diff --git a/commit.c b/commit.c
index d13a7bc3746406..e037d34bc1f9c2 100644
--- a/commit.c
+++ b/commit.c
@@ -583,7 +583,8 @@ void commit_list_sort_by_date(struct commit_list **list)
 }
 
 struct commit *pop_most_recent_commit(struct commit_list **list,
-				      unsigned int mark)
+				      unsigned int mark,
+				      uint32_t min_generation)
 {
 	struct commit *ret = pop_commit(list);
 	struct commit_list *parents = ret->parents;
@@ -592,7 +593,9 @@ struct commit *pop_most_recent_commit(struct commit_list **list,
 		struct commit *commit = parents->item;
 		if (!parse_commit(commit) && !(commit->object.flags & mark)) {
 			commit->object.flags |= mark;
-			commit_list_insert_by_date(commit, list);
+
+			if (commit->generation >= min_generation)
+				commit_list_insert_by_date(commit, list);
 		}
 		parents = parents->next;
 	}
diff --git a/commit.h b/commit.h
index 98664536cb82c6..b14a7fd2652299 100644
--- a/commit.h
+++ b/commit.h
@@ -166,9 +166,13 @@ extern const char *skip_blank_lines(const char *msg);
 
 /** Removes the first commit from a list sorted by date, and adds all
  * of its parents.
+ *
+ * The parents are not added if their generation number is strictly
+ * lower than min_generation.
  **/
 struct commit *pop_most_recent_commit(struct commit_list **list,
-				      unsigned int mark);
+				      unsigned int mark,
+				      uint32_t min_generation);
 
 struct commit *pop_commit(struct commit_list **stack);
 
diff --git a/fetch-pack.c b/fetch-pack.c
index b71572292d65a8..174ff6a4a0a9d2 100644
--- a/fetch-pack.c
+++ b/fetch-pack.c
@@ -521,7 +521,8 @@ static void mark_recent_complete_commits(struct fetch_pack_args *args,
 	while (complete && cutoff <= complete->item->date) {
 		print_verbose(args, _("Marking %s as complete"),
 			      oid_to_hex(&complete->item->object.oid));
-		pop_most_recent_commit(&complete, COMPLETE);
+		pop_most_recent_commit(&complete, COMPLETE,
+				       GENERATION_NUMBER_ZERO);
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/sha1-name.c b/sha1-name.c
index cf0e8a3f85f6f0..f15acfd2f18a3d 100644
--- a/sha1-name.c
+++ b/sha1-name.c
@@ -1217,7 +1217,8 @@ static int get_oid_oneline(const char *prefix, struct object_id *oid,
 		struct commit *commit;
 		int matches;
 
-		commit = pop_most_recent_commit(&list, ONELINE_SEEN);
+		commit = pop_most_recent_commit(&list, ONELINE_SEEN,
+						GENERATION_NUMBER_ZERO);
 		if (!parse_object(the_repository, &commit->object.oid))
 			continue;
 		buf = get_commit_buffer(commit, NULL);
diff --git a/walker.c b/walker.c
index 96990d84dabfdd..d7583b9b09b41b 100644
--- a/walker.c
+++ b/walker.c
@@ -82,7 +82,8 @@ static int process_commit(struct walker *walker, struct commit *commit)
 		return -1;
 
 	while (complete && complete->item->date >= commit->date) {
-		pop_most_recent_commit(&complete, COMPLETE);
+		pop_most_recent_commit(&complete, COMPLETE,
+				       GENERATION_NUMBER_ZERO);
 	}
 
 	if (commit->object.flags & COMPLETE)