diff --git a/Documentation/config.txt b/Documentation/config.txt
index 728ae902e6..4c3f1d7651 100644
--- a/Documentation/config.txt
+++ b/Documentation/config.txt
@@ -1564,6 +1564,11 @@ gc.bigPackThreshold::
 	except that all packs that meet the threshold are kept, not
 	just the base pack. Defaults to zero. Common unit suffixes of
 	'k', 'm', or 'g' are supported.
++
+Note that if the number of kept packs is more than gc.autoPackLimit,
+this configuration variable is ignored, all packs except the base pack
+will be repacked. After this the number of packs should go below
+gc.autoPackLimit and gc.bigPackThreshold should be respected again.
 
 gc.logExpiry::
 	If the file gc.log exists, then `git gc --auto` won't run
diff --git a/builtin/gc.c b/builtin/gc.c
index 81ecdc5ffa..23c17ba7e9 100644
--- a/builtin/gc.c
+++ b/builtin/gc.c
@@ -253,8 +253,14 @@ static int need_to_gc(void)
 	if (too_many_packs()) {
 		struct string_list keep_pack = STRING_LIST_INIT_NODUP;
 
-		if (big_pack_threshold)
+		if (big_pack_threshold) {
 			find_base_packs(&keep_pack, big_pack_threshold);
+			if (keep_pack.nr >= gc_auto_pack_limit) {
+				big_pack_threshold = 0;
+				string_list_clear(&keep_pack, 0);
+				find_base_packs(&keep_pack, 0);
+			}
+		}
 
 		add_repack_all_option(&keep_pack);
 		string_list_clear(&keep_pack, 0);