diff --git a/cache.h b/cache.h
index ff229ee523..c06b94107e 100644
--- a/cache.h
+++ b/cache.h
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@
 #define DT_UNKNOWN	0
 #define DT_DIR		1
 #define DT_REG		2
+#define DT_LNK		3
 #define DTYPE(de)	DT_UNKNOWN
 #endif
 
diff --git a/ls-files.c b/ls-files.c
index a2d8cbb2f8..393340628e 100644
--- a/ls-files.c
+++ b/ls-files.c
@@ -109,8 +109,9 @@ static void add_name(const char *pathname, int len)
 
 /*
  * Read a directory tree. We currently ignore anything but
- * directories and regular files. That's because git doesn't
- * handle them at all yet. Maybe that will change some day.
+ * directories, regular files and symlinks. That's because git
+ * doesn't handle them at all yet. Maybe that will change some
+ * day.
  *
  * Also, we currently ignore all names starting with a dot.
  * That likely will not change.
@@ -141,7 +142,7 @@ static void read_directory(const char *path, const char *base, int baselen)
 			case DT_UNKNOWN:
 				if (lstat(fullname, &st))
 					continue;
-				if (S_ISREG(st.st_mode))
+				if (S_ISREG(st.st_mode) || S_ISLNK(st.st_mode))
 					break;
 				if (!S_ISDIR(st.st_mode))
 					continue;
@@ -152,6 +153,7 @@ static void read_directory(const char *path, const char *base, int baselen)
 					       baselen + len + 1);
 				continue;
 			case DT_REG:
+			case DT_LNK:
 				break;
 			}
 			add_name(fullname, baselen + len);