diff --git a/Documentation/config/gc.txt b/Documentation/config/gc.txt
index 7f95c866e1..ca47eb2008 100644
--- a/Documentation/config/gc.txt
+++ b/Documentation/config/gc.txt
@@ -130,6 +130,21 @@ or rebase occurring.  Since these changes are not part of the current
 project most users will want to expire them sooner, which is why the
 default is more aggressive than `gc.reflogExpire`.
 
+gc.recentObjectsHook::
+	When considering whether or not to remove an object (either when
+	generating a cruft pack or storing unreachable objects as
+	loose), use the shell to execute the specified command(s).
+	Interpret their output as object IDs which Git will consider as
+	"recent", regardless of their age. By treating their mtimes as
+	"now", any objects (and their descendants) mentioned in the
+	output will be kept regardless of their true age.
++
+Output must contain exactly one hex object ID per line, and nothing
+else. Objects which cannot be found in the repository are ignored.
+Multiple hooks are supported, but all must exit successfully, else the
+operation (either generating a cruft pack or unpacking unreachable
+objects) will be halted.
+
 gc.rerereResolved::
 	Records of conflicted merge you resolved earlier are
 	kept for this many days when 'git rerere gc' is run.
diff --git a/reachable.c b/reachable.c
index 7a42da5d39..60a7336b87 100644
--- a/reachable.c
+++ b/reachable.c
@@ -16,6 +16,8 @@
 #include "object-store.h"
 #include "pack-bitmap.h"
 #include "pack-mtimes.h"
+#include "config.h"
+#include "run-command.h"
 
 struct connectivity_progress {
 	struct progress *progress;
@@ -67,12 +69,75 @@ struct recent_data {
 	timestamp_t timestamp;
 	report_recent_object_fn *cb;
 	int ignore_in_core_kept_packs;
+
+	struct oidset extra_recent_oids;
+	int extra_recent_oids_loaded;
 };
 
+static int run_one_gc_recent_objects_hook(struct oidset *set,
+					    const char *args)
+{
+	struct child_process cmd = CHILD_PROCESS_INIT;
+	struct strbuf buf = STRBUF_INIT;
+	FILE *out;
+	int ret = 0;
+
+	cmd.use_shell = 1;
+	cmd.out = -1;
+
+	strvec_push(&cmd.args, args);
+
+	if (start_command(&cmd))
+		return -1;
+
+	out = xfdopen(cmd.out, "r");
+	while (strbuf_getline(&buf, out) != EOF) {
+		struct object_id oid;
+		const char *rest;
+
+		if (parse_oid_hex(buf.buf, &oid, &rest) || *rest) {
+			ret = error(_("invalid extra cruft tip: '%s'"), buf.buf);
+			break;
+		}
+
+		oidset_insert(set, &oid);
+	}
+
+	fclose(out);
+	ret |= finish_command(&cmd);
+
+	strbuf_release(&buf);
+	return ret;
+}
+
+static void load_gc_recent_objects(struct recent_data *data)
+{
+	const struct string_list *programs;
+	int ret = 0;
+	size_t i;
+
+	data->extra_recent_oids_loaded = 1;
+
+	if (git_config_get_string_multi("gc.recentobjectshook", &programs))
+		return;
+
+	for (i = 0; i < programs->nr; i++) {
+		ret = run_one_gc_recent_objects_hook(&data->extra_recent_oids,
+						       programs->items[i].string);
+		if (ret)
+			die(_("unable to enumerate additional recent objects"));
+	}
+}
+
 static int obj_is_recent(const struct object_id *oid, timestamp_t mtime,
 			 struct recent_data *data)
 {
-	return mtime > data->timestamp;
+	if (mtime > data->timestamp)
+		return 1;
+
+	if (!data->extra_recent_oids_loaded)
+		load_gc_recent_objects(data);
+	return oidset_contains(&data->extra_recent_oids, oid);
 }
 
 static void add_recent_object(const struct object_id *oid,
@@ -199,16 +264,24 @@ int add_unseen_recent_objects_to_traversal(struct rev_info *revs,
 	data.cb = cb;
 	data.ignore_in_core_kept_packs = ignore_in_core_kept_packs;
 
+	oidset_init(&data.extra_recent_oids, 0);
+	data.extra_recent_oids_loaded = 0;
+
 	r = for_each_loose_object(add_recent_loose, &data,
 				  FOR_EACH_OBJECT_LOCAL_ONLY);
 	if (r)
-		return r;
+		goto done;
 
 	flags = FOR_EACH_OBJECT_LOCAL_ONLY | FOR_EACH_OBJECT_PACK_ORDER;
 	if (ignore_in_core_kept_packs)
 		flags |= FOR_EACH_OBJECT_SKIP_IN_CORE_KEPT_PACKS;
 
