diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index d0f692a355..6427739814 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@
 /git-check-mailmap
 /git-check-ref-format
 /git-checkout
+/git-checkout--helper
 /git-checkout-index
 /git-cherry
 /git-cherry-pick
diff --git a/Documentation/config/checkout.txt b/Documentation/config/checkout.txt
index 6b646813ab..44eb58bcd3 100644
--- a/Documentation/config/checkout.txt
+++ b/Documentation/config/checkout.txt
@@ -16,3 +16,24 @@ will checkout the '<something>' branch on another remote,
 and by linkgit:git-worktree[1] when 'git worktree add' refers to a
 remote branch. This setting might be used for other checkout-like
 commands or functionality in the future.
+
+checkout.workers::
+	The number of parallel workers to use when updating the working tree.
+	The default is one, i.e. sequential execution. If set to a value less
+	than one, Git will use as many workers as the number of logical cores
+	available. This setting and checkout.thresholdForParallelism affect all
+	commands that perform checkout. E.g. checkout, switch, clone, reset,
+	sparse-checkout, read-tree, etc.
++
+Note: parallel checkout usually delivers better performance for repositories
+located on SSDs or over NFS. For repositories on spinning disks and/or machines
+with a small number of cores, the default sequential checkout often performs
+better. The size and compression level of a repository might also influence how
+well the parallel version performs.
+
+checkout.thresholdForParallelism::
+	When running parallel checkout with a small number of files, the cost
+	of subprocess spawning and inter-process communication might outweigh
+	the parallelization gains. This setting allows to define the minimum
+	number of files for which parallel checkout should be attempted. The
+	default is 100.
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 3edcdc534c..e9c6616180 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1049,6 +1049,7 @@ BUILTIN_OBJS += builtin/check-attr.o
 BUILTIN_OBJS += builtin/check-ignore.o
 BUILTIN_OBJS += builtin/check-mailmap.o
 BUILTIN_OBJS += builtin/check-ref-format.o
+BUILTIN_OBJS += builtin/checkout--helper.o
 BUILTIN_OBJS += builtin/checkout-index.o
 BUILTIN_OBJS += builtin/checkout.o
 BUILTIN_OBJS += builtin/clean.o
diff --git a/builtin.h b/builtin.h
index ba954e180c..b52243848d 100644
--- a/builtin.h
+++ b/builtin.h
@@ -123,6 +123,7 @@ int cmd_bugreport(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix);
 int cmd_bundle(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix);
 int cmd_cat_file(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix);
 int cmd_checkout(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix);
+int cmd_checkout__helper(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix);
 int cmd_checkout_index(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix);
 int cmd_check_attr(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix);
 int cmd_check_ignore(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix);
diff --git a/builtin/checkout--helper.c b/builtin/checkout--helper.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..67fe37cf11
--- /dev/null
+++ b/builtin/checkout--helper.c
@@ -0,0 +1,142 @@
+#include "builtin.h"
+#include "config.h"
+#include "entry.h"
+#include "parallel-checkout.h"
+#include "parse-options.h"
+#include "pkt-line.h"
+
+static void packet_to_pc_item(char *line, int len,
+			      struct parallel_checkout_item *pc_item)
+{
+	struct pc_item_fixed_portion *fixed_portion;
+	char *encoding, *variant;
+
+	if (len < sizeof(struct pc_item_fixed_portion))
+		BUG("checkout worker received too short item (got %dB, exp %dB)",
+		    len, (int)sizeof(struct pc_item_fixed_portion));
+
+	fixed_portion = (struct pc_item_fixed_portion *)line;
+
+	if (len - sizeof(struct pc_item_fixed_portion) !=
+		fixed_portion->name_len + fixed_portion->working_tree_encoding_len)
+		BUG("checkout worker received corrupted item");
+
+	variant = line + sizeof(struct pc_item_fixed_portion);
+
+	/*
+	 * Note: the main process uses zero length to communicate that the
