diff --git a/Documentation/config.txt b/Documentation/config.txt
index 43b2de7b5f..1a2deeaf20 100644
--- a/Documentation/config.txt
+++ b/Documentation/config.txt
@@ -1101,6 +1101,14 @@ browser.<tool>.path::
 	browse HTML help (see `-w` option in linkgit:git-help[1]) or a
 	working repository in gitweb (see linkgit:git-instaweb[1]).
 
+checkout.optimizeNewBranch
+	Optimizes the performance of "git checkout -b <new_branch>" when
+	using sparse-checkout.  When set to true, git will not update the
+	repo based on the current sparse-checkout settings.  This means it
+	will not update the skip-worktree bit in the index nor add/remove
+	files in the working directory to reflect the current sparse checkout
+	settings nor will it show the local changes.
+
 clean.requireForce::
 	A boolean to make git-clean do nothing unless given -f,
 	-i or -n.   Defaults to true.
diff --git a/builtin/checkout.c b/builtin/checkout.c
index 28627650cd..21bac3a561 100644
--- a/builtin/checkout.c
+++ b/builtin/checkout.c
@@ -24,6 +24,8 @@
 #include "submodule-config.h"
 #include "submodule.h"
 
+static int checkout_optimize_new_branch;
+
 static const char * const checkout_usage[] = {
 	N_("git checkout [<options>] <branch>"),
 	N_("git checkout [<options>] [<branch>] -- <file>..."),
@@ -41,6 +43,10 @@ struct checkout_opts {
 	int ignore_skipworktree;
 	int ignore_other_worktrees;
 	int show_progress;
+	/*
+	 * If new checkout options are added, skip_merge_working_tree
+	 * should be updated accordingly.
+	 */
 
 	const char *new_branch;
 	const char *new_branch_force;
@@ -471,6 +477,98 @@ static void setup_branch_path(struct branch_info *branch)
 	branch->path = strbuf_detach(&buf, NULL);
 }
 
+/*
+ * Skip merging the trees, updating the index and working directory if and
+ * only if we are creating a new branch via "git checkout -b <new_branch>."
+ */
+static int skip_merge_working_tree(const struct checkout_opts *opts,
+	const struct branch_info *old_branch_info,
+	const struct branch_info *new_branch_info)
+{
+	/*
+	 * Do the merge if sparse checkout is on and the user has not opted in
+	 * to the optimized behavior
+	 */
+	if (core_apply_sparse_checkout && !checkout_optimize_new_branch)
+		return 0;
+
+	/*
+	 * We must do the merge if we are actually moving to a new commit.
+	 */
+	if (!old_branch_info->commit || !new_branch_info->commit ||
+		oidcmp(&old_branch_info->commit->object.oid, &new_branch_info->commit->object.oid))
+		return 0;
+
+	/*
+	 * opts->patch_mode cannot be used with switching branches so is
+	 * not tested here
+	 */
+
+	/*
+	 * opts->quiet only impacts output so doesn't require a merge
+	 */
+
+	/*
+	 * Honor the explicit request for a three-way merge or to throw away
+	 * local changes
+	 */
+	if (opts->merge || opts->force)
+		return 0;
+
+	/*
+	 * --detach is documented as "updating the index and the files in the
+	 * working tree" but this optimization skips those steps so fall through
+	 * to the regular code path.
+	 */
+	if (opts->force_detach)
+		return 0;
+
+	/*
+	 * opts->writeout_stage cannot be used with switching branches so is
+	 * not tested here
+	 */
+
+	/*
+	 * Honor the explicit ignore requests
+	 */
+	if (!opts->overwrite_ignore || opts->ignore_skipworktree ||
+		opts->ignore_other_worktrees)
+		return 0;
+
+	/*
+	 * opts->show_progress only impacts output so doesn't require a merge
+	 */
+
+	/*
+	 * If we aren't creating a new branch any changes or updates will
+	 * happen in the existing branch.  Since that could only be updating
+	 * the index and working directory, we don't want to skip those steps
+	 * or we've defeated any purpose in running the command.
+	 */
+	if (!opts->new_branch)
+		return 0;
+
+	/*
+	 * new_branch_force is defined to "create/reset and checkout a branch"
+	 * so needs to go through the merge to do the reset
+	 */
+	if (opts->new_branch_force)
+		return 0;
+
+	/*
+	 * A new orphaned branch requrires the index and the working tree to be
+	 * adjusted to <start_point>
+	 */
+	if (opts->new_orphan_branch)
+		return 0;
+
+	/*
+	 * Remaining variables are not checkout options but used to track state
+	 */
+
+	return 1;
+}
+
 static int merge_working_tree(const struct checkout_opts *opts,
 			      struct branch_info *old_branch_info,
 			      struct branch_info *new_branch_info,
@@ -845,10 +943,19 @@ static int switch_branches(const struct checkout_opts *opts,
 		parse_commit_or_die(new_branch_info->commit);
 	}
 
-	ret = merge_working_tree(opts, &old_branch_info, new_branch_info, &writeout_error);
-	if (ret) {
-		free(path_to_free);
-		return ret;
+	/* optimize the "checkout -b <new_branch> path */
+	if (skip_merge_working_tree(opts, &old_branch_info, new_branch_info)) {
+		if (!checkout_optimize_new_branch && !opts->quiet) {
+			if (read_cache_preload(NULL) < 0)
+				return error(_("index file corrupt"));
+			show_local_changes(&new_branch_info->commit->object, &opts->diff_options);
+		}
+	} else {
+		ret = merge_working_tree(opts, &old_branch_info, new_branch_info, &writeout_error);
+		if (ret) {
+			free(path_to_free);
+			return ret;
+		}
 	}
 
 	if (!opts->quiet && !old_branch_info.path && old_branch_info.commit && new_branch_info->commit != old_branch_info.commit)
@@ -863,6 +970,11 @@ static int switch_branches(const struct checkout_opts *opts,
 
 static int git_checkout_config(const char *var, const char *value, void *cb)
 {
+	if (!strcmp(var, "checkout.optimizenewbranch")) {
+		checkout_optimize_new_branch = git_config_bool(var, value);
+		return 0;
+	}
+
 	if (!strcmp(var, "diff.ignoresubmodules")) {
 		struct checkout_opts *opts = cb;
 		handle_ignore_submodules_arg(&opts->diff_options, value);
diff --git a/t/t1090-sparse-checkout-scope.sh b/t/t1090-sparse-checkout-scope.sh
index 1f61eb3e88..25d7c700f6 100755
--- a/t/t1090-sparse-checkout-scope.sh
+++ b/t/t1090-sparse-checkout-scope.sh
@@ -31,6 +31,20 @@ test_expect_success 'perform sparse checkout of master' '
 	test_path_is_file c
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'checkout -b checkout.optimizeNewBranch interaction' '
+	cp .git/info/sparse-checkout .git/info/sparse-checkout.bak &&
+	test_when_finished "
+		mv -f .git/info/sparse-checkout.bak .git/info/sparse-checkout
+		git checkout master
+	" &&
+	echo "/b" >>.git/info/sparse-checkout &&
+	test "$(git ls-files -t b)" = "S b" &&
+	git -c checkout.optimizeNewBranch=true checkout -b fast &&
+	test "$(git ls-files -t b)" = "S b" &&
+	git checkout -b slow &&
+	test "$(git ls-files -t b)" = "H b"
+'
+
 test_expect_success 'merge feature branch into sparse checkout of master' '
 	git merge feature &&
 	test_path_is_file a &&