diff --git a/Documentation/git-sparse-checkout.txt b/Documentation/git-sparse-checkout.txt
index 6f540a3443..de04b768ae 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-sparse-checkout.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-sparse-checkout.txt
@@ -38,6 +38,10 @@ COMMANDS
 	Add a set of patterns to the sparse-checkout file, as given over
 	stdin. Updates the working directory to match the new patterns.
 
+'disable'::
+	Remove the sparse-checkout file, set `core.sparseCheckout` to
+	`false`, and restore the working directory to include all files.
+
 SPARSE CHECKOUT
 ----------------
 
@@ -60,6 +64,13 @@ Then it compares the new skip-worktree value with the previous one. If
 skip-worktree turns from set to unset, it will add the corresponding
 file back. If it turns from unset to set, that file will be removed.
 
+To repopulate the working directory with all files, use the
+`git sparse-checkout disable` command.
+
+Sparse checkout support in 'git read-tree' and similar commands is
+disabled by default. You need to set `core.sparseCheckout` to `true`
+in order to have sparse checkout support.
+
 ## FULL PATTERN SET
 
 By default, the sparse-checkout file uses the same syntax as `.gitignore`
@@ -74,21 +85,6 @@ negate patterns. For example, to remove the file `unwanted`:
 !unwanted
 ----------------
 
-Another tricky thing is fully repopulating the working directory when you
-no longer want sparse checkout. You cannot just disable "sparse
-checkout" because skip-worktree bits are still in the index and your working
-directory is still sparsely populated. You should re-populate the working
-directory with the `$GIT_DIR/info/sparse-checkout` file content as
-follows:
-
-----------------
-/*
-----------------
-
-Then you can disable sparse checkout. Sparse checkout support in 'git
-read-tree' and similar commands is disabled by default. You need to
-set `core.sparseCheckout` to `true` in order to have sparse checkout
-support.
 
 SEE ALSO
 --------
diff --git a/builtin/sparse-checkout.c b/builtin/sparse-checkout.c
index ec6134fecc..8f97c27ec7 100644
--- a/builtin/sparse-checkout.c
+++ b/builtin/sparse-checkout.c
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
 #include "strbuf.h"
 
 static char const * const builtin_sparse_checkout_usage[] = {
-	N_("git sparse-checkout [init|add|list]"),
+	N_("git sparse-checkout [init|add|list|disable]"),
 	NULL
 };
 
@@ -79,11 +79,24 @@ static int sc_read_tree(void)
 	return result;
 }
 
-static int sc_enable_config(void)
+static int sc_set_config(int mode)
 {
 	struct argv_array argv = ARGV_ARRAY_INIT;
 	int result = 0;
-	argv_array_pushl(&argv, "config", "--add", "core.sparseCheckout", "true", NULL);
+	argv_array_pushl(&argv, "config", "--add", "core.sparseCheckout", NULL);
+
+	switch (mode) {
+	case 1:
+		argv_array_pushl(&argv, "true", NULL);
+		break;
+
+	case 0:
+		argv_array_pushl(&argv, "false", NULL);
+		break;
+
+	default:
+		die(_("invalid config mode"));
+	}
 
 	if (run_command_v_opt(argv.argv, RUN_GIT_CMD)) {
 		error(_("failed to enable core.sparseCheckout"));
@@ -125,7 +138,7 @@ static int sparse_checkout_init(int argc, const char **argv)
 	FILE *fp;
 	int res;
 
-	if (sc_enable_config())
+	if (sc_set_config(1))
 		return 1;
 
 	memset(&el, 0, sizeof(el));
@@ -194,6 +207,28 @@ static int sparse_checkout_add(int argc, const char **argv)
 	return sc_read_tree();
 }
 
+static int sparse_checkout_disable(int argc, const char **argv)
+{
+	char *sparse_filename;
+	FILE *fp;
+
+	if (sc_set_config(1))
+		die(_("failed to change config"));
+
+	sparse_filename = get_sparse_checkout_filename();
+	fp = fopen(sparse_filename, "w");
+	fprintf(fp, "/*\n");
+	fclose(fp);
+
+	if (sc_read_tree())
+		die(_("error while refreshing working directory"));
+
+	unlink(sparse_filename);
+	free(sparse_filename);
+
+	return sc_set_config(0);
+}
+
 int cmd_sparse_checkout(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 {
 	static struct option builtin_sparse_checkout_options[] = {
@@ -217,6 +252,8 @@ int cmd_sparse_checkout(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 			return sparse_checkout_init(argc, argv);
 		if (!strcmp(argv[0], "add"))
 			return sparse_checkout_add(argc, argv);
+		if (!strcmp(argv[0], "disable"))
+			return sparse_checkout_disable(argc, argv);
 	}
 
 	usage_with_options(builtin_sparse_checkout_usage,
diff --git a/t/t1091-sparse-checkout-builtin.sh b/t/t1091-sparse-checkout-builtin.sh
index 499bd8d6d0..68ca63a6f6 100755
--- a/t/t1091-sparse-checkout-builtin.sh
+++ b/t/t1091-sparse-checkout-builtin.sh
@@ -120,4 +120,19 @@ test_expect_success 'add to existing sparse-checkout' '
 	test_cmp expect dir
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'sparse-checkout disable' '
+	git -C repo sparse-checkout disable &&
+	test_path_is_missing repo/.git/info/sparse-checkout &&
+	git -C repo config --list >config &&
+	test_i18ngrep "core.sparsecheckout=false" config &&
+	ls repo >dir &&
+	cat >expect <<-EOF &&
+		a
+		deep
+		folder1
+		folder2
+	EOF
+	test_cmp expect dir
+'
+
 test_done
\ No newline at end of file
