diff --git a/Documentation/config/advice.txt b/Documentation/config/advice.txt
index d5fd05ce81..0103faa417 100644
--- a/Documentation/config/advice.txt
+++ b/Documentation/config/advice.txt
@@ -37,6 +37,12 @@ advice.*::
 		we can still suggest that the user push to either
 		refs/heads/* or refs/tags/* based on the type of the
 		source object.
+	statusAheadBehind::
+		Shown when linkgit:git-status[1] computes the ahead/behind
+		counts for a local ref compared to its remote tracking ref,
+		and that calculation takes longer than expected. Will not
+		appear if `status.aheadBehind` is false or the option
+		`--no-ahead-behind` is given.
 	statusHints::
 		Show directions on how to proceed from the current
 		state in the output of linkgit:git-status[1], in
diff --git a/Documentation/config/status.txt b/Documentation/config/status.txt
index ed72fa7dae..0fc704ab80 100644
--- a/Documentation/config/status.txt
+++ b/Documentation/config/status.txt
@@ -12,6 +12,11 @@ status.branch::
 	Set to true to enable --branch by default in linkgit:git-status[1].
 	The option --no-branch takes precedence over this variable.
 
+status.aheadBehind::
+	Set to true to enable `--ahead-behind` and false to enable
+	`--no-ahead-behind` by default in linkgit:git-status[1] for
+	non-porcelain status formats.  Defaults to true.
+
 status.displayCommentPrefix::
 	If set to true, linkgit:git-status[1] will insert a comment
 	prefix before each output line (starting with
diff --git a/advice.c b/advice.c
index b04709bfec..2d330d2b75 100644
--- a/advice.c
+++ b/advice.c
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ int advice_push_needs_force = 1;
 int advice_push_unqualified_ref_name = 1;
 int advice_status_hints = 1;
 int advice_status_u_option = 1;
+int advice_status_ahead_behind_warning = 1;
 int advice_commit_before_merge = 1;
 int advice_reset_quiet_warning = 1;
 int advice_resolve_conflict = 1;
@@ -68,6 +69,7 @@ static struct {
 	{ "pushUnqualifiedRefName", &advice_push_unqualified_ref_name },
 	{ "statusHints", &advice_status_hints },
 	{ "statusUoption", &advice_status_u_option },
+	{ "statusAheadBehindWarning", &advice_status_ahead_behind_warning },
 	{ "commitBeforeMerge", &advice_commit_before_merge },
 	{ "resetQuiet", &advice_reset_quiet_warning },
 	{ "resolveConflict", &advice_resolve_conflict },
diff --git a/advice.h b/advice.h
index e50f02cdfe..c86de9b9b8 100644
--- a/advice.h
+++ b/advice.h
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ extern int advice_push_needs_force;
 extern int advice_push_unqualified_ref_name;
 extern int advice_status_hints;
 extern int advice_status_u_option;
+extern int advice_status_ahead_behind_warning;
 extern int advice_commit_before_merge;
 extern int advice_reset_quiet_warning;
 extern int advice_resolve_conflict;
diff --git a/builtin/commit.c b/builtin/commit.c
index 851b257867..3b561c2a75 100644
--- a/builtin/commit.c
+++ b/builtin/commit.c
@@ -1078,9 +1078,11 @@ static const char *read_commit_message(const char *name)
 static struct status_deferred_config {
 	enum wt_status_format status_format;
 	int show_branch;
+	enum ahead_behind_flags ahead_behind;
 } status_deferred_config = {
 	STATUS_FORMAT_UNSPECIFIED,
-	-1 /* unspecified */
+	-1, /* unspecified */
+	AHEAD_BEHIND_UNSPECIFIED,
 };
 
 static void finalize_deferred_config(struct wt_status *s)
@@ -1107,6 +1109,17 @@ static void finalize_deferred_config(struct wt_status *s)
 	if (s->show_branch < 0)
 		s->show_branch = 0;
 
+	/*
+	 * If the user did not give a "--[no]-ahead-behind" command
+	 * line argument *AND* we will print in a human-readable format
+	 * (short, long etc.) then we inherit from the status.aheadbehind
+	 * config setting.  In all other cases (and porcelain V[12] formats
+	 * in particular), we inherit _FULL for backwards compatibility.
+	 */
+	if (use_deferred_config &&
+	    s->ahead_behind_flags == AHEAD_BEHIND_UNSPECIFIED)
+		s->ahead_behind_flags = status_deferred_config.ahead_behind;
+
 	if (s->ahead_behind_flags == AHEAD_BEHIND_UNSPECIFIED)
 		s->ahead_behind_flags = AHEAD_BEHIND_FULL;
 }
@@ -1246,6 +1259,10 @@ static int git_status_config(const char *k, const char *v, void *cb)
 		status_deferred_config.show_branch = git_config_bool(k, v);
 		return 0;
 	}
+	if (!strcmp(k, "status.aheadbehind")) {
+		status_deferred_config.ahead_behind = git_config_bool(k, v);
+		return 0;
+	}
 	if (!strcmp(k, "status.showstash")) {
 		s->show_stash = git_config_bool(k, v);
 		return 0;
diff --git a/t/t6040-tracking-info.sh b/t/t6040-tracking-info.sh
index 716283b274..febf63f28a 100755
--- a/t/t6040-tracking-info.sh
+++ b/t/t6040-tracking-info.sh
@@ -159,6 +159,19 @@ test_expect_success 'status -s -b --no-ahead-behind (diverged from upstream)' '
 	test_i18ncmp expect actual
 '
 