+	 * encoding is NULL. There is no use case in actually sending an empty
+	 * string since it's considered as NULL when ca.working_tree_encoding
+	 * is set at git_path_check_encoding().
+	 */
+	if (fixed_portion->working_tree_encoding_len) {
+		encoding = xmemdupz(variant,
+				    fixed_portion->working_tree_encoding_len);
+		variant += fixed_portion->working_tree_encoding_len;
+	} else {
+		encoding = NULL;
+	}
+
+	memset(pc_item, 0, sizeof(*pc_item));
+	pc_item->ce = make_empty_transient_cache_entry(fixed_portion->name_len);
+	pc_item->ce->ce_namelen = fixed_portion->name_len;
+	pc_item->ce->ce_mode = fixed_portion->ce_mode;
+	memcpy(pc_item->ce->name, variant, pc_item->ce->ce_namelen);
+	oidcpy(&pc_item->ce->oid, &fixed_portion->oid);
+
+	pc_item->id = fixed_portion->id;
+	pc_item->ca.crlf_action = fixed_portion->crlf_action;
+	pc_item->ca.ident = fixed_portion->ident;
+	pc_item->ca.working_tree_encoding = encoding;
+}
+
+static void report_result(struct parallel_checkout_item *pc_item)
+{
+	struct pc_item_result res = { 0 };
+	size_t size;
+
+	res.id = pc_item->id;
+	res.status = pc_item->status;
+
+	if (pc_item->status == PC_ITEM_WRITTEN) {
+		res.st = pc_item->st;
+		size = sizeof(res);
+	} else {
+		size = PC_ITEM_RESULT_BASE_SIZE;
+	}
+
+	packet_write(1, (const char *)&res, size);
+}
+
+/* Free the worker-side malloced data, but not pc_item itself. */
+static void release_pc_item_data(struct parallel_checkout_item *pc_item)
+{
+	free((char *)pc_item->ca.working_tree_encoding);
+	discard_cache_entry(pc_item->ce);
+}
+
+static void worker_loop(struct checkout *state)
+{
+	struct parallel_checkout_item *items = NULL;
+	size_t i, nr = 0, alloc = 0;
+
+	while (1) {
+		int len;
+		char *line = packet_read_line(0, &len);
+
+		if (!line)
+			break;
+
+		ALLOC_GROW(items, nr + 1, alloc);
+		packet_to_pc_item(line, len, &items[nr++]);
+	}
+
+	for (i = 0; i < nr; ++i) {
+		struct parallel_checkout_item *pc_item = &items[i];
+		write_pc_item(pc_item, state);
+		report_result(pc_item);
+		release_pc_item_data(pc_item);
+	}
+
+	packet_flush(1);
+
+	free(items);
+}
+
+static const char * const checkout_helper_usage[] = {
+	N_("git checkout--helper [<options>]"),
+	NULL
+};
+
+int cmd_checkout__helper(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
+{
+	struct checkout state = CHECKOUT_INIT;
+	struct option checkout_helper_options[] = {
+		OPT_STRING(0, "prefix", &state.base_dir, N_("string"),
+			N_("when creating files, prepend <string>")),
+		OPT_END()
+	};
+
+	if (argc == 2 && !strcmp(argv[1], "-h"))
+		usage_with_options(checkout_helper_usage,
+				   checkout_helper_options);
+
+	git_config(git_default_config, NULL);
+	argc = parse_options(argc, argv, prefix, checkout_helper_options,
+			     checkout_helper_usage, 0);
+	if (argc > 0)
+		usage_with_options(checkout_helper_usage, checkout_helper_options);
+
+	if (state.base_dir)
+		state.base_dir_len = strlen(state.base_dir);
+
+	/*
+	 * Setting this on worker won't actually update the index. We just need
+	 * to pretend so to induce the checkout machinery to stat() the written
+	 * entries.
+	 */
+	state.refresh_cache = 1;
+
+	worker_loop(&state);
+	return 0;
+}
diff --git a/git.c b/git.c
index 01c456edce..a09357fc56 100644
--- a/git.c
+++ b/git.c
@@ -487,6 +487,8 @@ static struct cmd_struct commands[] = {
 	{ "check-mailmap", cmd_check_mailmap, RUN_SETUP },
 	{ "check-ref-format", cmd_check_ref_format, NO_PARSEOPT  },
 	{ "checkout", cmd_checkout, RUN_SETUP | NEED_WORK_TREE },
+	{ "checkout--helper", cmd_checkout__helper,
+		RUN_SETUP | NEED_WORK_TREE | SUPPORT_SUPER_PREFIX },
 	{ "checkout-index", cmd_checkout_index,
 		RUN_SETUP | NEED_WORK_TREE},
 	{ "cherry", cmd_cherry, RUN_SETUP },
diff --git a/parallel-checkout.c b/parallel-checkout.c
index 7dc8ab2a67..7ea0faa526 100644
--- a/parallel-checkout.c
+++ b/parallel-checkout.c
@@ -1,28 +1,15 @@
 #include "cache.h"
 #include "entry.h"
 #include "parallel-checkout.h"
+#include "pkt-line.h"
+#include "run-command.h"
 #include "streaming.h"
+#include "thread-utils.h"
+#include "config.h"
 
