diff --git a/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/internal/storage/file/ObjectDirectory.java b/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/internal/storage/file/ObjectDirectory.java
index 882f5c8a4..48a6b9d67 100644
--- a/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/internal/storage/file/ObjectDirectory.java
+++ b/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/internal/storage/file/ObjectDirectory.java
@@ -72,6 +72,7 @@
 import org.eclipse.jgit.lib.AbbreviatedObjectId;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.lib.AnyObjectId;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.lib.Config;
+import org.eclipse.jgit.lib.ConfigConstants;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.lib.Constants;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.lib.ObjectDatabase;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.lib.ObjectId;
@@ -130,6 +131,14 @@ public class ObjectDirectory extends FileObjectDatabase {
 
 	private Set<ObjectId> shallowCommitsIds;
 
+	// Whether to trust the pack folder's modification time. If set
+	// to false we will always scan the .git/objects/pack folder to
+	// check for new pack files. If set to true (default) we use the
+	// lastmodified attribute of the folder and assume that no new
+	// pack files can be in this folder if his modification time has
+	// not changed.
+	private boolean trustFolderStat = true;
+
 	/**
 	 * Initialize a reference to an on-disk object directory.
 	 *
@@ -152,6 +161,9 @@ public ObjectDirectory(final Config cfg, final File dir,
 			File[] alternatePaths, FS fs, File shallowFile) throws IOException {
 		config = cfg;
 		objects = dir;
+		trustFolderStat = config.getBoolean(
+				ConfigConstants.CONFIG_CORE_SECTION,
+				ConfigConstants.CONFIG_KEY_TRUSTFOLDERSTAT, true);
 		infoDirectory = new File(objects, "info"); //$NON-NLS-1$
 		packDirectory = new File(objects, "pack"); //$NON-NLS-1$
 		alternatesFile = new File(infoDirectory, "alternates"); //$NON-NLS-1$
@@ -606,7 +618,8 @@ InsertLooseObjectResult insertUnpackedObject(File tmp, ObjectId id,
 	}
 
 	private boolean searchPacksAgain(PackList old) {
-		return old.snapshot.isModified(packDirectory) && old != scanPacks(old);
+		return ((!trustFolderStat) || old.snapshot.isModified(packDirectory))
+				&& old != scanPacks(old);
 	}
 
 	Config getConfig() {
diff --git a/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/lib/ConfigConstants.java b/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/lib/ConfigConstants.java
index 8eeb2edaf..ccbfed720 100644
--- a/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/lib/ConfigConstants.java
+++ b/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/lib/ConfigConstants.java
@@ -257,6 +257,12 @@ public class ConfigConstants {
 	 */
 	public static final String CONFIG_KEY_RENAMELIMIT = "renamelimit";
 
+	/**
+	 * The "trustfolderstat" key in the "core section"
+	 * @since 3.6
+	 */
+	public static final String CONFIG_KEY_TRUSTFOLDERSTAT = "trustfolderstat";
+
 	/**
 	 * The "noprefix" key in the "diff section"
 	 * @since 3.0