diff --git a/compat/win32/fscache.c b/compat/win32/fscache.c
index bb485fad48..b2513e6932 100644
--- a/compat/win32/fscache.c
+++ b/compat/win32/fscache.c
@@ -7,14 +7,24 @@
 #include "../../trace.h"
 #include "config.h"
 
-static int initialized;
-static volatile long enabled;
-static struct hashmap map;
+static volatile long initialized;
+static DWORD dwTlsIndex;
 static CRITICAL_SECTION mutex;
-static unsigned int lstat_requests;
-static unsigned int opendir_requests;
-static unsigned int fscache_requests;
-static unsigned int fscache_misses;
+
+/*
+ * Store one fscache per thread to avoid thread contention and locking.
+ * This is ok because multi-threaded access is 1) uncommon and 2) always
+ * splitting up the cache entries across multiple threads so there isn't
+ * any overlap between threads anyway.
+ */
+struct fscache {
+	volatile long enabled;
+	struct hashmap map;
+	unsigned int lstat_requests;
+	unsigned int opendir_requests;
+	unsigned int fscache_requests;
+	unsigned int fscache_misses;
+};
 static struct trace_key trace_fscache = TRACE_KEY_INIT(FSCACHE);
 
 /*
@@ -34,8 +44,6 @@ struct fsentry {
 	union {
 		/* Reference count of the directory listing. */
 		volatile long refcnt;
-		/* Handle to wait on the loading thread. */
-		HANDLE hwait;
 		struct {
 			/* More stat members (only used for file entries). */
 			off64_t st_size;
@@ -253,86 +261,63 @@ static struct fsentry *fsentry_create_list(const struct fsentry *dir,
 /*
  * Adds a directory listing to the cache.
  */
-static void fscache_add(struct fsentry *fse)
+static void fscache_add(struct fscache *cache, struct fsentry *fse)
 {
 	if (fse->list)
 		fse = fse->list;
 
 	for (; fse; fse = fse->next)
-		hashmap_add(&map, &fse->ent);
+		hashmap_add(&cache->map, &fse->ent);
 }
 
 /*
  * Clears the cache.
  */
-static void fscache_clear(void)
+static void fscache_clear(struct fscache *cache)
 {
-	hashmap_clear_and_free(&map, struct fsentry, ent);
-	hashmap_init(&map, (hashmap_cmp_fn)fsentry_cmp, NULL, 0);
-	lstat_requests = opendir_requests = 0;
-	fscache_misses = fscache_requests = 0;
+	hashmap_clear_and_free(&cache->map, struct fsentry, ent);
+	hashmap_init(&cache->map, (hashmap_cmp_fn)fsentry_cmp, NULL, 0);
+	cache->lstat_requests = cache->opendir_requests = 0;
+	cache->fscache_misses = cache->fscache_requests = 0;
 }
 
 /*
  * Checks if the cache is enabled for the given path.
  */
-int fscache_enabled(const char *path)
+static int do_fscache_enabled(struct fscache *cache, const char *path)
 {
-	return enabled > 0 && !is_absolute_path(path);
+	return cache->enabled > 0 && !is_absolute_path(path);
 }
 
-/*
- * Looks up a cache entry, waits if its being loaded by another thread.
- * The mutex must be owned by the calling thread.
- */
-static struct fsentry *fscache_get_wait(struct fsentry *key)
+int fscache_enabled(const char *path)
 {
-	struct fsentry *fse = hashmap_get_entry(&map, key, ent, NULL);
+	struct fscache *cache = fscache_getcache();
 
-	/* return if its a 'real' entry (future entries have refcnt == 0) */
-	if (!fse || fse->list || fse->u.refcnt)
-		return fse;
-
-	/* create an event and link our key to the future entry */
-	key->u.hwait = CreateEvent(NULL, TRUE, FALSE, NULL);
-	key->next = fse->next;
-	fse->next = key;
-
-	/* wait for the loading thread to signal us */
-	LeaveCriticalSection(&mutex);
-	WaitForSingleObject(key->u.hwait, INFINITE);
-	CloseHandle(key->u.hwait);
-	EnterCriticalSection(&mutex);
-
-	/* repeat cache lookup */
-	return hashmap_get_entry(&map, key, ent, NULL);
+	return cache ? do_fscache_enabled(cache, path) : 0;
 }
 
