diff --git a/Documentation/config/core.txt b/Documentation/config/core.txt
index 93ffdee63f4e36..62fd04c950b4f5 100644
--- a/Documentation/config/core.txt
+++ b/Documentation/config/core.txt
@@ -737,6 +737,10 @@ core.gvfs::
 	GVFS_SKIP_SHA_ON_INDEX::
 		Bit value 1
 		Disables the calculation of the sha when writing the index
+	GVFS_MISSING_OK::
+		Bit value 4
+		Normally git write-tree ensures that the objects referenced by the
+		directory exist in the object database. This option disables this check.
 --
 
 core.sparseCheckout::
diff --git a/cache-tree.c b/cache-tree.c
index 641427ed410af3..4ac7e8df8ae83b 100644
--- a/cache-tree.c
+++ b/cache-tree.c
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 #include "git-compat-util.h"
 #include "environment.h"
 #include "hex.h"
+#include "gvfs.h"
 #include "lockfile.h"
 #include "tree.h"
 #include "tree-walk.h"
@@ -258,7 +259,8 @@ static int update_one(struct cache_tree *it,
 		      int flags)
 {
 	struct strbuf buffer;
-	int missing_ok = flags & WRITE_TREE_MISSING_OK;
+	int missing_ok = gvfs_config_is_set(GVFS_MISSING_OK) ?
+		WRITE_TREE_MISSING_OK : (flags & WRITE_TREE_MISSING_OK);
 	int dryrun = flags & WRITE_TREE_DRY_RUN;
 	int repair = flags & WRITE_TREE_REPAIR;
 	int to_invalidate = 0;
diff --git a/commit.c b/commit.c
index b3223478bc2a3a..7bb48ce61bc626 100644
--- a/commit.c
+++ b/commit.c
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 #include "git-compat-util.h"
+#include "gvfs.h"
 #include "tag.h"
 #include "commit.h"
 #include "commit-graph.h"
@@ -560,13 +561,17 @@ int repo_parse_commit_internal(struct repository *r,
 		.sizep = &size,
 		.contentp = &buffer,
 	};
+	int ret;
 	/*
 	 * Git does not support partial clones that exclude commits, so set
 	 * OBJECT_INFO_SKIP_FETCH_OBJECT to fail fast when an object is missing.
 	 */
 	int flags = OBJECT_INFO_LOOKUP_REPLACE | OBJECT_INFO_SKIP_FETCH_OBJECT |
-		OBJECT_INFO_DIE_IF_CORRUPT;
-	int ret;
+		    OBJECT_INFO_DIE_IF_CORRUPT;
+
+	/* But the GVFS Protocol _does_ support missing commits! */
+	if (gvfs_config_is_set(GVFS_MISSING_OK))
+		flags ^= OBJECT_INFO_SKIP_FETCH_OBJECT;
 
 	if (!item)
 		return -1;
diff --git a/gvfs.h b/gvfs.h
index ed36041efa33ec..0dc573b189b487 100644
--- a/gvfs.h
+++ b/gvfs.h
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
  * The list of bits in the core_gvfs setting
  */
 #define GVFS_SKIP_SHA_ON_INDEX                      (1 << 0)
+#define GVFS_MISSING_OK                             (1 << 2)
 
 static inline int gvfs_config_is_set(int mask) {
 	return (core_gvfs & mask) == mask;
diff --git a/t/t0000-basic.sh b/t/t0000-basic.sh
index 6e300be2ac55af..69143159331ddd 100755
--- a/t/t0000-basic.sh
+++ b/t/t0000-basic.sh
@@ -1106,6 +1106,11 @@ test_expect_success 'writing this tree with --missing-ok' '
 	git write-tree --missing-ok
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'writing this tree with missing ok config value' '
+	git config core.gvfs 4 &&
+	git write-tree
+'
+
 
 ################################################################
 test_expect_success 'git read-tree followed by write-tree should be idempotent' '