diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 3dcdb6bb5a..96c794b1c7 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@
 /git-check-mailmap
 /git-check-ref-format
 /git-checkout
+/git-checkout--worker
 /git-checkout-index
 /git-cherry
 /git-cherry-pick
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 99734cc2ea..84e15f58a0 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1062,6 +1062,7 @@ 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--worker.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 b6ce981b73..16ecd5586f 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__worker(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--worker.c b/builtin/checkout--worker.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..31e0de2f7e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/builtin/checkout--worker.c
@@ -0,0 +1,145 @@
+#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(const char *buffer, int len,
+			      struct parallel_checkout_item *pc_item)
+{
+	const struct pc_item_fixed_portion *fixed_portion;
+	const char *variant;
+	char *encoding;
+
+	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 *)buffer;
+
+	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 = buffer + 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 that requires sending an
+	 * actual empty string, since convert_attrs() never sets
+	 * ca.working_tree_enconding to "".
+	 */
+	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;
+	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 = packet_read(0, NULL, NULL, packet_buffer,
+				      sizeof(packet_buffer), 0);
+
+		if (len < 0)
+			BUG("packet_read() returned negative value");
+		else if (!len)
+			break;
+
+		ALLOC_GROW(items, nr + 1, alloc);
+		packet_to_pc_item(packet_buffer, 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_worker_usage[] = {
+	N_("git checkout--worker [<options>]"),
+	NULL
+};
+
+int cmd_checkout__worker(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
+{
+	struct checkout state = CHECKOUT_INIT;
+	struct option checkout_worker_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_worker_usage,
+				   checkout_worker_options);
+
+	git_config(git_default_config, NULL);
+	argc = parse_options(argc, argv, prefix, checkout_worker_options,
+			     checkout_worker_usage, 0);
+	if (argc > 0)
+		usage_with_options(checkout_worker_usage, checkout_worker_options);
+
+	if (state.base_dir)
+		state.base_dir_len = strlen(state.base_dir);
+
+	/*
+	 * Setting this on a worker won't actually update the index. We just
+	 * need to tell the checkout machinery to lstat() the written entries,
+	 * so that we can send this data back to the main process.
+	 */
+	state.refresh_cache = 1;
+
+	worker_loop(&state);
+	return 0;
+}
diff --git a/git.c b/git.c
index 9bc077a025..532b5b4136 100644
--- a/git.c
+++ b/git.c
@@ -490,6 +490,8 @@ 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--worker", cmd_checkout__worker,
+		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 80c839837b..41c301bbda 100644
--- a/parallel-checkout.c
+++ b/parallel-checkout.c
@@ -1,28 +1,14 @@
 #include "cache.h"
 #include "entry.h"
 #include "parallel-checkout.h"
+#include "pkt-line.h"
+#include "run-command.h"
+#include "sigchain.h"
 #include "streaming.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_item_to_complete, nr_items_to_complete;
 };
 
 struct parallel_checkout {
@@ -59,6 +45,7 @@ static int is_eligible_for_parallel_checkout(const struct cache_entry *ce,
 					     const struct conv_attrs *ca)
 {
 	enum conv_attrs_classification c;
+	size_t packed_item_size;
 
 	/*
 	 * Symlinks cannot be checked out in parallel as, in case of path
@@ -69,6 +56,18 @@ static int is_eligible_for_parallel_checkout(const struct cache_entry *ce,
 	if (!S_ISREG(ce->ce_mode))
 		return 0;
 
+	packed_item_size = sizeof(struct pc_item_fixed_portion) + ce->ce_namelen +
+		(ca->working_tree_encoding ? strlen(ca->working_tree_encoding) : 0);
+
+	/*
+	 * The amount of data we send to the workers per checkout item is
+	 * typically small (75~300B). So unless we find an insanely huge path
+	 * of 64KB, we should never reach the 65KB limit of one pkt-line. If
+	 * that does happen, we let the sequential code handle the item.
+	 */
+	if (packed_item_size > LARGE_PACKET_DATA_MAX)
+		return 0;
+
 	c = classify_conv_attrs(ca);
 	switch (c) {
 	case CA_CLASS_INCORE:
@@ -121,10 +120,12 @@ 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;
 }
@@ -236,7 +237,8 @@ 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);
@@ -268,8 +270,8 @@ static int close_and_clear(int *fd)
 	return ret;
 }
 