-enum pc_item_status {
-	PC_ITEM_PENDING = 0,
-	PC_ITEM_WRITTEN,
-	/*
-	 * The entry could not be written because there was another file
-	 * already present in its path or leading directories. Since
-	 * checkout_entry_ca() removes such files from the working tree before
-	 * enqueueing the entry for parallel checkout, it means that there was
-	 * a path collision among the entries being written.
-	 */
-	PC_ITEM_COLLIDED,
-	PC_ITEM_FAILED,
-};
-
-struct parallel_checkout_item {
-	/* pointer to a istate->cache[] entry. Not owned by us. */
-	struct cache_entry *ce;
-	struct conv_attrs ca;
-	struct stat st;
-	enum pc_item_status status;
+struct pc_worker {
+	struct child_process cp;
+	size_t next_to_complete, nr_to_complete;
 };
 
 struct parallel_checkout {
@@ -38,6 +25,19 @@ enum pc_status parallel_checkout_status(void)
 	return parallel_checkout.status;
 }
 
+#define DEFAULT_THRESHOLD_FOR_PARALLELISM 100
+
+void get_parallel_checkout_configs(int *num_workers, int *threshold)
+{
+	if (git_config_get_int("checkout.workers", num_workers))
+		*num_workers = 1;
+	else if (*num_workers < 1)
+		*num_workers = online_cpus();
+
+	if (git_config_get_int("checkout.thresholdForParallelism", threshold))
+		*threshold = DEFAULT_THRESHOLD_FOR_PARALLELISM;
+}
+
 void init_parallel_checkout(void)
 {
 	if (parallel_checkout.status != PC_UNINITIALIZED)
@@ -115,10 +115,12 @@ int enqueue_checkout(struct cache_entry *ce, struct conv_attrs *ca)
 	ALLOC_GROW(parallel_checkout.items, parallel_checkout.nr + 1,
 		   parallel_checkout.alloc);
 
-	pc_item = &parallel_checkout.items[parallel_checkout.nr++];
+	pc_item = &parallel_checkout.items[parallel_checkout.nr];
 	pc_item->ce = ce;
 	memcpy(&pc_item->ca, ca, sizeof(pc_item->ca));
 	pc_item->status = PC_ITEM_PENDING;
+	pc_item->id = parallel_checkout.nr;
+	parallel_checkout.nr++;
 
 	return 0;
 }
@@ -231,7 +233,8 @@ static int write_pc_item_to_fd(struct parallel_checkout_item *pc_item, int fd,
 	/*
 	 * checkout metadata is used to give context for external process
 	 * filters. Files requiring such filters are not eligible for parallel
-	 * checkout, so pass NULL.
+	 * checkout, so pass NULL. Note: if that changes, the metadata must also
+	 * be passed from the main process to the workers.
 	 */
 	ret = convert_to_working_tree_ca(&pc_item->ca, pc_item->ce->name,
 					 new_blob, size, &buf, NULL);
@@ -272,8 +275,8 @@ static int check_leading_dirs(const char *path, int len, int prefix_len)
 	return has_dirs_only_path(path, slash - path, prefix_len);
 }
 
-static void write_pc_item(struct parallel_checkout_item *pc_item,
-			  struct checkout *state)
+void write_pc_item(struct parallel_checkout_item *pc_item,
+		   struct checkout *state)
 {
 	unsigned int mode = (pc_item->ce->ce_mode & 0100) ? 0777 : 0666;
 	int fd = -1, fstat_done = 0;
@@ -343,6 +346,214 @@ static void write_pc_item(struct parallel_checkout_item *pc_item,
 	strbuf_release(&path);
 }
 
