diff --git a/builtin/index-pack.c b/builtin/index-pack.c
index 0945adbb3bb..98025da7670 100644
--- a/builtin/index-pack.c
+++ b/builtin/index-pack.c
@@ -1122,8 +1122,10 @@ int cmd_index_pack(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 		if (!index_name)
 			die("--verify with no packfile name given");
 		read_idx_option(&opts, index_name);
-		opts.flags |= WRITE_IDX_VERIFY;
+		opts.flags |= WRITE_IDX_VERIFY | WRITE_IDX_STRICT;
 	}
+	if (strict)
+		opts.flags |= WRITE_IDX_STRICT;
 
 	curr_pack = open_pack_file(pack_name);
 	parse_pack_header();
diff --git a/object.c b/object.c
index 31976b5d70b..d8d09f92aac 100644
--- a/object.c
+++ b/object.c
@@ -149,6 +149,8 @@ struct object *parse_object_buffer(const unsigned char *sha1, enum object_type t
 		struct tree *tree = lookup_tree(sha1);
 		if (tree) {
 			obj = &tree->object;
+			if (!tree->buffer)
+				tree->object.parsed = 0;
 			if (!tree->object.parsed) {
 				if (parse_tree_buffer(tree, buffer, size))
 					return NULL;
diff --git a/pack-write.c b/pack-write.c
index 9cd3bfbb4b3..f84adde3eb3 100644
--- a/pack-write.c
+++ b/pack-write.c
@@ -129,6 +129,10 @@ const char *write_idx_file(const char *index_name, struct pack_idx_entry **objec
 		}
 		sha1write(f, obj->sha1, 20);
 		git_SHA1_Update(&ctx, obj->sha1, 20);
+		if ((opts->flags & WRITE_IDX_STRICT) &&
+		    (i && !hashcmp(list[-2]->sha1, obj->sha1)))
+			die("The same object %s appears twice in the pack",
+			    sha1_to_hex(obj->sha1));
 	}
 
 	if (index_version >= 2) {
diff --git a/pack.h b/pack.h
index 324a1d73c04..a8d9b9f2fcc 100644
--- a/pack.h
+++ b/pack.h
@@ -37,7 +37,8 @@ struct pack_header {
 struct pack_idx_option {
 	unsigned flags;
 	/* flag bits */
-#define WRITE_IDX_VERIFY 01
+#define WRITE_IDX_VERIFY 01 /* verify only, do not write the idx file */
+#define WRITE_IDX_STRICT 02
 
 	uint32_t version;
 	uint32_t off32_limit;