-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 +345,240 @@ 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;
+
+	/*
+	 * Any changes in the calculation of the message size must also be made
+	 * in is_eligible_for_parallel_checkout().
+	 */
+	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;
+	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;
+	/*
+	 * We use hashcpy() instead of oidcpy() because the hash[] positions
+	 * after `the_hash_algo->rawsz` might not be initialized. And Valgrind
+	 * would complain about passing uninitialized bytes to a syscall
+	 * (write(2)). There is no real harm in this case, but the warning could
+	 * hinder the detection of actual errors.
+	 */
+	hashcpy(fixed_portion->oid.hash, pc_item->ce->oid.hash);
+
+	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;
+	sigchain_push(SIGPIPE, SIG_IGN);
+	for (i = 0; i < nr; i++)
+		send_one_item(fd, &parallel_checkout.items[start + i]);
+	packet_flush(fd);
+	sigchain_pop(SIGPIPE);
+}
+
+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, batch_beginning = 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--worker");
+		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, batch_beginning, batch_size);
+		worker->next_item_to_complete = batch_beginning;
+		worker->nr_items_to_complete = batch_size;
+
+		batch_beginning += 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++) {
+		int rc = finish_command(&workers[i].cp);
+		if (rc > 128) {
+			/*
+			 * For a normal non-zero exit, the worker should have
+			 * already printed something useful to stderr. But a
+			 * death by signal should be mentioned to the user.
+			 */
+			error("checkout worker %d died of signal %d", i, rc - 128);
+		}
+	}
+
+	free(workers);
+}
+
+static inline void assert_pc_item_result_size(int got, int exp)
+{
+	if (got != exp)
+		BUG("wrong result size from checkout worker (got %dB, exp %dB)",
+		    got, exp);
+}
+
+static void parse_and_save_result(const char *buffer, 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 *)buffer;
+
+	/*
+	 * 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_items_to_complete)
+		BUG("received result from supposedly finished checkout worker");
+	if (res->id != worker->next_item_to_complete)
+		BUG("unexpected item id from checkout worker (got %"PRIuMAX", exp %"PRIuMAX")",
+		    (uintmax_t)res->id, (uintmax_t)worker->next_item_to_complete);
+
+	worker->next_item_to_complete++;
+	worker->nr_items_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 = packet_read(pfd->fd, NULL, NULL,
+						      packet_buffer,
+						      sizeof(packet_buffer), 0);
+
+				if (len < 0) {
+					BUG("packet_read() returned negative value");
+				} else if (!len) {
+					pfd->fd = -1;
+					active_workers--;
+				} else {
+					parse_and_save_result(packet_buffer,
+							      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;
@@ -351,16 +587,28 @@ static void write_items_sequentially(struct checkout *state)
 		write_pc_item(&parallel_checkout.items[i], state);
 }
 
+static const int DEFAULT_NUM_WORKERS = 2;
+
 int run_parallel_checkout(struct checkout *state)
 {
-	int ret;
+	int ret, num_workers = DEFAULT_NUM_WORKERS;
 
 	if (parallel_checkout.status != PC_ACCEPTING_ENTRIES)
 		BUG("cannot run parallel checkout: uninitialized or already running");
 
 	parallel_checkout.status = PC_RUNNING;
 
-	write_items_sequentially(state);
+	if (parallel_checkout.nr < num_workers)
+		num_workers = parallel_checkout.nr;
+
+	if (num_workers <= 1) {
+		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 4ad2a519b3..ec58716519 100644
--- a/parallel-checkout.h
+++ b/parallel-checkout.h
@@ -1,9 +1,14 @@
 #ifndef PARALLEL_CHECKOUT_H
 #define PARALLEL_CHECKOUT_H
 
+#include "convert.h"
+
 struct cache_entry;
 struct checkout;
-struct conv_attrs;
+
+/****************************************************************
+ * Users of parallel checkout
+ ****************************************************************/
 
 enum pc_status {
 	PC_UNINITIALIZED = 0,
@@ -29,4 +34,70 @@ 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);
 
+/****************************************************************
+ * Interface with checkout--worker
+ ****************************************************************/
+
+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 convert_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 */
