diff --git a/Documentation/git-pack-objects.txt b/Documentation/git-pack-objects.txt
index 54d715ead1..92733f6bf5 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-pack-objects.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-pack-objects.txt
@@ -85,6 +85,16 @@ base-name::
 	reference was included in the resulting packfile.  This
 	can be useful to send new tags to native Git clients.
 
+--stdin-packs::
+	Read the basenames of packfiles from the standard input, instead
+	of object names or revision arguments. The resulting pack
+	contains all objects listed in the included packs (those not
+	beginning with `^`), excluding any objects listed in the
+	excluded packs (beginning with `^`).
++
+Incompatible with `--revs`, or options that imply `--revs` (such as
+`--all`), with the exception of `--unpacked`, which is compatible.
+
 --window=<n>::
 --depth=<n>::
 	These two options affect how the objects contained in
diff --git a/builtin/pack-objects.c b/builtin/pack-objects.c
index 13cde5896a..6d19eb000a 100644
--- a/builtin/pack-objects.c
+++ b/builtin/pack-objects.c
@@ -2979,6 +2979,164 @@ static int git_pack_config(const char *k, const char *v, void *cb)
 	return git_default_config(k, v, cb);
 }
 
+static int stdin_packs_found_nr;
+static int stdin_packs_hints_nr;
+
+static int add_object_entry_from_pack(const struct object_id *oid,
+				      struct packed_git *p,
+				      uint32_t pos,
+				      void *_data)
+{
+	struct rev_info *revs = _data;
+	struct object_info oi = OBJECT_INFO_INIT;
+	off_t ofs;
+	enum object_type type;
+
+	display_progress(progress_state, ++nr_seen);
+
+	ofs = nth_packed_object_offset(p, pos);
+
+	oi.typep = &type;
+	if (packed_object_info(the_repository, p, ofs, &oi) < 0)
+		die(_("could not get type of object %s in pack %s"),
+		    oid_to_hex(oid), p->pack_name);
+	else if (type == OBJ_COMMIT) {
+		/*
+		 * commits in included packs are used as starting points for the
+		 * subsequent revision walk
+		 */
+		add_pending_oid(revs, NULL, oid, 0);
+	}
+
+	if (have_duplicate_entry(oid, 0))
+		return 0;
+
+	if (!want_object_in_pack(oid, 0, &p, &ofs))
+		return 0;
+
+	stdin_packs_found_nr++;
+
+	create_object_entry(oid, type, 0, 0, 0, p, ofs);
+
+	return 0;
+}
+
+static void show_commit_pack_hint(struct commit *commit, void *_data)
+{
+}
+
+static void show_object_pack_hint(struct object *object, const char *name,
+				  void *_data)
+{
+	struct object_entry *oe = packlist_find(&to_pack, &object->oid);
+	if (!oe)
+		return;
+
+	/*
+	 * Our 'to_pack' list was constructed by iterating all objects packed in
+	 * included packs, and so doesn't have a non-zero hash field that you
+	 * would typically pick up during a reachability traversal.
+	 *
+	 * Make a best-effort attempt to fill in the ->hash and ->no_try_delta
+	 * here using a now in order to perhaps improve the delta selection
+	 * process.
+	 */
+	oe->hash = pack_name_hash(name);
+	oe->no_try_delta = name && no_try_delta(name);
+
+	stdin_packs_hints_nr++;
+}
+
+static void read_packs_list_from_stdin(void)
+{
+	struct strbuf buf = STRBUF_INIT;
+	struct string_list include_packs = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP;
+	struct string_list exclude_packs = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP;
+	struct string_list_item *item = NULL;
+
+	struct packed_git *p;
+	struct rev_info revs;
+
+	repo_init_revisions(the_repository, &revs, NULL);
+	/*
+	 * Use a revision walk to fill in the namehash of objects in the include
+	 * packs. To save time, we'll avoid traversing through objects that are
+	 * in excluded packs.
+	 *
+	 * That may cause us to avoid populating all of the namehash fields of
+	 * all included objects, but our goal is best-effort, since this is only
+	 * an optimization during delta selection.
