diff --git a/Documentation/config/pack.txt b/Documentation/config/pack.txt
index 53093d9996..7db7fed466 100644
--- a/Documentation/config/pack.txt
+++ b/Documentation/config/pack.txt
@@ -171,6 +171,12 @@ pack.writeBitmapLookupTable::
 	beneficial in repositories that have relatively large bitmap
 	indexes. Defaults to false.
 
+pack.readReverseIndex::
+	When true, git will read any .rev file(s) that may be available
+	(see: linkgit:gitformat-pack[5]). When false, the reverse index
+	will be generated from scratch and stored in memory. Defaults to
+	true.
+
 pack.writeReverseIndex::
 	When true, git will write a corresponding .rev file (see:
 	linkgit:gitformat-pack[5])
diff --git a/pack-revindex.c b/pack-revindex.c
index 44e1b3fed9..29f5358b25 100644
--- a/pack-revindex.c
+++ b/pack-revindex.c
@@ -291,7 +291,10 @@ int load_pack_revindex(struct repository *r, struct packed_git *p)
 	if (p->revindex || p->revindex_data)
 		return 0;
 
-	if (!load_pack_revindex_from_disk(p))
+	prepare_repo_settings(r);
+
+	if (r->settings.pack_read_reverse_index &&
+	    !load_pack_revindex_from_disk(p))
 		return 0;
 	else if (!create_pack_revindex_in_memory(p))
 		return 0;
diff --git a/repo-settings.c b/repo-settings.c
index 0a6c0b381f..bdd7640ab0 100644
--- a/repo-settings.c
+++ b/repo-settings.c
@@ -63,6 +63,7 @@ void prepare_repo_settings(struct repository *r)
 	repo_cfg_bool(r, "core.multipackindex", &r->settings.core_multi_pack_index, 1);
 	repo_cfg_bool(r, "index.sparse", &r->settings.sparse_index, 0);
 	repo_cfg_bool(r, "index.skiphash", &r->settings.index_skip_hash, r->settings.index_skip_hash);
+	repo_cfg_bool(r, "pack.readreverseindex", &r->settings.pack_read_reverse_index, 1);
 
 	/*
 	 * The GIT_TEST_MULTI_PACK_INDEX variable is special in that
diff --git a/repository.h b/repository.h
index 15a8afc5fb..ed73e799b6 100644
--- a/repository.h
+++ b/repository.h
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ struct repo_settings {
 	int fetch_write_commit_graph;
 	int command_requires_full_index;
 	int sparse_index;
+	int pack_read_reverse_index;
 
 	struct fsmonitor_settings *fsmonitor; /* lazily loaded */
 
diff --git a/t/t5325-reverse-index.sh b/t/t5325-reverse-index.sh
index 48c14d8576..66171c1d67 100755
--- a/t/t5325-reverse-index.sh
+++ b/t/t5325-reverse-index.sh
@@ -96,6 +96,17 @@ test_expect_success 'reverse index is not generated when available on disk' '
 		--batch-check="%(objectsize:disk)" <tip
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'reverse index is ignored when pack.readReverseIndex is false' '
+	test_index_pack true &&
+	test_path_is_file $rev &&
+
+	test_config pack.readReverseIndex false &&
+
+	git rev-parse HEAD >tip &&
+	GIT_TEST_REV_INDEX_DIE_ON_DISK=1 git cat-file \
+		--batch-check="%(objectsize:disk)" <tip
+'
+
 test_expect_success 'revindex in-memory vs on-disk' '
 	git init repo &&
 	test_when_finished "rm -fr repo" &&