm.c
@@ -293,6 +293,8 @@ int cmd_rm(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 
 	seen = xcalloc(pathspec.nr, 1);
 
+	/* TODO: audit for interaction with sparse-index. */
+	ensure_full_index(&the_index);
 	for (i = 0; i < active_nr; i++) {
 		const struct cache_entry *ce = active_cache[i];
 		if (!ce_path_match(&the_index, ce, &pathspec, seen))