diff --git a/Documentation/git-ls-files.txt b/Documentation/git-ls-files.txt
index 6d11ab506b7..1c5d5f85ec5 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-ls-files.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-ls-files.txt
@@ -187,6 +187,10 @@ Both the <eolinfo> in the index ("i/<eolinfo>")
 and in the working tree ("w/<eolinfo>") are shown for regular files,
 followed by the  ("attr/<eolattr>").
 
+--sparse::
+	If the index is sparse, show the sparse directories without expanding
+	to the contained files.
+
 \--::
 	Do not interpret any more arguments as options.
 
diff --git a/builtin/ls-files.c b/builtin/ls-files.c
index 031fef1bcaa..c151eb1fb77 100644
--- a/builtin/ls-files.c
+++ b/builtin/ls-files.c
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ static int debug_mode;
 static int show_eol;
 static int recurse_submodules;
 static int skipping_duplicates;
+static int show_sparse_dirs;
 
 static const char *prefix;
 static int max_prefix_len;
@@ -315,8 +316,10 @@ static void show_files(struct repository *repo, struct dir_struct *dir)
 
 	if (!(show_cached || show_stage || show_deleted || show_modified))
 		return;
-	/* TODO: audit for interaction with sparse-index. */
-	ensure_full_index(repo->index);
+
+	if (!show_sparse_dirs)
+		ensure_full_index(repo->index);
+
 	for (i = 0; i < repo->index->cache_nr; i++) {
 		const struct cache_entry *ce = repo->index->cache[i];
 		struct stat st;
@@ -670,6 +673,8 @@ int cmd_ls_files(int argc, const char **argv, const char *cmd_prefix)
 		OPT_BOOL(0, "debug", &debug_mode, N_("show debugging data")),
 		OPT_BOOL(0, "deduplicate", &skipping_duplicates,
 			 N_("suppress duplicate entries")),
+		OPT_BOOL(0, "sparse", &show_sparse_dirs,
+			 N_("show sparse directories in the presence of a sparse index")),
 		OPT_END()
 	};
 	int ret = 0;
@@ -677,6 +682,9 @@ int cmd_ls_files(int argc, const char **argv, const char *cmd_prefix)
 	if (argc == 2 && !strcmp(argv[1], "-h"))
 		usage_with_options(ls_files_usage, builtin_ls_files_options);
 
+	prepare_repo_settings(the_repository);
+	the_repository->settings.command_requires_full_index = 0;
+
 	prefix = cmd_prefix;
 	if (prefix)
 		prefix_len = strlen(prefix);
diff --git a/t/t1092-sparse-checkout-compatibility.sh b/t/t1092-sparse-checkout-compatibility.sh
index 3ba19ba1c14..29b97667378 100755
--- a/t/t1092-sparse-checkout-compatibility.sh
+++ b/t/t1092-sparse-checkout-compatibility.sh
@@ -802,6 +802,12 @@ test_expect_success 'sparse-index is expanded and converted back' '
 	GIT_TRACE2_EVENT="$(pwd)/trace2.txt" GIT_TRACE2_EVENT_NESTING=10 \
 		git -C sparse-index reset -- folder1/a &&
 	test_region index convert_to_sparse trace2.txt &&
+	test_region index ensure_full_index trace2.txt &&
+
+	# ls-files expands on read, but does not write.
+	rm trace2.txt &&
+	GIT_TRACE2_EVENT="$(pwd)/trace2.txt" GIT_TRACE2_EVENT_NESTING=10 \
+		git -C sparse-index ls-files &&
 	test_region index ensure_full_index trace2.txt
 '
 
@@ -826,6 +832,7 @@ test_expect_success 'sparse-index is not expanded' '
 	init_repos &&
 
 	ensure_not_expanded status &&
+	ensure_not_expanded ls-files --sparse &&
 	ensure_not_expanded commit --allow-empty -m empty &&
 	echo >>sparse-index/a &&
 	ensure_not_expanded commit -a -m a &&
@@ -974,6 +981,95 @@ test_expect_success 'sparse index is not expanded: fetch/pull' '
 	ensure_not_expanded pull full base
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'ls-files' '
+	init_repos &&
+
+	# Behavior agrees by default. Sparse index is expanded.
+	test_all_match git ls-files &&
+
+	# With --sparse, the sparse index data changes behavior.
+	git -C sparse-index ls-files >dense &&
+	git -C sparse-index ls-files --sparse >sparse &&
+
+	cat >expect <<-\EOF &&
+	@@ -13,13 +13,9 @@
+	 e
+	 folder1-
+	 folder1.x
+	-folder1/0/0/0
+	-folder1/0/1
+	-folder1/a
+	+folder1/
+	 folder10
+	-folder2/0/0/0
+	-folder2/0/1
+	-folder2/a
+	+folder2/
+	 g
+	-x/a
+	+x/
+	 z
+	EOF
+
+	diff -u dense sparse | tail -n +3 >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual &&
+
+	# With --sparse and no sparse index, nothing changes.
+	git -C sparse-checkout ls-files >dense &&
+	git -C sparse-checkout ls-files --sparse >sparse &&
+	test_cmp dense sparse &&
+
+	# Set up a strange condition of having a file edit
+	# outside of the sparse-checkout cone. This is just
+	# to verify that sparse-checkout and sparse-index
+	# behave the same in this case.
+	write_script edit-content <<-\EOF &&
+	mkdir folder1 &&
+	echo content >>folder1/a
+	EOF
+	run_on_sparse ../edit-content &&
+
+	# ls-files does not currently notice modified files whose
+	# cache entries are marked SKIP_WORKTREE. This may change
+	# in the future, but here we test that sparse index does
+	# not accidentally create a change of behavior.
+	test_sparse_match git ls-files --modified &&
+	test_must_be_empty sparse-checkout-out &&
+	test_must_be_empty sparse-index-out &&
+
+	git -C sparse-index ls-files --sparse --modified >sparse-index-out &&
+	test_must_be_empty sparse-index-out &&
+
+	# Add folder1 to the sparse-checkout cone and
+	# check that ls-files shows the expanded files.
+	test_sparse_match git sparse-checkout add folder1 &&
+	test_sparse_match git ls-files --modified &&
+
+	git -C sparse-index ls-files >dense &&
+	git -C sparse-index ls-files --sparse >sparse &&
+
+	cat >expect <<-\EOF &&
+	@@ -17,9 +17,7 @@
+	 folder1/0/1
+	 folder1/a
+	 folder10
+	-folder2/0/0/0
+	-folder2/0/1
+	-folder2/a
+	+folder2/
+	 g
+	-x/a
+	+x/
+	 z
+	EOF
+
+	diff -u dense sparse | tail -n +3 >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual &&
+
+	# Double-check index expansion is avoided
+	ensure_not_expanded ls-files --sparse
+'
+
 # NEEDSWORK: a sparse-checkout behaves differently from a full checkout
 # in this scenario, but it shouldn't.
 test_expect_success 'reset mixed and checkout orphan' '