+static void send_one_item(int fd, struct parallel_checkout_item *pc_item)
+{
+	size_t len_data;
+	char *data, *variant;
+	struct pc_item_fixed_portion *fixed_portion;
+	const char *working_tree_encoding = pc_item->ca.working_tree_encoding;
+	size_t name_len = pc_item->ce->ce_namelen;
+	size_t working_tree_encoding_len = working_tree_encoding ?
+					   strlen(working_tree_encoding) : 0;
+
+	len_data = sizeof(struct pc_item_fixed_portion) + name_len +
+		   working_tree_encoding_len;
+
+	data = xcalloc(1, len_data);
+
+	fixed_portion = (struct pc_item_fixed_portion *)data;
+	fixed_portion->id = pc_item->id;
+	oidcpy(&fixed_portion->oid, &pc_item->ce->oid);
+	fixed_portion->ce_mode = pc_item->ce->ce_mode;
+	fixed_portion->crlf_action = pc_item->ca.crlf_action;
+	fixed_portion->ident = pc_item->ca.ident;
+	fixed_portion->name_len = name_len;
+	fixed_portion->working_tree_encoding_len = working_tree_encoding_len;
+
+	variant = data + sizeof(*fixed_portion);
+	if (working_tree_encoding_len) {
+		memcpy(variant, working_tree_encoding, working_tree_encoding_len);
+		variant += working_tree_encoding_len;
+	}
+	memcpy(variant, pc_item->ce->name, name_len);
+
+	packet_write(fd, data, len_data);
+
+	free(data);
+}
+
+static void send_batch(int fd, size_t start, size_t nr)
+{
+	size_t i;
+	for (i = 0; i < nr; ++i)
+		send_one_item(fd, &parallel_checkout.items[start + i]);
+	packet_flush(fd);
+}
+
+static struct pc_worker *setup_workers(struct checkout *state, int num_workers)
+{
+	struct pc_worker *workers;
+	int i, workers_with_one_extra_item;
+	size_t base_batch_size, next_to_assign = 0;
+
+	ALLOC_ARRAY(workers, num_workers);
+
+	for (i = 0; i < num_workers; ++i) {
+		struct child_process *cp = &workers[i].cp;
+
+		child_process_init(cp);
+		cp->git_cmd = 1;
+		cp->in = -1;
+		cp->out = -1;
+		cp->clean_on_exit = 1;
+		strvec_push(&cp->args, "checkout--helper");
+		if (state->base_dir_len)
+			strvec_pushf(&cp->args, "--prefix=%s", state->base_dir);
+		if (start_command(cp))
+			die(_("failed to spawn checkout worker"));
+	}
+
+	base_batch_size = parallel_checkout.nr / num_workers;
+	workers_with_one_extra_item = parallel_checkout.nr % num_workers;
+
+	for (i = 0; i < num_workers; ++i) {
+		struct pc_worker *worker = &workers[i];
+		size_t batch_size = base_batch_size;
+
+		/* distribute the extra work evenly */
+		if (i < workers_with_one_extra_item)
+			batch_size++;
+
+		send_batch(worker->cp.in, next_to_assign, batch_size);
+		worker->next_to_complete = next_to_assign;
+		worker->nr_to_complete = batch_size;
+
+		next_to_assign += batch_size;
+	}
+
+	return workers;
+}
+
+static void finish_workers(struct pc_worker *workers, int num_workers)
+{
+	int i;
+
+	/*
+	 * Close pipes before calling finish_command() to let the workers
+	 * exit asynchronously and avoid spending extra time on wait().
+	 */
+	for (i = 0; i < num_workers; ++i) {
+		struct child_process *cp = &workers[i].cp;
+		if (cp->in >= 0)
+			close(cp->in);
+		if (cp->out >= 0)
+			close(cp->out);
+	}
+
+	for (i = 0; i < num_workers; ++i) {
+		if (finish_command(&workers[i].cp))
+			error(_("checkout worker %d finished with error"), i);
+	}
+
+	free(workers);
+}
+
+#define ASSERT_PC_ITEM_RESULT_SIZE(got, exp) \
+{ \
+	if (got != exp) \
+		BUG("corrupted result from checkout worker (got %dB, exp %dB)", \
+		    got, exp); \
+} while(0)
+
+static void parse_and_save_result(const char *line, int len,
+				  struct pc_worker *worker)
+{
+	struct pc_item_result *res;
+	struct parallel_checkout_item *pc_item;
+	struct stat *st = NULL;
+
+	if (len < PC_ITEM_RESULT_BASE_SIZE)
+		BUG("too short result from checkout worker (got %dB, exp %dB)",
+		    len, (int)PC_ITEM_RESULT_BASE_SIZE);
+
+	res = (struct pc_item_result *)line;
+
+	/*
+	 * Worker should send either the full result struct on success, or
+	 * just the base (i.e. no stat data), otherwise.
+	 */
+	if (res->status == PC_ITEM_WRITTEN) {
+		ASSERT_PC_ITEM_RESULT_SIZE(len, (int)sizeof(struct pc_item_result));
+		st = &res->st;
+	} else {
+		ASSERT_PC_ITEM_RESULT_SIZE(len, (int)PC_ITEM_RESULT_BASE_SIZE);
+	}
+
+	if (!worker->nr_to_complete || res->id != worker->next_to_complete)
+		BUG("checkout worker sent unexpected item id");
+
+	worker->next_to_complete++;
+	worker->nr_to_complete--;
+
+	pc_item = &parallel_checkout.items[res->id];
+	pc_item->status = res->status;
+	if (st)
+		pc_item->st = *st;
+}
+
+
+static void gather_results_from_workers(struct pc_worker *workers,
+					int num_workers)
+{
+	int i, active_workers = num_workers;
+	struct pollfd *pfds;
+
+	CALLOC_ARRAY(pfds, num_workers);
+	for (i = 0; i < num_workers; ++i) {
+		pfds[i].fd = workers[i].cp.out;
+		pfds[i].events = POLLIN;
+	}
+
+	while (active_workers) {
+		int nr = poll(pfds, num_workers, -1);
+
+		if (nr < 0) {
+			if (errno == EINTR)
+				continue;
+			die_errno("failed to poll checkout workers");
+		}
+
+		for (i = 0; i < num_workers && nr > 0; ++i) {
+			struct pc_worker *worker = &workers[i];
+			struct pollfd *pfd = &pfds[i];
+
+			if (!pfd->revents)
+				continue;
+
+			if (pfd->revents & POLLIN) {
+				int len;
+				const char *line = packet_read_line(pfd->fd, &len);
+
+				if (!line) {
+					pfd->fd = -1;
+					active_workers--;
+				} else {
+					parse_and_save_result(line, len, worker);
+				}
+			} else if (pfd->revents & POLLHUP) {
+				pfd->fd = -1;
+				active_workers--;
+			} else if (pfd->revents & (POLLNVAL | POLLERR)) {
+				die(_("error polling from checkout worker"));
+			}
+
+			nr--;
+		}
+	}
+
+	free(pfds);
+}
+
 static void write_items_sequentially(struct checkout *state)
 {
 	size_t i;
@@ -351,7 +562,7 @@ static void write_items_sequentially(struct checkout *state)
 		write_pc_item(&parallel_checkout.items[i], state);
 }
 
