diff --git a/compat/win32/fscache.c b/compat/win32/fscache.c
index 7bf44e0f3a76d2..029c1fb1693911 100644
--- a/compat/win32/fscache.c
+++ b/compat/win32/fscache.c
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 #include "../../dir.h"
 #include "../../abspath.h"
 #include "../../trace.h"
+#include "config.h"
 
 static int initialized;
 static volatile long enabled;
@@ -401,7 +402,11 @@ int fscache_enable(int enable)
 	int result;
 
 	if (!initialized) {
+		int fscache = git_env_bool("GIT_TEST_FSCACHE", -1);
+
 		/* allow the cache to be disabled entirely */
+		if (fscache != -1)
+			core_fscache = fscache;
 		if (!core_fscache)
 			return 0;
 
diff --git a/t/README b/t/README
index 621d3b8c095441..3742968427c5e9 100644
--- a/t/README
+++ b/t/README
@@ -505,6 +505,9 @@ a test and then fails then the whole test run will abort. This can help to make
 sure the expected tests are executed and not silently skipped when their
 dependency breaks or is simply not present in a new environment.
 
+GIT_TEST_FSCACHE=<boolean> exercises the uncommon fscache code path
+which adds a cache below mingw's lstat and dirent implementations.
+
 Naming Tests
 ------------