diff --git a/compat/win32/fscache.c b/compat/win32/fscache.c
index 7bf44e0f3a..029c1fb169 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 d9e0e07506..a7dd6ca667 100644
--- a/t/README
+++ b/t/README
@@ -512,6 +512,9 @@ 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
 ------------