+	 */
+	revs.no_kept_objects = 1;
+	revs.keep_pack_cache_flags |= IN_CORE_KEEP_PACKS;
+	revs.blob_objects = 1;
+	revs.tree_objects = 1;
+	revs.tag_objects = 1;
+
+	while (strbuf_getline(&buf, stdin) != EOF) {
+		if (!buf.len)
+			continue;
+
+		if (*buf.buf == '^')
+			string_list_append(&exclude_packs, buf.buf + 1);
+		else
+			string_list_append(&include_packs, buf.buf);
+
+		strbuf_reset(&buf);
+	}
+
+	string_list_sort(&include_packs);
+	string_list_sort(&exclude_packs);
+
+	for (p = get_all_packs(the_repository); p; p = p->next) {
+		const char *pack_name = pack_basename(p);
+
+		item = string_list_lookup(&include_packs, pack_name);
+		if (!item)
+			item = string_list_lookup(&exclude_packs, pack_name);
+
+		if (item)
+			item->util = p;
+	}
+
+	/*
+	 * First handle all of the excluded packs, marking them as kept in-core
+	 * so that later calls to add_object_entry() discards any objects that
+	 * are also found in excluded packs.
+	 */
+	for_each_string_list_item(item, &exclude_packs) {
+		struct packed_git *p = item->util;
+		if (!p)
+			die(_("could not find pack '%s'"), item->string);
+		p->pack_keep_in_core = 1;
+	}
+	for_each_string_list_item(item, &include_packs) {
+		struct packed_git *p = item->util;
+		if (!p)
+			die(_("could not find pack '%s'"), item->string);
+		for_each_object_in_pack(p,
+					add_object_entry_from_pack,
+					&revs,
+					FOR_EACH_OBJECT_PACK_ORDER);
+	}
+
+	if (prepare_revision_walk(&revs))
+		die(_("revision walk setup failed"));
+	traverse_commit_list(&revs,
+			     show_commit_pack_hint,
+			     show_object_pack_hint,
+			     NULL);
+
+	trace2_data_intmax("pack-objects", the_repository, "stdin_packs_found",
+			   stdin_packs_found_nr);
+	trace2_data_intmax("pack-objects", the_repository, "stdin_packs_hints",
+			   stdin_packs_hints_nr);
+
+	strbuf_release(&buf);
+	string_list_clear(&include_packs, 0);
+	string_list_clear(&exclude_packs, 0);
+}
+
 static void read_object_list_from_stdin(void)
 {
 	char line[GIT_MAX_HEXSZ + 1 + PATH_MAX + 2];
@@ -3482,6 +3640,7 @@ int cmd_pack_objects(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	struct strvec rp = STRVEC_INIT;
 	int rev_list_unpacked = 0, rev_list_all = 0, rev_list_reflog = 0;
 	int rev_list_index = 0;
+	int stdin_packs = 0;
 	struct string_list keep_pack_list = STRING_LIST_INIT_NODUP;
 	struct option pack_objects_options[] = {
 		OPT_SET_INT('q', "quiet", &progress,
@@ -3532,6 +3691,8 @@ int cmd_pack_objects(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 		OPT_SET_INT_F(0, "indexed-objects", &rev_list_index,
 			      N_("include objects referred to by the index"),
 			      1, PARSE_OPT_NONEG),
+		OPT_BOOL(0, "stdin-packs", &stdin_packs,
+			 N_("read packs from stdin")),
 		OPT_BOOL(0, "stdout", &pack_to_stdout,
 			 N_("output pack to stdout")),
 		OPT_BOOL(0, "include-tag", &include_tag,
@@ -3636,7 +3797,7 @@ int cmd_pack_objects(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 		use_internal_rev_list = 1;
 		strvec_push(&rp, "--indexed-objects");
 	}
-	if (rev_list_unpacked) {
+	if (rev_list_unpacked && !stdin_packs) {
 		use_internal_rev_list = 1;
 		strvec_push(&rp, "--unpacked");
 	}
@@ -3681,8 +3842,13 @@ int cmd_pack_objects(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	if (filter_options.choice) {
 		if (!pack_to_stdout)
 			die(_("cannot use --filter without --stdout"));
+		if (stdin_packs)
+			die(_("cannot use --filter with --stdin-packs"));
