diff --git a/Documentation/config/pack.txt b/Documentation/config/pack.txt
index 3da4ea98e2..c0844d8d8e 100644
--- a/Documentation/config/pack.txt
+++ b/Documentation/config/pack.txt
@@ -122,6 +122,21 @@ pack.useSparse::
 	commits contain certain types of direct renames. Default is
 	`true`.
 
+pack.preferBitmapTips::
+	When selecting which commits will receive bitmaps, prefer a
+	commit at the tip of any reference that is a suffix of any value
+	of this configuration over any other commits in the "selection
+	window".
++
+Note that setting this configuration to `refs/foo` does not mean that
+the commits at the tips of `refs/foo/bar` and `refs/foo/baz` will
+necessarily be selected. This is because commits are selected for
+bitmaps from within a series of windows of variable length.
++
+If a commit at the tip of any reference which is a suffix of any value
+of this configuration is seen in a window, it is immediately given
+preference over any other commit in that window.
+
 pack.writeBitmaps (deprecated)::
 	This is a deprecated synonym for `repack.writeBitmaps`.
 
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index ffc2ddfd93..21c0bf1667 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -693,6 +693,7 @@ X =
 PROGRAMS += $(patsubst %.o,git-%$X,$(PROGRAM_OBJS))
 
 TEST_BUILTINS_OBJS += test-advise.o
+TEST_BUILTINS_OBJS += test-bitmap.o
 TEST_BUILTINS_OBJS += test-bloom.o
 TEST_BUILTINS_OBJS += test-chmtime.o
 TEST_BUILTINS_OBJS += test-config.o
diff --git a/builtin/pack-objects.c b/builtin/pack-objects.c
index 525c2d8552..a1e33d7507 100644
--- a/builtin/pack-objects.c
+++ b/builtin/pack-objects.c
@@ -3547,6 +3547,37 @@ static void record_recent_commit(struct commit *commit, void *data)
 	oid_array_append(&recent_objects, &commit->object.oid);
 }
 
+static int mark_bitmap_preferred_tip(const char *refname,
+				     const struct object_id *oid, int flags,
+				     void *_data)
+{
+	struct object_id peeled;
+	struct object *object;
+
+	if (!peel_iterated_oid(oid, &peeled))
+		oid = &peeled;
+
+	object = parse_object_or_die(oid, refname);
+	if (object->type == OBJ_COMMIT)
+		object->flags |= NEEDS_BITMAP;
+
+	return 0;
+}
+
+static void mark_bitmap_preferred_tips(void)
+{
+	struct string_list_item *item;
+	const struct string_list *preferred_tips;
+
+	preferred_tips = bitmap_preferred_tips(the_repository);
+	if (!preferred_tips)
+		return;
+
+	for_each_string_list_item(item, preferred_tips) {
+		for_each_ref_in(item->string, mark_bitmap_preferred_tip, NULL);
+	}
+}
+
 static void get_object_list(int ac, const char **av)
 {
 	struct rev_info revs;
@@ -3601,6 +3632,9 @@ static void get_object_list(int ac, const char **av)
 	if (use_delta_islands)
 		load_delta_islands(the_repository, progress);
 
+	if (write_bitmap_index)
+		mark_bitmap_preferred_tips();
+
 	if (prepare_revision_walk(&revs))
 		die(_("revision walk setup failed"));
 	mark_edges_uninteresting(&revs, show_edge, sparse);
diff --git a/pack-bitmap.c b/pack-bitmap.c
index b4513f8672..3ed15431cd 100644
--- a/pack-bitmap.c
+++ b/pack-bitmap.c
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
 #include "repository.h"
 #include "object-store.h"
 #include "list-objects-filter-options.h"
+#include "config.h"
 
 /*
  * An entry on the bitmap index, representing the bitmap for a given
@@ -1351,6 +1352,24 @@ void test_bitmap_walk(struct rev_info *revs)
 	free_bitmap_index(bitmap_git);
 }
 
+int test_bitmap_commits(struct repository *r)
+{
+	struct bitmap_index *bitmap_git = prepare_bitmap_git(r);
+	struct object_id oid;
+	MAYBE_UNUSED void *value;
+
+	if (!bitmap_git)
+		die("failed to load bitmap indexes");
+
+	kh_foreach(bitmap_git->bitmaps, oid, value, {
+		printf("%s\n", oid_to_hex(&oid));
+	});
+
+	free_bitmap_index(bitmap_git);
+
+	return 0;
+}
+
 int rebuild_bitmap(const uint32_t *reposition,
 		   struct ewah_bitmap *source,
 		   struct bitmap *dest)
@@ -1512,3 +1531,8 @@ off_t get_disk_usage_from_bitmap(struct bitmap_index *bitmap_git,
 
