diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 9673e792db..d0f692a355 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -196,6 +196,7 @@
 /git.spec
 *.exe
 *.[aos]
+*.o.json
 *.py[co]
 .depend/
 *.gcda
@@ -217,6 +218,7 @@
 /tags
 /TAGS
 /cscope*
+/compile_commands.json
 *.hcc
 *.obj
 *.lib
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 86e5411f39..3418e8c40a 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -462,6 +462,12 @@ all::
 # the global variable _wpgmptr containing the absolute path of the current
 # executable (this is the case on Windows).
 #
+# Define GENERATE_COMPILATION_DATABASE to "yes" to generate JSON compilation
+# database entries during compilation if your compiler supports it, using the
+# `-MJ` flag. The JSON entries will be placed in the `compile_commands/`
+# directory, and the JSON compilation database 'compile_commands.json' will be
+# created at the root of the repository.
+#
 # Define DEVELOPER to enable more compiler warnings. Compiler version
 # and family are auto detected, but could be overridden by defining
 # COMPILER_FEATURES (see config.mak.dev). You can still set
@@ -1256,6 +1262,27 @@ $(error please set COMPUTE_HEADER_DEPENDENCIES to yes, no, or auto \
 endif
 endif
 
+ifndef GENERATE_COMPILATION_DATABASE
+GENERATE_COMPILATION_DATABASE = no
+endif
+
+ifeq ($(GENERATE_COMPILATION_DATABASE),yes)
+compdb_check = $(shell $(CC) $(ALL_CFLAGS) \
+	-c -MJ /dev/null \
+	-x c /dev/null -o /dev/null 2>&1; \
+	echo $$?)
+ifneq ($(compdb_check),0)
+override GENERATE_COMPILATION_DATABASE = no
+$(warning GENERATE_COMPILATION_DATABASE is set to "yes", but your compiler does not \
+support generating compilation database entries)
+endif
+else
+ifneq ($(GENERATE_COMPILATION_DATABASE),no)
+$(error please set GENERATE_COMPILATION_DATABASE to "yes" or "no" \
+(not "$(GENERATE_COMPILATION_DATABASE)"))
+endif
+endif
+
 ifdef SANE_TOOL_PATH
 SANE_TOOL_PATH_SQ = $(subst ','\'',$(SANE_TOOL_PATH))
 BROKEN_PATH_FIX = 's|^\# @@BROKEN_PATH_FIX@@$$|git_broken_path_fix "$(SANE_TOOL_PATH_SQ)"|'
@@ -2369,16 +2396,30 @@ missing_dep_dirs =
 dep_args =
 endif
 
+compdb_dir = compile_commands
+
+ifeq ($(GENERATE_COMPILATION_DATABASE),yes)
+missing_compdb_dir = $(compdb_dir)
+$(missing_compdb_dir):
+	@mkdir -p $@
+
+compdb_file = $(compdb_dir)/$(subst /,-,$@.json)
+compdb_args = -MJ $(compdb_file)
+else
+missing_compdb_dir =
+compdb_args =
+endif
+
 ASM_SRC := $(wildcard $(OBJECTS:o=S))
 ASM_OBJ := $(ASM_SRC:S=o)
 C_OBJ := $(filter-out $(ASM_OBJ),$(OBJECTS))
 
 .SUFFIXES:
 
-$(C_OBJ): %.o: %.c GIT-CFLAGS $(missing_dep_dirs)
-	$(QUIET_CC)$(CC) -o $*.o -c $(dep_args) $(ALL_CFLAGS) $(EXTRA_CPPFLAGS) $<
-$(ASM_OBJ): %.o: %.S GIT-CFLAGS $(missing_dep_dirs)
-	$(QUIET_CC)$(CC) -o $*.o -c $(dep_args) $(ALL_CFLAGS) $(EXTRA_CPPFLAGS) $<
+$(C_OBJ): %.o: %.c GIT-CFLAGS $(missing_dep_dirs) $(missing_compdb_dir)
+	$(QUIET_CC)$(CC) -o $*.o -c $(dep_args) $(compdb_args) $(ALL_CFLAGS) $(EXTRA_CPPFLAGS) $<
+$(ASM_OBJ): %.o: %.S GIT-CFLAGS $(missing_dep_dirs) $(missing_compdb_dir)
+	$(QUIET_CC)$(CC) -o $*.o -c $(dep_args) $(compdb_args) $(ALL_CFLAGS) $(EXTRA_CPPFLAGS) $<
 
 %.s: %.c GIT-CFLAGS FORCE
 	$(QUIET_CC)$(CC) -o $@ -S $(ALL_CFLAGS) $(EXTRA_CPPFLAGS) $<
@@ -2401,6 +2442,14 @@ else
 $(OBJECTS): $(LIB_H) $(GENERATED_H)
 endif
 
+ifeq ($(GENERATE_COMPILATION_DATABASE),yes)
+all:: compile_commands.json
+compile_commands.json:
+	@$(RM) $@
+	$(QUIET_GEN)sed -e '1s/^/[/' -e '$$s/,$$/]/' $(compdb_dir)/*.o.json > $@+
+	@if test -s $@+; then mv $@+ $@; else $(RM) $@+; fi
+endif
+
 exec-cmd.sp exec-cmd.s exec-cmd.o: GIT-PREFIX
 exec-cmd.sp exec-cmd.s exec-cmd.o: EXTRA_CPPFLAGS = \
 	'-DGIT_EXEC_PATH="$(gitexecdir_SQ)"' \
@@ -3085,7 +3134,7 @@ clean: profile-clean coverage-clean cocciclean
 	$(RM) $(TEST_PROGRAMS)
 	$(RM) $(FUZZ_PROGRAMS)
 	$(RM) $(HCC)
-	$(RM) -r bin-wrappers $(dep_dirs)
+	$(RM) -r bin-wrappers $(dep_dirs) $(compdb_dir) compile_commands.json
 	$(RM) -r po/build/
 	$(RM) *.pyc *.pyo */*.pyc */*.pyo $(GENERATED_H) $(ETAGS_TARGET) tags cscope*
 	$(RM) -r $(GIT_TARNAME) .doc-tmp-dir