-	return for_each_packed_object(add_recent_packed, &data, flags);
+	r = for_each_packed_object(add_recent_packed, &data, flags);
+
+done:
+	oidset_clear(&data.extra_recent_oids);
+
+	return r;
 }
 
 static int mark_object_seen(const struct object_id *oid,
diff --git a/t/t5304-prune.sh b/t/t5304-prune.sh
index f367327441..b4df545e5a 100755
--- a/t/t5304-prune.sh
+++ b/t/t5304-prune.sh
@@ -350,4 +350,18 @@ test_expect_success 'old reachable-from-recent retained with bitmaps' '
 	test_must_fail git cat-file -e $to_drop
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'gc.recentObjectsHook' '
+	add_blob &&
+	test-tool chmtime =-86500 $BLOB_FILE &&
+
+	write_script precious-objects <<-EOF &&
+	echo $BLOB
+	EOF
+	test_config gc.recentObjectsHook ./precious-objects &&
+
+	git prune --expire=now &&
+
+	git cat-file -p $BLOB
+'
+
 test_done
diff --git a/t/t5329-pack-objects-cruft.sh b/t/t5329-pack-objects-cruft.sh
index 303f7a5d84..45667d4999 100755
--- a/t/t5329-pack-objects-cruft.sh
+++ b/t/t5329-pack-objects-cruft.sh
@@ -739,4 +739,175 @@ test_expect_success 'cruft objects are freshend via loose' '
 	)
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'gc.recentObjectsHook' '
+	git init repo &&
+	test_when_finished "rm -fr repo" &&
+	(
+		cd repo &&
+
+		# Create a handful of objects.
+		#
+		#   - one reachable commit, "base", designated for the reachable
+		#     pack
+		#   - one unreachable commit, "cruft.discard", which is marked
+		#     for deletion
+		#   - one unreachable commit, "cruft.old", which would be marked
+		#     for deletion, but is rescued as an extra cruft tip
+		#   - one unreachable commit, "cruft.new", which is not marked
+		#     for deletion
+		test_commit base &&
+		git branch -M main &&
+
+		git checkout --orphan discard &&
+		git rm -fr . &&
+		test_commit --no-tag cruft.discard &&
+
+		git checkout --orphan old &&
+		git rm -fr . &&
+		test_commit --no-tag cruft.old &&
+		cruft_old="$(git rev-parse HEAD)" &&
+
+		git checkout --orphan new &&
+		git rm -fr . &&
+		test_commit --no-tag cruft.new &&
+		cruft_new="$(git rev-parse HEAD)" &&
+
+		git checkout main &&
+		git branch -D discard old new &&
+		git reflog expire --all --expire=all &&
+
+		# mark cruft.old with an mtime that is many minutes
+		# older than the expiration period, and mark cruft.new
+		# with an mtime that is in the future (and thus not
+		# eligible for pruning).
+		test-tool chmtime -2000 "$objdir/$(test_oid_to_path $cruft_old)" &&
+		test-tool chmtime +1000 "$objdir/$(test_oid_to_path $cruft_new)" &&
+
+		# Write the list of cruft objects we expect to
+		# accumulate, which is comprised of everything reachable
+		# from cruft.old and cruft.new, but not cruft.discard.
+		git rev-list --objects --no-object-names \
+			$cruft_old $cruft_new >cruft.raw &&
+		sort cruft.raw >cruft.expect &&
+
+		# Write the script to list extra tips, which are limited
+		# to cruft.old, in this case.
+		write_script extra-tips <<-EOF &&
+		echo $cruft_old
+		EOF
+		git config gc.recentObjectsHook ./extra-tips &&
+
+		git repack --cruft --cruft-expiration=now -d &&
+
+		mtimes="$(ls .git/objects/pack/pack-*.mtimes)" &&
+		git show-index <${mtimes%.mtimes}.idx >cruft &&
+		cut -d" " -f2 cruft | sort >cruft.actual &&
+		test_cmp cruft.expect cruft.actual &&
+
+		# Ensure that the "old" objects are removed after
+		# dropping the gc.recentObjectsHook hook.
+		git config --unset gc.recentObjectsHook &&
+		git repack --cruft --cruft-expiration=now -d &&
+
+		mtimes="$(ls .git/objects/pack/pack-*.mtimes)" &&
+		git show-index <${mtimes%.mtimes}.idx >cruft &&
+		cut -d" " -f2 cruft | sort >cruft.actual &&
+
+		git rev-list --objects --no-object-names $cruft_new >cruft.raw &&
+		cp cruft.expect cruft.old &&
+		sort cruft.raw >cruft.expect &&
+		test_cmp cruft.expect cruft.actual &&
+
+		# ensure objects which are no longer in the cruft pack were
+		# removed from the repository
+		for object in $(comm -13 cruft.expect cruft.old)
+		do
+			test_must_fail git cat-file -t $object || return 1
+		done
+	)
