diff --git a/Documentation/config.txt b/Documentation/config.txt
index 65dc587f7cb..9f40955f8e7 100644
--- a/Documentation/config.txt
+++ b/Documentation/config.txt
@@ -1136,6 +1136,12 @@ http.maxRequests::
 	How many HTTP requests to launch in parallel. Can be overridden
 	by the 'GIT_HTTP_MAX_REQUESTS' environment variable. Default is 5.
 
+http.minSessions::
+	The number of curl sessions (counted across slots) to be kept across
+	requests. They will not be ended with curl_easy_cleanup() until
+	http_cleanup() is invoked. If USE_CURL_MULTI is not defined, this
+	value will be capped at 1. Defaults to 1.
+
 http.postBuffer::
 	Maximum size in bytes of the buffer used by smart HTTP
 	transports when POSTing data to the remote system.
diff --git a/http.c b/http.c
index 455732fb243..5c3efb96d92 100644
--- a/http.c
+++ b/http.c
@@ -7,6 +7,12 @@ int active_requests;
 int http_is_verbose;
 size_t http_post_buffer = 16 * LARGE_PACKET_MAX;
 
+#if LIBCURL_VERSION_NUM >= 0x070a06
+#define LIBCURL_CAN_HANDLE_AUTH_ANY
+#endif
+
+static int min_curl_sessions = 1;
+static int curl_session_count;
 #ifdef USE_CURL_MULTI
 static int max_requests = -1;
 static CURLM *curlm;
@@ -152,6 +158,14 @@ static int http_options(const char *var, const char *value, void *cb)
 			ssl_cert_password_required = 1;
 		return 0;
 	}
+	if (!strcmp("http.minsessions", var)) {
+		min_curl_sessions = git_config_int(var, value);
+#ifndef USE_CURL_MULTI
+		if (min_curl_sessions > 1)
+			min_curl_sessions = 1;
+#endif
+		return 0;
+	}
 #ifdef USE_CURL_MULTI
 	if (!strcmp("http.maxrequests", var)) {
 		max_requests = git_config_int(var, value);
@@ -230,6 +244,9 @@ static CURL *get_curl_handle(void)
 #if LIBCURL_VERSION_NUM >= 0x070907
 	curl_easy_setopt(result, CURLOPT_NETRC, CURL_NETRC_OPTIONAL);
 #endif
+#ifdef LIBCURL_CAN_HANDLE_AUTH_ANY
+	curl_easy_setopt(result, CURLOPT_HTTPAUTH, CURLAUTH_ANY);
+#endif
 
 	init_curl_http_auth(result);
 
@@ -372,6 +389,7 @@ void http_init(struct remote *remote)
 	if (curl_ssl_verify == -1)
 		curl_ssl_verify = 1;
 
+	curl_session_count = 0;
 #ifdef USE_CURL_MULTI
 	if (max_requests < 1)
 		max_requests = DEFAULT_MAX_REQUESTS;
@@ -480,6 +498,7 @@ struct active_request_slot *get_active_slot(void)
 #else
 		slot->curl = curl_easy_duphandle(curl_default);
 #endif
+		curl_session_count++;
 	}
 
 	active_requests++;
@@ -558,9 +577,11 @@ void fill_active_slots(void)
 	}
 
 	while (slot != NULL) {
-		if (!slot->in_use && slot->curl != NULL) {
+		if (!slot->in_use && slot->curl != NULL
+			&& curl_session_count > min_curl_sessions) {
 			curl_easy_cleanup(slot->curl);
 			slot->curl = NULL;
+			curl_session_count--;
 		}
 		slot = slot->next;
 	}
@@ -633,12 +654,13 @@ static void closedown_active_slot(struct active_request_slot *slot)
 void release_active_slot(struct active_request_slot *slot)
 {
 	closedown_active_slot(slot);
-	if (slot->curl) {
+	if (slot->curl && curl_session_count > min_curl_sessions) {
 #ifdef USE_CURL_MULTI
 		curl_multi_remove_handle(curlm, slot->curl);
 #endif
 		curl_easy_cleanup(slot->curl);
 		slot->curl = NULL;
+		curl_session_count--;
 	}
 #ifdef USE_CURL_MULTI
 	fill_active_slots();
diff --git a/remote-curl.c b/remote-curl.c
index a331bae6c8e..28b2a316d3d 100644
--- a/remote-curl.c
+++ b/remote-curl.c
@@ -290,6 +290,7 @@ struct rpc_state {
 	int out;
 	struct strbuf result;
 	unsigned gzip_request : 1;
+	unsigned initial_buffer : 1;
 };
 
 static size_t rpc_out(void *ptr, size_t eltsize,
@@ -300,6 +301,7 @@ static size_t rpc_out(void *ptr, size_t eltsize,
 	size_t avail = rpc->len - rpc->pos;
 
 	if (!avail) {
+		rpc->initial_buffer = 0;
 		avail = packet_read_line(rpc->out, rpc->buf, rpc->alloc);
 		if (!avail)
 			return 0;
@@ -314,6 +316,29 @@ static size_t rpc_out(void *ptr, size_t eltsize,
 	return avail;
 }
 
+#ifndef NO_CURL_IOCTL
+curlioerr rpc_ioctl(CURL *handle, int cmd, void *clientp)
+{
+	struct rpc_state *rpc = clientp;
+
+	switch (cmd) {
+	case CURLIOCMD_NOP:
+		return CURLIOE_OK;
+
+	case CURLIOCMD_RESTARTREAD:
+		if (rpc->initial_buffer) {
+			rpc->pos = 0;
+			return CURLIOE_OK;
+		}
+		fprintf(stderr, "Unable to rewind rpc post data - try increasing http.postBuffer\n");
+		return CURLIOE_FAILRESTART;
+
+	default:
+		return CURLIOE_UNKNOWNCMD;
+	}
+}
+#endif
+
 static size_t rpc_in(const void *ptr, size_t eltsize,
 		size_t nmemb, void *buffer_)
 {
@@ -370,8 +395,13 @@ static int post_rpc(struct rpc_state *rpc)
 		 */
 		headers = curl_slist_append(headers, "Expect: 100-continue");
 		headers = curl_slist_append(headers, "Transfer-Encoding: chunked");
+		rpc->initial_buffer = 1;
 		curl_easy_setopt(slot->curl, CURLOPT_READFUNCTION, rpc_out);
 		curl_easy_setopt(slot->curl, CURLOPT_INFILE, rpc);
+#ifndef NO_CURL_IOCTL
+		curl_easy_setopt(slot->curl, CURLOPT_IOCTLFUNCTION, rpc_ioctl);
+		curl_easy_setopt(slot->curl, CURLOPT_IOCTLDATA, rpc);
+#endif
 		if (options.verbosity > 1) {
 			fprintf(stderr, "POST %s (chunked)\n", rpc->service_name);
 			fflush(stderr);