diff --git a/fsmonitor.c b/fsmonitor.c
index 695fb0ce4e..3a63cda58f 100644
--- a/fsmonitor.c
+++ b/fsmonitor.c
@@ -233,6 +233,45 @@ static void fsmonitor_refresh_callback(struct index_state *istate, char *name)
 	untracked_cache_invalidate_path(istate, name, 0);
 }
 
+/*
+ * The number of pathnames that we need to receive from FSMonitor
+ * before we force the index to be updated.
+ *
+ * Note that any pathname within the set of received paths MAY cause
+ * cache-entry or istate flag bits to be updated and thus cause the
+ * index to be updated on disk.
+ *
+ * However, the response may contain many paths (such as ignored
+ * paths) that will not update any flag bits.  And thus not force the
+ * index to be updated.  (This is fine and normal.)  It also means
+ * that the token will not be updated in the FSMonitor index
+ * extension.  So the next Git command will find the same token in the
+ * index, make the same token-relative request, and receive the same
+ * response (plus any newly changed paths).  If this response is large
+ * (and continues to grow), performance could be impacted.
+ *
+ * For example, if the user runs a build and it writes 100K object
+ * files but doesn't modify any source files, the index would not need
+ * to be updated.  The FSMonitor response (after the build and
+ * relative to a pre-build token) might be 5MB.  Each subsequent Git
+ * command will receive that same 100K/5MB response until something
+ * causes the index to be updated.  And `refresh_fsmonitor()` will
+ * have to iterate over those 100K paths each time.
+ *
+ * Performance could be improved if we optionally force update the
+ * index after a very large response and get an updated token into
+ * the FSMonitor index extension.  This should allow subsequent
+ * commands to get smaller and more current responses.
+ *
+ * The value chosen here does not need to be precise.  The index
+ * will be updated automatically the first time the user touches
+ * a tracked file and causes a command like `git status` to
+ * update an mtime to be updated and/or set a flag bit.
+ *
+ * NEEDSWORK: Does this need to be a config value?
+ */
+static int fsmonitor_force_update_threshold = 100;
+
 void refresh_fsmonitor(struct index_state *istate)
 {
 	struct strbuf query_result = STRBUF_INIT;
@@ -370,19 +409,28 @@ apply_results:
 		 *
 		 * This updates both the cache-entries and the untracked-cache.
 		 */
+		int count = 0;
+
 		buf = query_result.buf;
 		for (i = bol; i < query_result.len; i++) {
 			if (buf[i] != '\0')
 				continue;
 			fsmonitor_refresh_callback(istate, buf + bol);
 			bol = i + 1;
+			count++;
 		}
-		if (bol < query_result.len)
+		if (bol < query_result.len) {
 			fsmonitor_refresh_callback(istate, buf + bol);
+			count++;
+		}
 
 		/* Now mark the untracked cache for fsmonitor usage */
 		if (istate->untracked)
 			istate->untracked->use_fsmonitor = 1;
+
+		if (count > fsmonitor_force_update_threshold)
+			istate->cache_changed |= FSMONITOR_CHANGED;
+
 	} else {
 		/*
 		 * We received a trivial response, so invalidate everything.