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'multi-valued gc.recentObjectsHook' '
+	git init repo &&
+	test_when_finished "rm -fr repo" &&
+	(
+		cd repo &&
+
+		test_commit base &&
+		git branch -M main &&
+
+		git checkout --orphan cruft.a &&
+		git rm -fr . &&
+		test_commit --no-tag cruft.a &&
+		cruft_a="$(git rev-parse HEAD)" &&
+
+		git checkout --orphan cruft.b &&
+		git rm -fr . &&
+		test_commit --no-tag cruft.b &&
+		cruft_b="$(git rev-parse HEAD)" &&
+
+		git checkout main &&
+		git branch -D cruft.a cruft.b &&
+		git reflog expire --all --expire=all &&
+
+		echo "echo $cruft_a" | write_script extra-tips.a &&
+		echo "echo $cruft_b" | write_script extra-tips.b &&
+		echo "false" | write_script extra-tips.c &&
+
+		git rev-list --objects --no-object-names $cruft_a $cruft_b \
+			>cruft.raw &&
+		sort cruft.raw >cruft.expect &&
+
+		# ensure that each extra cruft tip is saved by its
+		# respective hook
+		git config --add gc.recentObjectsHook ./extra-tips.a &&
+		git config --add gc.recentObjectsHook ./extra-tips.b &&
+		git repack --cruft --cruft-expiration=now -d &&
+
+		mtimes="$(ls .git/objects/pack/pack-*.mtimes)" &&
+		git show-index <${mtimes%.mtimes}.idx >cruft &&
+		cut -d" " -f2 cruft | sort >cruft.actual &&
+		test_cmp cruft.expect cruft.actual &&
+
+		# ensure that a dirty exit halts cruft pack generation
+		git config --add gc.recentObjectsHook ./extra-tips.c &&
+		test_must_fail git repack --cruft --cruft-expiration=now -d 2>err &&
+		grep "unable to enumerate additional recent objects" err &&
+
+		# and that the existing cruft pack is left alone
+		test_path_is_file "$mtimes"
+	)
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'additional cruft blobs via gc.recentObjectsHook' '
+	git init repo &&
+	test_when_finished "rm -fr repo" &&
+	(
+		cd repo &&
+
+		test_commit base &&
+
+		blob=$(echo "unreachable" | git hash-object -w --stdin) &&
+
+		# mark the unreachable blob we wrote above as having
+		# aged out of the retention period
+		test-tool chmtime -2000 "$objdir/$(test_oid_to_path $blob)" &&
+
+		# Write the script to list extra tips, which is just the
+		# extra blob as above.
+		write_script extra-tips <<-EOF &&
+		echo $blob
+		EOF
+		git config gc.recentObjectsHook ./extra-tips &&
+
+		git repack --cruft --cruft-expiration=now -d &&
+
+		mtimes="$(ls .git/objects/pack/pack-*.mtimes)" &&
+		git show-index <${mtimes%.mtimes}.idx >cruft &&
+		cut -d" " -f2 cruft >actual &&
+		echo $blob >expect &&
+		test_cmp expect actual
+	)
+'
+
 test_done
diff --git a/t/t7701-repack-unpack-unreachable.sh b/t/t7701-repack-unpack-unreachable.sh
index ebb267855f..ba428c18a8 100755
--- a/t/t7701-repack-unpack-unreachable.sh
+++ b/t/t7701-repack-unpack-unreachable.sh
@@ -113,6 +113,37 @@ test_expect_success 'do not bother loosening old objects' '
 	test_must_fail git cat-file -p $obj2
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'gc.recentObjectsHook' '
+	obj1=$(echo one | git hash-object -w --stdin) &&
+	obj2=$(echo two | git hash-object -w --stdin) &&
+	obj3=$(echo three | git hash-object -w --stdin) &&
+	pack1=$(echo $obj1 | git pack-objects .git/objects/pack/pack) &&
+	pack2=$(echo $obj2 | git pack-objects .git/objects/pack/pack) &&
+	pack3=$(echo $obj3 | git pack-objects .git/objects/pack/pack) &&
+	git prune-packed &&
+
+	git cat-file -p $obj1 &&
+	git cat-file -p $obj2 &&
+	git cat-file -p $obj3 &&
+
+	git tag -a -m tag obj2-tag $obj2 &&
+	obj2_tag="$(git rev-parse obj2-tag)" &&
+
+	write_script precious-objects <<-EOF &&
+	echo $obj2_tag
+	EOF
+	git config gc.recentObjectsHook ./precious-objects &&
+
+	test-tool chmtime =-86400 .git/objects/pack/pack-$pack2.pack &&
+	test-tool chmtime =-86400 .git/objects/pack/pack-$pack3.pack &&
+	git repack -A -d --unpack-unreachable=1.hour.ago &&
+
+	git cat-file -p $obj1 &&
+	git cat-file -p $obj2 &&
+	git cat-file -p $obj2_tag &&
+	test_must_fail git cat-file -p $obj3
+'
+
 test_expect_success 'keep packed objects found only in index' '
 	echo my-unique-content >file &&
 	git add file &&