 /*
  * Looks up or creates a cache entry for the specified key.
  */
-static struct fsentry *fscache_get(struct fsentry *key)
+static struct fsentry *fscache_get(struct fscache *cache, struct fsentry *key)
 {
-	struct fsentry *fse, *future, *waiter;
+	struct fsentry *fse;
 	int dir_not_found;
 
-	EnterCriticalSection(&mutex);
-	fscache_requests++;
+	cache->fscache_requests++;
 	/* check if entry is in cache */
-	fse = fscache_get_wait(key);
+	fse = hashmap_get_entry(&cache->map, key, ent, NULL);
 	if (fse) {
 		if (fse->st_mode)
 			fsentry_addref(fse);
 		else
 			fse = NULL; /* non-existing directory */
-		LeaveCriticalSection(&mutex);
 		return fse;
 	}
 	/* if looking for a file, check if directory listing is in cache */
 	if (!fse && key->list) {
-		fse = fscache_get_wait(key->list);
+		fse = hashmap_get_entry(&cache->map, key->list, ent, NULL);
 		if (fse) {
-			LeaveCriticalSection(&mutex);
 			/*
 			 * dir entry without file entry, or dir does not
 			 * exist -> file doesn't exist
@@ -342,25 +327,8 @@ static struct fsentry *fscache_get(struct fsentry *key)
 		}
 	}
 
-	/* add future entry to indicate that we're loading it */
-	future = key->list ? key->list : key;
-	future->next = NULL;
-	future->u.refcnt = 0;
-	hashmap_add(&map, &future->ent);
-
-	/* create the directory listing (outside mutex!) */
-	LeaveCriticalSection(&mutex);
-	fse = fsentry_create_list(future, &dir_not_found);
-	EnterCriticalSection(&mutex);
-
-	/* remove future entry and signal waiting threads */
-	hashmap_remove(&map, &future->ent, NULL);
-	waiter = future->next;
-	while (waiter) {
-		HANDLE h = waiter->u.hwait;
-		waiter = waiter->next;
-		SetEvent(h);
-	}
+	/* create the directory listing */
+	fse = fsentry_create_list(key->list ? key->list : key, &dir_not_found);
 
 	/* leave on error (errno set by fsentry_create_list) */
 	if (!fse) {
@@ -374,19 +342,18 @@ static struct fsentry *fscache_get(struct fsentry *key)
 					    key->list->dirent.d_name,
 					    key->list->len);
 			fse->st_mode = 0;
-			hashmap_add(&map, &fse->ent);
+			hashmap_add(&cache->map, &fse->ent);
 		}
-		LeaveCriticalSection(&mutex);
 		return NULL;
 	}
 
 	/* add directory listing to the cache */
-	fscache_misses++;
-	fscache_add(fse);
+	cache->fscache_misses++;
+	fscache_add(cache, fse);
 
 	/* lookup file entry if requested (fse already points to directory) */
 	if (key->list)
-		fse = hashmap_get_entry(&map, key, ent, NULL);
+		fse = hashmap_get_entry(&cache->map, key, ent, NULL);
 
 	if (fse && !fse->st_mode)
 		fse = NULL; /* non-existing directory */
@@ -397,59 +364,104 @@ static struct fsentry *fscache_get(struct fsentry *key)
 	else
 		errno = ENOENT;
 
-	LeaveCriticalSection(&mutex);
 	return fse;
 }
 
 /*
- * Enables or disables the cache. Note that the cache is read-only, changes to
+ * Enables the cache. Note that the cache is read-only, changes to
  * the working directory are NOT reflected in the cache while enabled.
  */
-int fscache_enable(int enable, size_t initial_size)
+int fscache_enable(size_t initial_size)
 {
-	int result;
+	int fscache;
+	struct fscache *cache;
+	int result = 0;
 
