diff --git a/read-cache.c b/read-cache.c
index 5d3c8bd4aa..6f0057fe66 100644
--- a/read-cache.c
+++ b/read-cache.c
@@ -1064,6 +1064,14 @@ static struct cache_entry *refresh_cache_ent(struct index_state *istate,
 		return ce;
 	}
 
+	if (has_symlink_leading_path(ce->name, ce_namelen(ce))) {
+		if (ignore_missing)
+			return ce;
+		if (err)
+			*err = ENOENT;
+		return NULL;
+	}
+
 	if (lstat(ce->name, &st) < 0) {
 		if (ignore_missing && errno == ENOENT)
 			return ce;
diff --git a/t/t7515-status-symlinks.sh b/t/t7515-status-symlinks.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..9f989be01b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/t/t7515-status-symlinks.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+test_description='git status and symlinks'
+
+. ./test-lib.sh
+
+test_expect_success 'setup' '
+	echo .gitignore >.gitignore &&
+	echo actual >>.gitignore &&
+	echo expect >>.gitignore &&
+	mkdir dir &&
+	echo x >dir/file1 &&
+	echo y >dir/file2 &&
+	git add dir &&
+	git commit -m initial &&
+	git tag initial
+'
+
+test_expect_success SYMLINKS 'symlink to a directory' '
+	test_when_finished "rm symlink" &&
+	ln -s dir symlink &&
+	echo "?? symlink" >expect &&
+	git status --porcelain >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success SYMLINKS 'symlink replacing a directory' '
+	test_when_finished "rm -rf copy && git reset --hard initial" &&
+	mkdir copy &&
+	cp dir/file1 copy/file1 &&
+	echo "changed in copy" >copy/file2 &&
+	git add copy &&
+	git commit -m second &&
+	rm -rf copy &&
+	ln -s dir copy &&
+	echo " D copy/file1" >expect &&
+	echo " D copy/file2" >>expect &&
+	echo "?? copy" >>expect &&
+	git status --porcelain >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
+test_done