diff --git a/config.c b/config.c
index 50bf73d07d2f3e..cc6402e6f29beb 100644
--- a/config.c
+++ b/config.c
@@ -1807,6 +1807,11 @@ int git_default_core_config(const char *var, const char *value,
 		return 0;
 	}
 
+	if (!strcmp(var, "core.virtualizeobjects")) {
+		core_virtualize_objects = git_config_bool(var, value);
+		return 0;
+	}
+
 	/* Add other config variables here and to Documentation/config.txt. */
 	return platform_core_config(var, value, ctx, cb);
 }
diff --git a/connected.c b/connected.c
index bc850e50ce4dcc..12b9f49cdfa801 100644
--- a/connected.c
+++ b/connected.c
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 #include "git-compat-util.h"
+#include "environment.h"
 #include "gettext.h"
 #include "hex.h"
 #include "gvfs.h"
@@ -50,6 +51,8 @@ int check_connected(oid_iterate_fn fn, void *cb_data,
 	 */
 	if (gvfs_config_is_set(GVFS_FETCH_SKIP_REACHABILITY_AND_UPLOADPACK))
 		return 0;
+	if (core_virtualize_objects)
+		return 0;
 
 	if (!opt)
 		opt = &defaults;
diff --git a/environment.c b/environment.c
index 0681edbab9cac6..e3cbae74f31875 100644
--- a/environment.c
+++ b/environment.c
@@ -81,6 +81,7 @@ int core_gvfs;
 int merge_log_config = -1;
 int precomposed_unicode = -1; /* see probe_utf8_pathname_composition() */
 unsigned long pack_size_limit_cfg;
+int core_virtualize_objects;
 enum log_refs_config log_all_ref_updates = LOG_REFS_UNSET;
 
 #ifndef PROTECT_HFS_DEFAULT
diff --git a/environment.h b/environment.h
index 8881ac7528a9c6..9373b7e2f22113 100644
--- a/environment.h
+++ b/environment.h
@@ -11,6 +11,8 @@ struct strvec;
 extern char comment_line_char;
 extern int auto_comment_line_char;
 
+extern int core_virtualize_objects;
+
 /*
  * Wrapper of getenv() that returns a strdup value. This value is kept
  * in argv to be freed later.
diff --git a/object-file.c b/object-file.c
index 4df61c0ce6b33f..774f45b254f64a 100644
--- a/object-file.c
+++ b/object-file.c
@@ -43,6 +43,8 @@
 #include "setup.h"
 #include "submodule.h"
 #include "fsck.h"
+#include "trace.h"
+#include "hook.h"
 
 /* The maximum size for an object header. */
 #define MAX_HEADER_LEN 32
@@ -1552,6 +1554,20 @@ void disable_obj_read_lock(void)
 	pthread_mutex_destroy(&obj_read_mutex);
 }
 
+static int run_read_object_hook(const struct object_id *oid)
+{
+	struct run_hooks_opt opt = RUN_HOOKS_OPT_INIT;
+	int ret;
+	uint64_t start;
+
+	start = getnanotime();
+	strvec_push(&opt.args, oid_to_hex(oid));
+	ret = run_hooks_opt("read-object", &opt);
+	trace_performance_since(start, "run_read_object_hook");
+
+	return ret;
+}
+
 int fetch_if_missing = 1;
 
 static int do_oid_object_info_extended(struct repository *r,
@@ -1564,6 +1580,7 @@ static int do_oid_object_info_extended(struct repository *r,
 	int rtype;
 	const struct object_id *real = oid;
 	int already_retried = 0;
+	int tried_hook = 0;
 
 
 	if (flags & OBJECT_INFO_LOOKUP_REPLACE)
@@ -1575,6 +1592,7 @@ static int do_oid_object_info_extended(struct repository *r,
 	if (!oi)
 		oi = &blank_oi;
 
+retry:
 	co = find_cached_object(real);
 	if (co) {
 		if (oi->typep)
@@ -1606,6 +1624,11 @@ static int do_oid_object_info_extended(struct repository *r,
 			reprepare_packed_git(r);
 			if (find_pack_entry(r, real, &e))
 				break;
+			if (core_virtualize_objects && !tried_hook) {
+				tried_hook = 1;
+				if (!run_read_object_hook(oid))
+					goto retry;
+			}
 		}
 
 		/*