 	}
 
+	if (stdin_packs && use_internal_rev_list)
+		die(_("cannot use internal rev list with --stdin-packs"));
+
 	/*
 	 * "soft" reasons not to use bitmaps - for on-disk repack by default we want
 	 *
@@ -3741,7 +3907,13 @@ int cmd_pack_objects(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 
 	if (progress)
 		progress_state = start_progress(_("Enumerating objects"), 0);
-	if (!use_internal_rev_list)
+	if (stdin_packs) {
+		/* avoids adding objects in excluded packs */
+		ignore_packed_keep_in_core = 1;
+		read_packs_list_from_stdin();
+		if (rev_list_unpacked)
+			add_unreachable_loose_objects();
+	} else if (!use_internal_rev_list)
 		read_object_list_from_stdin();
 	else {
 		get_object_list(rp.nr, rp.v);
diff --git a/t/t5300-pack-object.sh b/t/t5300-pack-object.sh
index 392201cabd..7138a54595 100755
--- a/t/t5300-pack-object.sh
+++ b/t/t5300-pack-object.sh
@@ -532,4 +532,101 @@ test_expect_success 'prefetch objects' '
 	test_line_count = 1 donelines
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'setup for --stdin-packs tests' '
+	git init stdin-packs &&
+	(
+		cd stdin-packs &&
+
+		test_commit A &&
+		test_commit B &&
+		test_commit C &&
+
+		for id in A B C
+		do
+			git pack-objects .git/objects/pack/pack-$id \
+				--incremental --revs <<-EOF
+			refs/tags/$id
+			EOF
+		done &&
+
+		ls -la .git/objects/pack
+	)
+'
+
+test_expect_success '--stdin-packs with excluded packs' '
+	(
+		cd stdin-packs &&
+
+		PACK_A="$(basename .git/objects/pack/pack-A-*.pack)" &&
+		PACK_B="$(basename .git/objects/pack/pack-B-*.pack)" &&
+		PACK_C="$(basename .git/objects/pack/pack-C-*.pack)" &&
+
+		git pack-objects test --stdin-packs <<-EOF &&
+		$PACK_A
+		^$PACK_B
+		$PACK_C
+		EOF
+
+		(
+			git show-index <$(ls .git/objects/pack/pack-A-*.idx) &&
+			git show-index <$(ls .git/objects/pack/pack-C-*.idx)
+		) >expect.raw &&
+		git show-index <$(ls test-*.idx) >actual.raw &&
+
+		cut -d" " -f2 <expect.raw | sort >expect &&
+		cut -d" " -f2 <actual.raw | sort >actual &&
+		test_cmp expect actual
+	)
+'
+
+test_expect_success '--stdin-packs is incompatible with --filter' '
+	(
+		cd stdin-packs &&
+		test_must_fail git pack-objects --stdin-packs --stdout \
+			--filter=blob:none </dev/null 2>err &&
+		test_i18ngrep "cannot use --filter with --stdin-packs" err
+	)
+'
+
+test_expect_success '--stdin-packs is incompatible with --revs' '
+	(
+		cd stdin-packs &&
+		test_must_fail git pack-objects --stdin-packs --revs out \
+			</dev/null 2>err &&
+		test_i18ngrep "cannot use internal rev list with --stdin-packs" err
+	)
+'
+
+test_expect_success '--stdin-packs with loose objects' '
+	(
+		cd stdin-packs &&
+
+		PACK_A="$(basename .git/objects/pack/pack-A-*.pack)" &&
+		PACK_B="$(basename .git/objects/pack/pack-B-*.pack)" &&
+		PACK_C="$(basename .git/objects/pack/pack-C-*.pack)" &&
+
+		test_commit D && # loose
+
+		git pack-objects test2 --stdin-packs --unpacked <<-EOF &&
+		$PACK_A
+		^$PACK_B
+		$PACK_C
+		EOF
+
+		(
+			git show-index <$(ls .git/objects/pack/pack-A-*.idx) &&
+			git show-index <$(ls .git/objects/pack/pack-C-*.idx) &&
+			git rev-list --objects --no-object-names \
+				refs/tags/C..refs/tags/D
+
+		) >expect.raw &&
+		ls -la . &&
+		git show-index <$(ls test2-*.idx) >actual.raw &&
+
+		cut -d" " -f2 <expect.raw | sort >expect &&
+		cut -d" " -f2 <actual.raw | sort >actual &&
+		test_cmp expect actual
+	)
+'
+
 test_done
