diff --git a/compat/win32/fscache.c b/compat/win32/fscache.c
index c5b261b776be3a..2f56f24fc282b5 100644
--- a/compat/win32/fscache.c
+++ b/compat/win32/fscache.c
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 #include "../../dir.h"
 #include "../../abspath.h"
 #include "../../trace.h"
+#include "config.h"
 
 static int initialized;
 static volatile long enabled;
@@ -401,7 +402,11 @@ int fscache_enable(int enable)
 	int result;
 
 	if (!initialized) {
+		int fscache = git_env_bool("GIT_TEST_FSCACHE", -1);
+
 		/* allow the cache to be disabled entirely */
+		if (fscache != -1)
+			core_fscache = fscache;
 		if (!core_fscache)
 			return 0;
 
diff --git a/t/README b/t/README
index 3df757cdaf690b..eb79134d9c109a 100644
--- a/t/README
+++ b/t/README
@@ -500,6 +500,9 @@ GIT_TEST_FULL_NAME_HASH=<boolean>, when true, sets the default name-hash
 function in 'git pack-objects' to be the one used by the --full-name-hash
 option.
 
+GIT_TEST_FSCACHE=<boolean> exercises the uncommon fscache code path
+which adds a cache below mingw's lstat and dirent implementations.
+
 Naming Tests
 ------------