diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index d8c7e6abe..795d26b9e 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -23,6 +23,8 @@ Performance improvements:
   Make most searches with `\b` look-arounds (among others) much faster.
 * [PERF #2591](https://github.com/BurntSushi/ripgrep/pull/2591):
   Parallel directory traversal now uses work stealing for faster searches.
+* [PERF #2642](https://github.com/BurntSushi/ripgrep/pull/2642):
+  Parallel directory traversal has some contention reduced.
 
 Feature enhancements:
 
diff --git a/crates/ignore/src/walk.rs b/crates/ignore/src/walk.rs
index 4fee1d88a..2288fe0bd 100644
--- a/crates/ignore/src/walk.rs
+++ b/crates/ignore/src/walk.rs
@@ -1279,7 +1279,7 @@ impl WalkParallel {
         }
         // Create the workers and then wait for them to finish.
         let quit_now = Arc::new(AtomicBool::new(false));
-        let num_pending = Arc::new(AtomicUsize::new(stack.len()));
+        let active_workers = Arc::new(AtomicUsize::new(threads));
         let stacks = Stack::new_for_each_thread(threads, stack);
         std::thread::scope(|s| {
             let handles: Vec<_> = stacks
@@ -1288,7 +1288,7 @@ impl WalkParallel {
                     visitor: builder.build(),
                     stack,
                     quit_now: quit_now.clone(),
-                    num_pending: num_pending.clone(),
+                    active_workers: active_workers.clone(),
                     max_depth: self.max_depth,
                     max_filesize: self.max_filesize,
                     follow_links: self.follow_links,
@@ -1471,8 +1471,8 @@ struct Worker<'s> {
     /// that we need this because we don't want other `Work` to be done after
     /// we quit. We wouldn't need this if have a priority channel.
     quit_now: Arc<AtomicBool>,
-    /// The number of outstanding work items.
-    num_pending: Arc<AtomicUsize>,
+    /// The number of currently active workers.
+    active_workers: Arc<AtomicUsize>,
     /// The maximum depth of directories to descend. A value of `0` means no
     /// descension at all.
     max_depth: Option<usize>,
@@ -1500,7 +1500,6 @@ impl<'s> Worker<'s> {
             if let WalkState::Quit = self.run_one(work) {
                 self.quit_now();
             }
-            self.work_done();
         }
     }
 
@@ -1682,23 +1681,20 @@ impl<'s> Worker<'s> {
                     return None;
                 }
                 None => {
-                    // Once num_pending reaches 0, it is impossible for it to
-                    // ever increase again. Namely, it only reaches 0 once
-                    // all jobs have run such that no jobs have produced more
-                    // work. We have this guarantee because num_pending is
-                    // always incremented before each job is submitted and only
-                    // decremented once each job is completely finished.
-                    // Therefore, if this reaches zero, then there can be no
-                    // other job running.
-                    if self.num_pending() == 0 {
-                        // Every other thread is blocked at the next recv().
-                        // Send the initial quit message and quit.
+                    if self.deactivate_worker() == 0 {
+                        // If deactivate_worker() returns 0, every worker thread
+                        // is currently within the critical section between the
+                        // acquire in deactivate_worker() and the release in
+                        // activate_worker() below.  For this to happen, every
+                        // worker's local deque must be simultaneously empty,
+                        // meaning there is no more work left at all.
                         self.send_quit();
                         return None;
                     }
                     // Wait for next `Work` or `Quit` message.
                     loop {
                         if let Some(v) = self.recv() {
+                            self.activate_worker();
                             value = Some(v);
                             break;
                         }
@@ -1724,14 +1720,8 @@ impl<'s> Worker<'s> {
         self.quit_now.load(AtomicOrdering::SeqCst)
     }
 
-    /// Returns the number of pending jobs.
-    fn num_pending(&self) -> usize {
-        self.num_pending.load(AtomicOrdering::SeqCst)
-    }
-
     /// Send work.
     fn send(&self, work: Work) {
-        self.num_pending.fetch_add(1, AtomicOrdering::SeqCst);
         self.stack.push(Message::Work(work));
     }
 
@@ -1745,9 +1735,14 @@ impl<'s> Worker<'s> {
         self.stack.pop()
     }
 
-    /// Signal that work has been finished.
-    fn work_done(&self) {
-        self.num_pending.fetch_sub(1, AtomicOrdering::SeqCst);
+    /// Deactivates a worker and returns the number of currently active workers.
+    fn deactivate_worker(&self) -> usize {
+        self.active_workers.fetch_sub(1, AtomicOrdering::Acquire) - 1
+    }
+
+    /// Reactivates a worker.
+    fn activate_worker(&self) {
+        self.active_workers.fetch_add(1, AtomicOrdering::Release);
     }
 }