diff --git a/builtin-pack-objects.c b/builtin-pack-objects.c
index f504cff756..777f272668 100644
--- a/builtin-pack-objects.c
+++ b/builtin-pack-objects.c
@@ -454,6 +454,7 @@ static void write_pack_file(void)
 	struct pack_header hdr;
 	int do_progress = progress >> pack_to_stdout;
 	uint32_t nr_remaining = nr_result;
+	time_t last_mtime = 0;
 
 	if (do_progress)
 		progress_state = start_progress("Writing objects", nr_result);
@@ -504,6 +505,7 @@ static void write_pack_file(void)
 
 		if (!pack_to_stdout) {
 			mode_t mode = umask(0);
+			struct stat st;
 			char *idx_tmp_name, tmpname[PATH_MAX];
 
 			umask(mode);
@@ -511,6 +513,7 @@ static void write_pack_file(void)
 
 			idx_tmp_name = write_idx_file(NULL, written_list,
 						      nr_written, sha1);
+
 			snprintf(tmpname, sizeof(tmpname), "%s-%s.pack",
 				 base_name, sha1_to_hex(sha1));
 			if (adjust_perm(pack_tmp_name, mode))
@@ -519,6 +522,28 @@ static void write_pack_file(void)
 			if (rename(pack_tmp_name, tmpname))
 				die("unable to rename temporary pack file: %s",
 				    strerror(errno));
+
+			/*
+			 * Packs are runtime accessed in their mtime
+			 * order since newer packs are more likely to contain
+			 * younger objects.  So if we are creating multiple
+			 * packs then we should modify the mtime of later ones
+			 * to preserve this property.
+			 */
+			if (stat(tmpname, &st) < 0) {
+				warning("failed to stat %s: %s",
+					tmpname, strerror(errno));
+			} else if (!last_mtime) {
+				last_mtime = st.st_mtime;
+			} else {
+				struct utimbuf utb;
+				utb.actime = st.st_atime;
+				utb.modtime = --last_mtime;
+				if (utime(tmpname, &utb) < 0)
+					warning("failed utime() on %s: %s",
+						tmpname, strerror(errno));
+			}
+
 			snprintf(tmpname, sizeof(tmpname), "%s-%s.idx",
 				 base_name, sha1_to_hex(sha1));
 			if (adjust_perm(idx_tmp_name, mode))
@@ -527,6 +552,7 @@ static void write_pack_file(void)
 			if (rename(idx_tmp_name, tmpname))
 				die("unable to rename temporary index file: %s",
 				    strerror(errno));
+
 			free(idx_tmp_name);
 			free(pack_tmp_name);
 			puts(sha1_to_hex(sha1));
diff --git a/git-compat-util.h b/git-compat-util.h
index 73968e02b0..a18235e6d0 100644
--- a/git-compat-util.h
+++ b/git-compat-util.h
@@ -68,6 +68,7 @@
 #include <sys/poll.h>
 #include <sys/socket.h>
 #include <sys/ioctl.h>
+#include <utime.h>
 #ifndef NO_SYS_SELECT_H
 #include <sys/select.h>
 #endif