 	return total;
 }
+
+const struct string_list *bitmap_preferred_tips(struct repository *r)
+{
+	return repo_config_get_value_multi(r, "pack.preferbitmaptips");
+}
diff --git a/pack-bitmap.h b/pack-bitmap.h
index 36d99930d8..78f2b3ff79 100644
--- a/pack-bitmap.h
+++ b/pack-bitmap.h
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 #include "khash.h"
 #include "pack.h"
 #include "pack-objects.h"
+#include "string-list.h"
 
 struct commit;
 struct repository;
@@ -49,6 +50,7 @@ void traverse_bitmap_commit_list(struct bitmap_index *,
 				 struct rev_info *revs,
 				 show_reachable_fn show_reachable);
 void test_bitmap_walk(struct rev_info *revs);
+int test_bitmap_commits(struct repository *r);
 struct bitmap_index *prepare_bitmap_walk(struct rev_info *revs,
 					 struct list_objects_filter_options *filter);
 int reuse_partial_packfile_from_bitmap(struct bitmap_index *,
@@ -90,4 +92,6 @@ void bitmap_writer_finish(struct pack_idx_entry **index,
 			  const char *filename,
 			  uint16_t options);
 
+const struct string_list *bitmap_preferred_tips(struct repository *r);
+
 #endif
diff --git a/t/helper/test-bitmap.c b/t/helper/test-bitmap.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..134a1e9d76
--- /dev/null
+++ b/t/helper/test-bitmap.c
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+#include "test-tool.h"
+#include "cache.h"
+#include "pack-bitmap.h"
+
+static int bitmap_list_commits(void)
+{
+	return test_bitmap_commits(the_repository);
+}
+
+int cmd__bitmap(int argc, const char **argv)
+{
+	setup_git_directory();
+
+	if (argc != 2)
+		goto usage;
+
+	if (!strcmp(argv[1], "list-commits"))
+		return bitmap_list_commits();
+
+usage:
+	usage("\ttest-tool bitmap list-commits");
+
+	return -1;
+}
diff --git a/t/helper/test-tool.c b/t/helper/test-tool.c
index 287aa60023..25c6a37e93 100644
--- a/t/helper/test-tool.c
+++ b/t/helper/test-tool.c
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ struct test_cmd {
 
 static struct test_cmd cmds[] = {
 	{ "advise", cmd__advise_if_enabled },
+	{ "bitmap", cmd__bitmap },
 	{ "bloom", cmd__bloom },
 	{ "chmtime", cmd__chmtime },
 	{ "config", cmd__config },
diff --git a/t/helper/test-tool.h b/t/helper/test-tool.h
index 9ea4b31011..f03c5988b2 100644
--- a/t/helper/test-tool.h
+++ b/t/helper/test-tool.h
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 #include "git-compat-util.h"
 
 int cmd__advise_if_enabled(int argc, const char **argv);
+int cmd__bitmap(int argc, const char **argv);
 int cmd__bloom(int argc, const char **argv);
 int cmd__chmtime(int argc, const char **argv);
 int cmd__config(int argc, const char **argv);
diff --git a/t/t5310-pack-bitmaps.sh b/t/t5310-pack-bitmaps.sh
index 40b9f63244..f53efc8229 100755
--- a/t/t5310-pack-bitmaps.sh
+++ b/t/t5310-pack-bitmaps.sh
@@ -554,4 +554,42 @@ test_expect_success 'fetch with bitmaps can reuse old base' '
 	)
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'pack.preferBitmapTips' '
+	git init repo &&
+	test_when_finished "rm -fr repo" &&
+	(
+		cd repo &&
+
+		# create enough commits that not all are receive bitmap
+		# coverage even if they are all at the tip of some reference.
+		test_commit_bulk --message="%s" 103 &&
+
+		git rev-list HEAD >commits.raw &&
+		sort <commits.raw >commits &&
+
+		git log --format="create refs/tags/%s %H" HEAD >refs &&
+		git update-ref --stdin <refs &&
+
+		git repack -adb &&
+		test-tool bitmap list-commits | sort >bitmaps &&
+
+		# remember which commits did not receive bitmaps
+		comm -13 bitmaps commits >before &&
+		test_file_not_empty before &&
+
+		# mark the commits which did not receive bitmaps as preferred,
+		# and generate the bitmap again
+		perl -pe "s{^}{create refs/tags/include/$. }" <before |
+			git update-ref --stdin &&
+		git -c pack.preferBitmapTips=refs/tags/include repack -adb &&
+
+		# finally, check that the commit(s) without bitmap coverage
+		# are not the same ones as before
+		test-tool bitmap list-commits | sort >bitmaps &&
+		comm -13 bitmaps commits >after &&
+
+		! test_cmp before after
+	)
+'
+
 test_done