diff --git a/builtin/commit.c b/builtin/commit.c
index 190d215d43..12f51db158 100644
--- a/builtin/commit.c
+++ b/builtin/commit.c
@@ -1510,6 +1510,9 @@ int cmd_status(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	if (argc == 2 && !strcmp(argv[1], "-h"))
 		usage_with_options(builtin_status_usage, builtin_status_options);
 
+	prepare_repo_settings(the_repository);
+	the_repository->settings.command_requires_full_index = 0;
+
 	status_init_config(&s, git_status_config);
 	argc = parse_options(argc, argv, prefix,
 			     builtin_status_options,
diff --git a/read-cache.c b/read-cache.c
index 77961a3885..f67e04949d 100644
--- a/read-cache.c
+++ b/read-cache.c
@@ -1585,8 +1585,7 @@ int refresh_index(struct index_state *istate, unsigned int flags,
 	 */
 	preload_index(istate, pathspec, 0);
 	trace2_region_enter("index", "refresh", NULL);
-	/* TODO: audit for interaction with sparse-index. */
-	ensure_full_index(istate);
+
 	for (i = 0; i < istate->cache_nr; i++) {
 		struct cache_entry *ce, *new_entry;
 		int cache_errno = 0;
@@ -1601,6 +1600,13 @@ int refresh_index(struct index_state *istate, unsigned int flags,
 		if (ignore_skip_worktree && ce_skip_worktree(ce))
 			continue;
 
+		/*
+		 * If this entry is a sparse directory, then there isn't
+		 * any stat() information to update. Ignore the entry.
+		 */
+		if (S_ISSPARSEDIR(ce->ce_mode))
+			continue;
+
 		if (pathspec && !ce_path_match(istate, ce, pathspec, seen))
 			filtered = 1;
 
diff --git a/t/t1092-sparse-checkout-compatibility.sh b/t/t1092-sparse-checkout-compatibility.sh
index 375b0d3556..751f397cc7 100755
--- a/t/t1092-sparse-checkout-compatibility.sh
+++ b/t/t1092-sparse-checkout-compatibility.sh
@@ -511,12 +511,17 @@ test_expect_success 'sparse-index is expanded and converted back' '
 	GIT_TRACE2_EVENT="$(pwd)/trace2.txt" GIT_TRACE2_EVENT_NESTING=10 \
 		git -C sparse-index -c core.fsmonitor="" reset --hard &&
 	test_region index convert_to_sparse trace2.txt &&
-	test_region index ensure_full_index trace2.txt &&
-
-	rm trace2.txt &&
-	GIT_TRACE2_EVENT="$(pwd)/trace2.txt" GIT_TRACE2_EVENT_NESTING=10 \
-		git -C sparse-index -c core.fsmonitor="" status -uno &&
 	test_region index ensure_full_index trace2.txt
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'sparse-index is not expanded' '
+	init_repos &&
+
+	rm -f trace2.txt &&
+	echo >>sparse-index/untracked.txt &&
+	GIT_TRACE2_EVENT="$(pwd)/trace2.txt" GIT_TRACE2_EVENT_NESTING=10 \
+		git -C sparse-index status &&
+	test_region ! index ensure_full_index trace2.txt
+'
+
 test_done