-int run_parallel_checkout(struct checkout *state)
+int run_parallel_checkout(struct checkout *state, int num_workers, int threshold)
 {
 	int ret;
 
@@ -360,7 +571,17 @@ int run_parallel_checkout(struct checkout *state)
 
 	parallel_checkout.status = PC_RUNNING;
 
-	write_items_sequentially(state);
+	if (parallel_checkout.nr < num_workers)
+		num_workers = parallel_checkout.nr;
+
+	if (num_workers <= 1 || parallel_checkout.nr < threshold) {
+		write_items_sequentially(state);
+	} else {
+		struct pc_worker *workers = setup_workers(state, num_workers);
+		gather_results_from_workers(workers, num_workers);
+		finish_workers(workers, num_workers);
+	}
+
 	ret = handle_results(state);
 
 	finish_parallel_checkout();
diff --git a/parallel-checkout.h b/parallel-checkout.h
index e6d6fc01ea..0c9984584e 100644
--- a/parallel-checkout.h
+++ b/parallel-checkout.h
@@ -1,9 +1,12 @@
 #ifndef PARALLEL_CHECKOUT_H
 #define PARALLEL_CHECKOUT_H
 
-struct cache_entry;
-struct checkout;
-struct conv_attrs;
+#include "entry.h"
+#include "convert.h"
+
+/****************************************************************
+ * Users of parallel checkout
+ ****************************************************************/
 
 enum pc_status {
 	PC_UNINITIALIZED = 0,
@@ -12,6 +15,7 @@ enum pc_status {
 };
 
 enum pc_status parallel_checkout_status(void);
+void get_parallel_checkout_configs(int *num_workers, int *threshold);
 void init_parallel_checkout(void);
 