+	/* allow the cache to be disabled entirely */
+	fscache = git_env_bool("GIT_TEST_FSCACHE", -1);
+	if (fscache != -1)
+		core_fscache = fscache;
+	if (!core_fscache)
+		return 0;
+
+	/*
+	 * refcount the global fscache initialization so that the
+	 * opendir and lstat function pointers are redirected if
+	 * any threads are using the fscache.
+	 */
 	if (!initialized) {
-		int fscache = git_env_bool("GIT_TEST_FSCACHE", -1);
-
-		/* allow the cache to be disabled entirely */
-		if (fscache != -1)
-			core_fscache = fscache;
-		if (!core_fscache)
-			return 0;
-
 		InitializeCriticalSection(&mutex);
-		lstat_requests = opendir_requests = 0;
-		fscache_misses = fscache_requests = 0;
+		if (!dwTlsIndex) {
+			dwTlsIndex = TlsAlloc();
+			if (dwTlsIndex == TLS_OUT_OF_INDEXES) {
+				LeaveCriticalSection(&mutex);
+				return 0;
+			}
+		}
+
+		/* redirect opendir and lstat to the fscache implementations */
+		opendir = fscache_opendir;
+		lstat = fscache_lstat;
+	}
+	InterlockedIncrement(&initialized);
+
+	/* refcount the thread specific initialization */
+	cache = fscache_getcache();
+	if (cache) {
+		InterlockedIncrement(&cache->enabled);
+	} else {
+		cache = (struct fscache *)xcalloc(1, sizeof(*cache));
+		cache->enabled = 1;
 		/*
 		 * avoid having to rehash by leaving room for the parent dirs.
 		 * '4' was determined empirically by testing several repos
 		 */
-		hashmap_init(&map, (hashmap_cmp_fn) fsentry_cmp, NULL, initial_size * 4);
-		initialized = 1;
+		hashmap_init(&cache->map, (hashmap_cmp_fn)fsentry_cmp, NULL, initial_size * 4);
+		if (!TlsSetValue(dwTlsIndex, cache))
+			BUG("TlsSetValue error");
 	}
 
-	result = enable ? InterlockedIncrement(&enabled)
-			: InterlockedDecrement(&enabled);
+	trace_printf_key(&trace_fscache, "fscache: enable\n");
+	return result;
+}
 
-	if (enable && result == 1) {
-		/* redirect opendir and lstat to the fscache implementations */
-		opendir = fscache_opendir;
-		lstat = fscache_lstat;
-	} else if (!enable && !result) {
+/*
+ * Disables the cache.
+ */
+void fscache_disable(void)
+{
+	struct fscache *cache;
+
+	if (!core_fscache)
+		return;
+
+	/* update the thread specific fscache initialization */
+	cache = fscache_getcache();
+	if (!cache)
+		BUG("fscache_disable() called on a thread where fscache has not been initialized");
+	if (!cache->enabled)
+		BUG("fscache_disable() called on an fscache that is already disabled");
+	InterlockedDecrement(&cache->enabled);
+	if (!cache->enabled) {
+		TlsSetValue(dwTlsIndex, NULL);
+		trace_printf_key(&trace_fscache, "fscache_disable: lstat %u, opendir %u, "
+			"total requests/misses %u/%u\n",
+			cache->lstat_requests, cache->opendir_requests,
+			cache->fscache_requests, cache->fscache_misses);
+		fscache_clear(cache);
+		free(cache);
+	}
+
+	/* update the global fscache initialization */
+	InterlockedDecrement(&initialized);
+	if (!initialized) {
 		/* reset opendir and lstat to the original implementations */
 		opendir = dirent_opendir;
 		lstat = mingw_lstat;
-		EnterCriticalSection(&mutex);
-		trace_printf_key(&trace_fscache, "fscache: lstat %u, opendir %u, "
-						 "total requests/misses %u/%u\n",
-				lstat_requests, opendir_requests,
-				fscache_requests, fscache_misses);
-		fscache_clear();
-		LeaveCriticalSection(&mutex);
 	}
-	trace_printf_key(&trace_fscache, "fscache: enable(%d)\n", enable);
-	return result;
+
+	trace_printf_key(&trace_fscache, "fscache: disable\n");
+	return;
 }
 
 /*
@@ -457,10 +469,10 @@ int fscache_enable(int enable, size_t initial_size)
  */
 void fscache_flush(void)
 {
-	if (enabled) {
-		EnterCriticalSection(&mutex);
-		fscache_clear();
-		LeaveCriticalSection(&mutex);
+	struct fscache *cache = fscache_getcache();
+
+	if (cache && cache->enabled) {
+		fscache_clear(cache);
 	}
 }
 
