diff --git a/builtin-fsck.c b/builtin-fsck.c
index 7da706cac3bef05f03c09955d41b4e5077558d4f..bc05de6800fe3d6ce9f636404efff553b1dc8f06 100644
--- a/builtin-fsck.c
+++ b/builtin-fsck.c
@@ -589,6 +589,7 @@ int cmd_fsck(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	struct alternate_object_database *alt;
 
 	errors_found = 0;
+	read_replace_refs = 0;
 
 	argc = parse_options(argc, argv, prefix, fsck_opts, fsck_usage, 0);
 	if (write_lost_and_found) {
diff --git a/builtin-pack-objects.c b/builtin-pack-objects.c
index 9742b45c4da7f9330491d0b4c6d3ed60aadb0f4c..b2c93d3d212055dd097ce696dea8f3beba6afc6a 100644
--- a/builtin-pack-objects.c
+++ b/builtin-pack-objects.c
@@ -2103,6 +2103,8 @@ int cmd_pack_objects(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	int rp_ac_alloc = 64;
 	int rp_ac;
 
+	read_replace_refs = 0;
+
 	rp_av = xcalloc(rp_ac_alloc, sizeof(*rp_av));
 
 	rp_av[0] = "pack-objects";
diff --git a/builtin-prune.c b/builtin-prune.c
index 0ed9cce4a23aa575c1e131a808cedd4f8bb542f4..8459aec8e8ea9d24a13448cf950d2e160361fd9d 100644
--- a/builtin-prune.c
+++ b/builtin-prune.c
@@ -140,6 +140,7 @@ int cmd_prune(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	char *s;
 
 	save_commit_buffer = 0;
+	read_replace_refs = 0;
 	init_revisions(&revs, prefix);
 
 	argc = parse_options(argc, argv, prefix, options, prune_usage, 0);
diff --git a/builtin-unpack-objects.c b/builtin-unpack-objects.c
index 9a773239cabab9998bcea829c0fb2abea9bdb8e8..c9f5ac0c340a700a6ddbe4cd0bf9dd69ee2c5945 100644
--- a/builtin-unpack-objects.c
+++ b/builtin-unpack-objects.c
@@ -495,6 +495,8 @@ int cmd_unpack_objects(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	int i;
 	unsigned char sha1[20];
 
+	read_replace_refs = 0;
+
 	git_config(git_default_config, NULL);
 
 	quiet = !isatty(2);
diff --git a/cache.h b/cache.h
index 94b12284a265954d55168d33b699c269a4d8b190..91ef34071e7f13b86c14da3c3b64afa488bb9d40 100644
--- a/cache.h
+++ b/cache.h
@@ -516,6 +516,7 @@ extern size_t packed_git_window_size;
 extern size_t packed_git_limit;
 extern size_t delta_base_cache_limit;
 extern int auto_crlf;
+extern int read_replace_refs;
 extern int fsync_object_files;
 extern int core_preload_index;
 
diff --git a/environment.c b/environment.c
index 801a005ef1b23ef13cfa9ece676c550fe35dedc0..6d90074648825701eea33a2e9c1436aaff6854d2 100644
--- a/environment.c
+++ b/environment.c
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ int pager_use_color = 1;
 const char *editor_program;
 const char *excludes_file;
 int auto_crlf = 0;	/* 1: both ways, -1: only when adding git objects */
+int read_replace_refs = 1;
 enum safe_crlf safe_crlf = SAFE_CRLF_WARN;
 unsigned whitespace_rule_cfg = WS_DEFAULT_RULE;
 enum branch_track git_branch_track = BRANCH_TRACK_REMOTE;
diff --git a/replace_object.c b/replace_object.c
index b23e1cd52a455bbe1e55efb589440f1ac3894455..eb59604fd39e2beaf7d43802499c27305ac92132 100644
--- a/replace_object.c
+++ b/replace_object.c
@@ -94,6 +94,9 @@ const unsigned char *lookup_replace_object(const unsigned char *sha1)
 	int pos, depth = MAXREPLACEDEPTH;
 	const unsigned char *cur = sha1;
 
+	if (!read_replace_refs)
+		return sha1;
+
 	prepare_replace_object();
 
 	/* Try to recursively replace the object */
diff --git a/t/t6050-replace.sh b/t/t6050-replace.sh
index 334aed621681365725650c9b8e47034fe4e5feb7..17f60632070b5407226421ee8b0315be9d17434b 100755
--- a/t/t6050-replace.sh
+++ b/t/t6050-replace.sh
@@ -82,6 +82,29 @@ test_expect_success 'tag replaced commit' '
      git mktag <tag.sig >.git/refs/tags/mytag 2>message
 '
 
+test_expect_success '"git fsck" works' '
+     git fsck master > fsck_master.out &&
+     grep "dangling commit $R" fsck_master.out &&
+     grep "dangling tag $(cat .git/refs/tags/mytag)" fsck_master.out &&
+     test -z "$(git fsck)"
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'repack, clone and fetch work' '
+     git repack -a -d &&
+     git clone --no-hardlinks . clone_dir &&
+     cd clone_dir &&
+     git show HEAD~5 | grep "A U Thor" &&
+     git show $HASH2 | grep "A U Thor" &&
+     git cat-file commit $R &&
+     git repack -a -d &&
+     test_must_fail git cat-file commit $R &&
+     git fetch ../ "refs/replace/*:refs/replace/*" &&
+     git show HEAD~5 | grep "O Thor" &&
+     git show $HASH2 | grep "O Thor" &&
+     git cat-file commit $R &&
+     cd ..
+'
+
 #
 #
 test_done
diff --git a/upload-pack.c b/upload-pack.c
index edc78612289c5bd774e18fe5f8e1b9ea80378a5f..e6c4f347ebf4bbee3bf6826c8089ad81cac15ed6 100644
--- a/upload-pack.c
+++ b/upload-pack.c
@@ -618,6 +618,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 	int strict = 0;
 
 	git_extract_argv0_path(argv[0]);
+	read_replace_refs = 0;
 
 	for (i = 1; i < argc; i++) {
 		char *arg = argv[i];