diff --git a/builtin/commit.c b/builtin/commit.c
index 12f51db158..0bc6489250 100644
--- a/builtin/commit.c
+++ b/builtin/commit.c
@@ -1682,6 +1682,9 @@ int cmd_commit(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	if (argc == 2 && !strcmp(argv[1], "-h"))
 		usage_with_options(builtin_commit_usage, builtin_commit_options);
 
+	prepare_repo_settings(the_repository);
+	the_repository->settings.command_requires_full_index = 0;
+
 	status_init_config(&s, git_commit_config);
 	s.commit_template = 1;
 	status_format = STATUS_FORMAT_NONE; /* Ignore status.short */
diff --git a/cache-tree.c b/cache-tree.c
index 45e58666af..577b18d881 100644
--- a/cache-tree.c
+++ b/cache-tree.c
@@ -461,8 +461,6 @@ int cache_tree_update(struct index_state *istate, int flags)
 	if (i)
 		return i;
 
-	ensure_full_index(istate);
-
 	if (!istate->cache_tree)
 		istate->cache_tree = cache_tree();
 
diff --git a/t/t1092-sparse-checkout-compatibility.sh b/t/t1092-sparse-checkout-compatibility.sh
index cabbd42e33..d3e34d0aca 100755
--- a/t/t1092-sparse-checkout-compatibility.sh
+++ b/t/t1092-sparse-checkout-compatibility.sh
@@ -262,6 +262,34 @@ test_expect_success 'add, commit, checkout' '
 	test_all_match git checkout -
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'commit including unstaged changes' '
+	init_repos &&
+
+	write_script edit-file <<-\EOF &&
+	echo $1 >$2
+	EOF
+
+	run_on_all ../edit-file 1 a &&
+	run_on_all ../edit-file 1 deep/a &&
+
+	test_all_match git commit -m "-a" -a &&
+	test_all_match git status --porcelain=v2 &&
+
+	run_on_all ../edit-file 2 a &&
+	run_on_all ../edit-file 2 deep/a &&
+
+	test_all_match git commit -m "--include" --include deep/a &&
+	test_all_match git status --porcelain=v2 &&
+	test_all_match git commit -m "--include" --include a &&
+	test_all_match git status --porcelain=v2 &&
+
+	run_on_all ../edit-file 3 a &&
+	run_on_all ../edit-file 3 deep/a &&
+
+	test_all_match git commit -m "--amend" -a --amend &&
+	test_all_match git status --porcelain=v2
+'
+
 test_expect_success 'status/add: outside sparse cone' '
 	init_repos &&
 
@@ -514,14 +542,25 @@ test_expect_success 'sparse-index is expanded and converted back' '
 	test_region index ensure_full_index trace2.txt
 '
 
-test_expect_success 'sparse-index is not expanded' '
-	init_repos &&
-
+ensure_not_expanded () {
 	rm -f trace2.txt &&
 	echo >>sparse-index/untracked.txt &&
 	GIT_TRACE2_EVENT="$(pwd)/trace2.txt" GIT_TRACE2_EVENT_NESTING=10 \
-		git -C sparse-index status &&
+		git -C sparse-index "$@" &&
 	test_region ! index ensure_full_index trace2.txt
+}
+
+test_expect_success 'sparse-index is not expanded' '
+	init_repos &&
+
+	ensure_not_expanded status &&
+	ensure_not_expanded commit --allow-empty -m empty &&
+	echo >>sparse-index/a &&
+	ensure_not_expanded commit -a -m a &&
+	echo >>sparse-index/a &&
+	ensure_not_expanded commit --include a -m a &&
+	echo >>sparse-index/deep/deeper1/a &&
+	ensure_not_expanded commit --include deep/deeper1/a -m deeper
 '
 
 # NEEDSWORK: a sparse-checkout behaves differently from a full checkout