 /*
@@ -21,7 +25,77 @@ void init_parallel_checkout(void);
  */
 int enqueue_checkout(struct cache_entry *ce, struct conv_attrs *ca);
 
-/* Write all the queued entries, returning 0 on success.*/
-int run_parallel_checkout(struct checkout *state);
+/*
+ * Write all the queued entries, returning 0 on success. If the number of
+ * entries is smaller than the specified threshold, the operation is performed
+ * sequentially.
+ */
+int run_parallel_checkout(struct checkout *state, int num_workers, int threshold);
+
+/****************************************************************
+ * Interface with checkout--helper
+ ****************************************************************/
+
+enum pc_item_status {
+	PC_ITEM_PENDING = 0,
+	PC_ITEM_WRITTEN,
+	/*
+	 * The entry could not be written because there was another file
+	 * already present in its path or leading directories. Since
+	 * checkout_entry_ca() removes such files from the working tree before
+	 * enqueueing the entry for parallel checkout, it means that there was
+	 * a path collision among the entries being written.
+	 */
+	PC_ITEM_COLLIDED,
+	PC_ITEM_FAILED,
+};
+
+struct parallel_checkout_item {
+	/*
+	 * In main process ce points to a istate->cache[] entry. Thus, it's not
+	 * owned by us. In workers they own the memory, which *must be* released.
+	 */
+	struct cache_entry *ce;
+	struct conv_attrs ca;
+	size_t id; /* position in parallel_checkout.items[] of main process */
+
+	/* Output fields, sent from workers. */
+	enum pc_item_status status;
+	struct stat st;
+};
+
+/*
+ * The fixed-size portion of `struct parallel_checkout_item` that is sent to the
+ * workers. Following this will be 2 strings: ca.working_tree_encoding and
+ * ce.name; These are NOT null terminated, since we have the size in the fixed
+ * portion.
+ *
+ * Note that not all fields of conv_attrs and cache_entry are passed, only the
+ * ones that will be required by the workers to smudge and write the entry.
+ */
+struct pc_item_fixed_portion {
+	size_t id;
+	struct object_id oid;
+	unsigned int ce_mode;
+	enum crlf_action crlf_action;
+	int ident;
+	size_t working_tree_encoding_len;
+	size_t name_len;
+};
+
+/*
+ * The fields of `struct parallel_checkout_item` that are returned by the
+ * workers. Note: `st` must be the last one, as it is omitted on error.
+ */
+struct pc_item_result {
+	size_t id;
+	enum pc_item_status status;
+	struct stat st;
+};
+
+#define PC_ITEM_RESULT_BASE_SIZE offsetof(struct pc_item_result, st)
+
+void write_pc_item(struct parallel_checkout_item *pc_item,
+		   struct checkout *state);
 
 #endif /* PARALLEL_CHECKOUT_H */
diff --git a/unpack-trees.c b/unpack-trees.c
index 1b1da7485a..117ed42370 100644
--- a/unpack-trees.c
+++ b/unpack-trees.c
@@ -399,7 +399,7 @@ static int check_updates(struct unpack_trees_options *o,
 	int errs = 0;
 	struct progress *progress;
 	struct checkout state = CHECKOUT_INIT;
-	int i;
+	int i, pc_workers, pc_threshold;
 
 	trace_performance_enter();
 	state.force = 1;
@@ -462,8 +462,11 @@ static int check_updates(struct unpack_trees_options *o,
 		oid_array_clear(&to_fetch);
 	}
 
+	get_parallel_checkout_configs(&pc_workers, &pc_threshold);
+
 	enable_delayed_checkout(&state);
-	init_parallel_checkout();
+	if (pc_workers > 1)
+		init_parallel_checkout();
 	for (i = 0; i < index->cache_nr; i++) {
 		struct cache_entry *ce = index->cache[i];
 
@@ -477,7 +480,8 @@ static int check_updates(struct unpack_trees_options *o,
 		}
 	}
 	stop_progress(&progress);
-	errs |= run_parallel_checkout(&state);
+	if (pc_workers > 1)
+		errs |= run_parallel_checkout(&state, pc_workers, pc_threshold);
 	errs |= finish_delayed_checkout(&state, NULL);
 	git_attr_set_direction(GIT_ATTR_CHECKIN);
 