+cat >expect <<\EOF
+## b1...origin/master [different]
+EOF
+
+test_expect_success 'status.aheadbehind=false status -s -b (diverged from upstream)' '
+	(
+		cd test &&
+		git checkout b1 >/dev/null &&
+		git -c status.aheadbehind=false status -s -b | head -1
+	) >actual &&
+	test_i18ncmp expect actual
+'
+
 cat >expect <<\EOF
 On branch b1
 Your branch and 'origin/master' have diverged,
@@ -174,6 +187,15 @@ test_expect_success 'status --long --branch' '
 	test_i18ncmp expect actual
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'status --long --branch' '
+	(
+		cd test &&
+		git checkout b1 >/dev/null &&
+		git -c status.aheadbehind=true status --long -b | head -3
+	) >actual &&
+	test_i18ncmp expect actual
+'
+
 cat >expect <<\EOF
 On branch b1
 Your branch and 'origin/master' refer to different commits.
@@ -188,6 +210,15 @@ test_expect_success 'status --long --branch --no-ahead-behind' '
 	test_i18ncmp expect actual
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'status.aheadbehind=false status --long --branch' '
+	(
+		cd test &&
+		git checkout b1 >/dev/null &&
+		git -c status.aheadbehind=false status --long -b | head -2
+	) >actual &&
+	test_i18ncmp expect actual
+'
+
 cat >expect <<\EOF
 ## b5...brokenbase [gone]
 EOF
diff --git a/t/t7064-wtstatus-pv2.sh b/t/t7064-wtstatus-pv2.sh
index 11eccc231a..537787e598 100755
--- a/t/t7064-wtstatus-pv2.sh
+++ b/t/t7064-wtstatus-pv2.sh
@@ -445,6 +445,14 @@ test_expect_success 'verify --[no-]ahead-behind with V2 format' '
 		EOF
 
 		git status --ahead-behind --porcelain=v2 --branch --untracked-files=all >actual &&
+		test_cmp expect actual &&
+
+		# Confirm that "status.aheadbehind" DOES NOT work on V2 format.
+		git -c status.aheadbehind=false status --porcelain=v2 --branch --untracked-files=all >actual &&
+		test_cmp expect actual &&
+
+		# Confirm that "status.aheadbehind" DOES NOT work on V2 format.
+		git -c status.aheadbehind=true status --porcelain=v2 --branch --untracked-files=all >actual &&
 		test_cmp expect actual
 	)
 '
diff --git a/wt-status.c b/wt-status.c
index dd5270647e..7d776f8a97 100644
--- a/wt-status.c
+++ b/wt-status.c
@@ -19,6 +19,8 @@
 #include "lockfile.h"
 #include "sequencer.h"
 
+#define AB_DELAY_WARNING_IN_MS (2 * 1000)
+
 static const char cut_line[] =
 "------------------------ >8 ------------------------\n";
 
@@ -1097,14 +1099,29 @@ static void wt_longstatus_print_tracking(struct wt_status *s)
 	struct branch *branch;
 	char comment_line_string[3];
 	int i;
+	uint64_t t_begin = 0;
 
 	assert(s->branch && !s->is_initial);
 	if (!skip_prefix(s->branch, "refs/heads/", &branch_name))
 		return;
 	branch = branch_get(branch_name);
+
+	t_begin = getnanotime();
+
 	if (!format_tracking_info(branch, &sb, s->ahead_behind_flags))
 		return;
 
+	if (advice_status_ahead_behind_warning &&
+	    s->ahead_behind_flags == AHEAD_BEHIND_FULL) {
+		uint64_t t_delta_in_ms = (getnanotime() - t_begin) / 1000000;
+		if (t_delta_in_ms > AB_DELAY_WARNING_IN_MS) {
+			strbuf_addf(&sb, _("\n"
+					   "It took %.2f seconds to compute the branch ahead/behind values.\n"
+					   "You can use '--no-ahead-behind' to avoid this.\n"),
+				    t_delta_in_ms / 1000.0);
+		}
+	}
+
 	i = 0;
 	if (s->display_comment_prefix) {
 		comment_line_string[i++] = comment_line_char;