@@ -473,11 +485,12 @@ int fscache_lstat(const char *filename, struct stat *st)
 	int dirlen, base, len;
 	struct heap_fsentry key[2];
 	struct fsentry *fse;
+	struct fscache *cache = fscache_getcache();
 
-	if (!fscache_enabled(filename))
+	if (!cache || !do_fscache_enabled(cache, filename))
 		return mingw_lstat(filename, st);
 
-	lstat_requests++;
+	cache->lstat_requests++;
 	/* split filename into path + name */
 	len = strlen(filename);
 	if (len && is_dir_sep(filename[len - 1]))
@@ -490,7 +503,7 @@ int fscache_lstat(const char *filename, struct stat *st)
 	/* lookup entry for path + name in cache */
 	fsentry_init(&key[0].u.ent, NULL, filename, dirlen);
 	fsentry_init(&key[1].u.ent, &key[0].u.ent, filename + base, len - base);
-	fse = fscache_get(&key[1].u.ent);
+	fse = fscache_get(cache, &key[1].u.ent);
 	if (!fse) {
 		errno = ENOENT;
 		return -1;
@@ -555,11 +568,12 @@ DIR *fscache_opendir(const char *dirname)
 	struct fsentry *list;
 	fscache_DIR *dir;
 	int len;
+	struct fscache *cache = fscache_getcache();
 
-	if (!fscache_enabled(dirname))
+	if (!cache || !do_fscache_enabled(cache, dirname))
 		return dirent_opendir(dirname);
 
-	opendir_requests++;
+	cache->opendir_requests++;
 	/* prepare name (strip trailing '/', replace '.') */
 	len = strlen(dirname);
 	if ((len == 1 && dirname[0] == '.') ||
@@ -568,7 +582,7 @@ DIR *fscache_opendir(const char *dirname)
 
 	/* get directory listing from cache */
 	fsentry_init(&key.u.ent, NULL, dirname, len);
-	list = fscache_get(&key.u.ent);
+	list = fscache_get(cache, &key.u.ent);
 	if (!list)
 		return NULL;
 
@@ -579,3 +593,53 @@ DIR *fscache_opendir(const char *dirname)
 	dir->pfsentry = list;
 	return (DIR*) dir;
 }
+
+struct fscache *fscache_getcache(void)
+{
+	return (struct fscache *)TlsGetValue(dwTlsIndex);
+}
+
+void fscache_merge(struct fscache *dest)
+{
+	struct hashmap_iter iter;
+	struct hashmap_entry *e;
+	struct fscache *cache = fscache_getcache();
+
+	/*
+	 * Only do the merge if fscache was enabled and we have a dest
+	 * cache to merge into.
+	 */
+	if (!dest) {
+		fscache_enable(0);
+		return;
+	}
+	if (!cache)
+		BUG("fscache_merge() called on a thread where fscache has not been initialized");
+
+	TlsSetValue(dwTlsIndex, NULL);
+	trace_printf_key(&trace_fscache, "fscache_merge: lstat %u, opendir %u, "
+		"total requests/misses %u/%u\n",
+		cache->lstat_requests, cache->opendir_requests,
+		cache->fscache_requests, cache->fscache_misses);
+
+	/*
+	 * This is only safe because the primary thread we're merging into
+	 * isn't being used so the critical section only needs to prevent
+	 * the the child threads from stomping on each other.
+	 */
+	EnterCriticalSection(&mutex);
+
+	hashmap_iter_init(&cache->map, &iter);
+	while ((e = hashmap_iter_next(&iter)))
+		hashmap_add(&dest->map, e);
+
+	dest->lstat_requests += cache->lstat_requests;
+	dest->opendir_requests += cache->opendir_requests;
+	dest->fscache_requests += cache->fscache_requests;
+	dest->fscache_misses += cache->fscache_misses;
+	LeaveCriticalSection(&mutex);
+
+	free(cache);
+
+	InterlockedDecrement(&initialized);
+}
diff --git a/compat/win32/fscache.h b/compat/win32/fscache.h
index d49c938111..2eb8bf3f5c 100644
--- a/compat/win32/fscache.h
+++ b/compat/win32/fscache.h
@@ -1,9 +1,16 @@
 #ifndef FSCACHE_H
 #define FSCACHE_H
 
