diff --git a/diff.c b/diff.c
index ec5c095199..1eccefb4ef 100644
--- a/diff.c
+++ b/diff.c
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@
 #include "packfile.h"
 #include "parse-options.h"
 #include "help.h"
+#include "fetch-object.h"
 
 #ifdef NO_FAST_WORKING_DIRECTORY
 #define FAST_WORKING_DIRECTORY 0
@@ -6366,8 +6367,39 @@ void diffcore_fix_diff_index(void)
 	QSORT(q->queue, q->nr, diffnamecmp);
 }
 
+static void add_if_missing(struct oid_array *to_fetch,
+			   const struct diff_filespec *filespec)
+{
+	if (filespec && filespec->oid_valid &&
+	    oid_object_info_extended(the_repository, &filespec->oid, NULL,
+				     OBJECT_INFO_FOR_PREFETCH))
+		oid_array_append(to_fetch, &filespec->oid);
+}
+
 void diffcore_std(struct diff_options *options)
 {
+	if (repository_format_partial_clone) {
+		/*
+		 * Prefetch the diff pairs that are about to be flushed.
+		 */
+		int i;
+		struct diff_queue_struct *q = &diff_queued_diff;
+		struct oid_array to_fetch = OID_ARRAY_INIT;
+
+		for (i = 0; i < q->nr; i++) {
+			struct diff_filepair *p = q->queue[i];
+			add_if_missing(&to_fetch, p->one);
+			add_if_missing(&to_fetch, p->two);
+		}
+		if (to_fetch.nr)
+			/*
+			 * NEEDSWORK: Consider deduplicating the OIDs sent.
+			 */
+			fetch_objects(repository_format_partial_clone,
+				      to_fetch.oid, to_fetch.nr);
+		oid_array_clear(&to_fetch);
+	}
+
 	/* NOTE please keep the following in sync with diff_tree_combined() */
 	if (options->skip_stat_unmatch)
 		diffcore_skip_stat_unmatch(options);
diff --git a/t/t4067-diff-partial-clone.sh b/t/t4067-diff-partial-clone.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..349851be7d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/t/t4067-diff-partial-clone.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,103 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+test_description='behavior of diff when reading objects in a partial clone'
+
+. ./test-lib.sh
+
+test_expect_success 'git show batches blobs' '
+	test_when_finished "rm -rf server client trace" &&
+	
+	test_create_repo server &&
+	echo a >server/a &&
+	echo b >server/b &&
+	git -C server add a b &&
+	git -C server commit -m x &&
+
+	test_config -C server uploadpack.allowfilter 1 &&
+	test_config -C server uploadpack.allowanysha1inwant 1 &&
+	git clone --bare --filter=blob:limit=0 "file://$(pwd)/server" client &&
+
+	# Ensure that there is exactly 1 negotiation by checking that there is
+	# only 1 "done" line sent. ("done" marks the end of negotiation.)
+	GIT_TRACE_PACKET="$(pwd)/trace" git -C client show HEAD &&
+	grep "git> done" trace >done_lines &&
+	test_line_count = 1 done_lines
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'diff batches blobs' '
+	test_when_finished "rm -rf server client trace" &&
+
+	test_create_repo server &&
+	echo a >server/a &&
+	echo b >server/b &&
+	git -C server add a b &&
+	git -C server commit -m x &&
+	echo c >server/c &&
+	echo d >server/d &&
+	git -C server add c d &&
+	git -C server commit -m x &&
+
+	test_config -C server uploadpack.allowfilter 1 &&
+	test_config -C server uploadpack.allowanysha1inwant 1 &&
+	git clone --bare --filter=blob:limit=0 "file://$(pwd)/server" client &&
+
+	# Ensure that there is exactly 1 negotiation by checking that there is
+	# only 1 "done" line sent. ("done" marks the end of negotiation.)
+	GIT_TRACE_PACKET="$(pwd)/trace" git -C client diff HEAD^ HEAD &&
+	grep "git> done" trace >done_lines &&
+	test_line_count = 1 done_lines
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'diff skips same-OID blobs' '
+	test_when_finished "rm -rf server client trace" &&
+
+	test_create_repo server &&
+	echo a >server/a &&
+	echo b >server/b &&
+	git -C server add a b &&
+	git -C server commit -m x &&
+	echo another-a >server/a &&
+	git -C server add a &&
+	git -C server commit -m x &&
+
+	test_config -C server uploadpack.allowfilter 1 &&
+	test_config -C server uploadpack.allowanysha1inwant 1 &&
+	git clone --bare --filter=blob:limit=0 "file://$(pwd)/server" client &&
+
+	echo a | git hash-object --stdin >hash-old-a &&
+	echo another-a | git hash-object --stdin >hash-new-a &&
+	echo b | git hash-object --stdin >hash-b &&
+
+	# Ensure that only a and another-a are fetched.
+	GIT_TRACE_PACKET="$(pwd)/trace" git -C client diff HEAD^ HEAD &&
+	grep "want $(cat hash-old-a)" trace &&
+	grep "want $(cat hash-new-a)" trace &&
+	! grep "want $(cat hash-b)" trace
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'diff with rename detection batches blobs' '
+	test_when_finished "rm -rf server client trace" &&
+
+	test_create_repo server &&
+	echo a >server/a &&
+	printf "b\nb\nb\nb\nb\n" >server/b &&
+	git -C server add a b &&
+	git -C server commit -m x &&
+	rm server/b &&
+	printf "b\nb\nb\nb\nbX\n" >server/c &&
+	git -C server add c &&
+	git -C server commit -a -m x &&
+
+	test_config -C server uploadpack.allowfilter 1 &&
+	test_config -C server uploadpack.allowanysha1inwant 1 &&
+	git clone --bare --filter=blob:limit=0 "file://$(pwd)/server" client &&
+
+	# Ensure that there is exactly 1 negotiation by checking that there is
+	# only 1 "done" line sent. ("done" marks the end of negotiation.)
+	GIT_TRACE_PACKET="$(pwd)/trace" git -C client diff -M HEAD^ HEAD >out &&
+	grep "similarity index" out &&
+	grep "git> done" trace >done_lines &&
+	test_line_count = 1 done_lines
+'
+
+test_done
