diff --git a/object.c b/object.c
index 2c61e4c862..e305a30804 100644
--- a/object.c
+++ b/object.c
@@ -272,6 +272,7 @@ struct object *parse_object_with_flags(struct repository *r,
 				       enum parse_object_flags flags)
 {
 	int skip_hash = !!(flags & PARSE_OBJECT_SKIP_HASH_CHECK);
+	int discard_tree = !!(flags & PARSE_OBJECT_DISCARD_TREE);
 	unsigned long size;
 	enum object_type type;
 	int eaten;
@@ -299,6 +300,17 @@ struct object *parse_object_with_flags(struct repository *r,
 		return lookup_object(r, oid);
 	}
 
+	/*
+	 * If the caller does not care about the tree buffer and does not
+	 * care about checking the hash, we can simply verify that we
+	 * have the on-disk object with the correct type.
+	 */
+	if (skip_hash && discard_tree &&
+	    (!obj || obj->type == OBJ_TREE) &&
+	    oid_object_info(r, oid, NULL) == OBJ_TREE) {
+		return &lookup_tree(r, oid)->object;
+	}
+
 	buffer = repo_read_object_file(r, oid, &type, &size);
 	if (buffer) {
 		if (!skip_hash &&
@@ -312,6 +324,8 @@ struct object *parse_object_with_flags(struct repository *r,
 					  buffer, &eaten);
 		if (!eaten)
 			free(buffer);
+		if (discard_tree && type == OBJ_TREE)
+			free_tree_buffer((struct tree *)obj);
 		return obj;
 	}
 	return NULL;
diff --git a/object.h b/object.h
index 114d45954d..c7123cade6 100644
--- a/object.h
+++ b/object.h
@@ -197,6 +197,7 @@ void *object_as_type(struct object *obj, enum object_type type, int quiet);
  */
 enum parse_object_flags {
 	PARSE_OBJECT_SKIP_HASH_CHECK = 1 << 0,
+	PARSE_OBJECT_DISCARD_TREE = 1 << 1,
 };
 struct object *parse_object(struct repository *r, const struct object_id *oid);
 struct object *parse_object_with_flags(struct repository *r,
diff --git a/revision.c b/revision.c
index 2424c9bd67..b10f63a607 100644
--- a/revision.c
+++ b/revision.c
@@ -381,7 +381,8 @@ static struct object *get_reference(struct rev_info *revs, const char *name,
 
 	object = parse_object_with_flags(revs->repo, oid,
 					 revs->verify_objects ? 0 :
-					 PARSE_OBJECT_SKIP_HASH_CHECK);
+					 PARSE_OBJECT_SKIP_HASH_CHECK |
+					 PARSE_OBJECT_DISCARD_TREE);
 
 	if (!object) {
 		if (revs->ignore_missing)
diff --git a/upload-pack.c b/upload-pack.c
index b721155442..761af4a532 100644
--- a/upload-pack.c
+++ b/upload-pack.c
@@ -470,7 +470,8 @@ static int do_got_oid(struct upload_pack_data *data, const struct object_id *oid
 {
 	int we_knew_they_have = 0;
 	struct object *o = parse_object_with_flags(the_repository, oid,
-						   PARSE_OBJECT_SKIP_HASH_CHECK);
+						   PARSE_OBJECT_SKIP_HASH_CHECK |
+						   PARSE_OBJECT_DISCARD_TREE);
 
 	if (!o)
 		die("oops (%s)", oid_to_hex(oid));
@@ -1150,7 +1151,8 @@ static void receive_needs(struct upload_pack_data *data,
 		}
 
 		o = parse_object_with_flags(the_repository, &oid_buf,
-					    PARSE_OBJECT_SKIP_HASH_CHECK);
+					    PARSE_OBJECT_SKIP_HASH_CHECK |
+					    PARSE_OBJECT_DISCARD_TREE);
 		if (!o) {
 			packet_writer_error(&data->writer,
 					    "upload-pack: not our ref %s",
@@ -1467,7 +1469,8 @@ static int parse_want(struct packet_writer *writer, const char *line,
 			    "expected to get oid, not '%s'", line);
 
 		o = parse_object_with_flags(the_repository, &oid,
-					    PARSE_OBJECT_SKIP_HASH_CHECK);
+					    PARSE_OBJECT_SKIP_HASH_CHECK |
+					    PARSE_OBJECT_DISCARD_TREE);
 
 		if (!o) {
 			packet_writer_error(writer,