-int fscache_enable(int enable, size_t initial_size);
-#define enable_fscache(initial_size) fscache_enable(1, initial_size)
-#define disable_fscache() fscache_enable(0, 0)
+/*
+ * The fscache is thread specific. enable_fscache() must be called
+ * for each thread where caching is desired.
+ */
+
+int fscache_enable(size_t initial_size);
+#define enable_fscache(initial_size) fscache_enable(initial_size)
+
+void fscache_disable(void);
+#define disable_fscache() fscache_disable()
 
 int fscache_enabled(const char *path);
 #define is_fscache_enabled(path) fscache_enabled(path)
@@ -14,4 +21,13 @@ void fscache_flush(void);
 DIR *fscache_opendir(const char *dir);
 int fscache_lstat(const char *file_name, struct stat *buf);
 
+/* opaque fscache structure */
+struct fscache;
+
+struct fscache *fscache_getcache(void);
+#define getcache_fscache() fscache_getcache()
+
+void fscache_merge(struct fscache *dest);
+#define merge_fscache(dest) fscache_merge(dest)
+
 #endif
diff --git a/git-compat-util.h b/git-compat-util.h
index 5f0d159e4f..03dac80c6a 100644
--- a/git-compat-util.h
+++ b/git-compat-util.h
@@ -1612,6 +1612,10 @@ static inline int is_missing_file_error(int errno_)
  * data or even file content without the need to synchronize with the file
  * system.
  */
+
+ /* opaque fscache structure */
+struct fscache;
+
 #ifndef enable_fscache
 #define enable_fscache(x) /* noop */
 #endif
@@ -1628,6 +1632,14 @@ static inline int is_missing_file_error(int errno_)
 #define flush_fscache() /* noop */
 #endif
 
+#ifndef getcache_fscache
+#define getcache_fscache() (NULL) /* noop */
+#endif
+
+#ifndef merge_fscache
+#define merge_fscache(dest) /* noop */
+#endif
+
 int cmd_main(int, const char **);
 
 /*
diff --git a/preload-index.c b/preload-index.c
index 9f4e050834..1f802dc0f2 100644
--- a/preload-index.c
+++ b/preload-index.c
@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@
 #include "symlinks.h"
 #include "trace2.h"
 
+static struct fscache *fscache;
+
 /*
  * Mostly randomly chosen maximum thread counts: we
  * cap the parallelism to 20 threads, and we want
@@ -51,6 +53,7 @@ static void *preload_thread(void *_data)
 		nr = index->cache_nr - p->offset;
 	last_nr = nr;
 
+	enable_fscache(nr);
 	do {
 		struct cache_entry *ce = *cep++;
 		struct stat st;
@@ -94,6 +97,7 @@ static void *preload_thread(void *_data)
 		pthread_mutex_unlock(&pd->mutex);
 	}
 	cache_def_clear(&cache);
+	merge_fscache(fscache);
 	return NULL;
 }
 
@@ -109,6 +113,7 @@ void preload_index(struct index_state *index,
 	if (!HAVE_THREADS || !core_preload_index)
 		return;
 
+	fscache = getcache_fscache();
 	threads = index->cache_nr / THREAD_COST;
 	if ((index->cache_nr > 1) && (threads < 2) && git_env_bool("GIT_TEST_PRELOAD_INDEX", 0))
 		threads = 2;
@@ -130,7 +135,6 @@ void preload_index(struct index_state *index,
 		pthread_mutex_init(&pd.mutex, NULL);
 	}
 
-	enable_fscache(index->cache_nr);
 	for (i = 0; i < threads; i++) {
 		struct thread_data *p = data+i;
 		int err;
@@ -166,8 +170,6 @@ void preload_index(struct index_state *index,
 
 	trace2_data_intmax("index", NULL, "preload/sum_lstat", t2_sum_lstat);
 	trace2_region_leave("index", "preload", NULL);
-
-	disable_fscache();
 }
 
 int repo_read_index_preload(struct repository *repo,