diff --git a/include/git2/blob.h b/include/git2/blob.h
index e366ce880..1cfff841d 100644
--- a/include/git2/blob.h
+++ b/include/git2/blob.h
@@ -119,7 +119,7 @@ GIT_EXTERN(int) git_blob_rawsize(git_blob *blob);
  *	relative to the repository's working dir
  * @return 0 on success; error code otherwise
  */
-GIT_EXTERN(int) git_blob_create_fromfile(git_oid *oid, git_repository *repo, const char *path);
+GIT_EXTERN(int) git_blob_create_fromfile(git_oid *oid, git_repository *repo, const char *path, struct stat st);
 
 
 /**
diff --git a/src/blob.c b/src/blob.c
index 6ab58d6b2..b00fc25af 100644
--- a/src/blob.c
+++ b/src/blob.c
@@ -78,39 +78,51 @@ int git_blob_create_frombuffer(git_oid *oid, git_repository *repo, const void *b
 	return GIT_SUCCESS;
 }
 
-int git_blob_create_fromfile(git_oid *oid, git_repository *repo, const char *path)
+int git_blob_create_fromfile(git_oid *oid, git_repository *repo, const char *path, struct stat st)
 {
-	int error, fd;
+	int error, islnk;
+	int fd = 0;
 	char full_path[GIT_PATH_MAX];
 	char buffer[2048];
 	git_off_t size;
 	git_odb_stream *stream;
 
+	islnk = S_ISLNK(st.st_mode);
+
 	if (repo->path_workdir == NULL)
 		return git__throw(GIT_ENOTFOUND, "Failed to create blob. (No working directory found)");
 
 	git__joinpath(full_path, repo->path_workdir, path);
 
-	if ((fd = gitfo_open(full_path, O_RDONLY)) < 0)
-		return git__throw(GIT_ENOTFOUND, "Failed to create blob. Could not open '%s'", full_path);
+	if (!islnk) {
+		if ((fd = gitfo_open(full_path, O_RDONLY)) < 0)
+			return git__throw(GIT_ENOTFOUND, "Failed to create blob. Could not open '%s'", full_path);
 
-	if ((size = gitfo_size(fd)) < 0 || !git__is_sizet(size)) {
-		gitfo_close(fd);
-		return git__throw(GIT_EOSERR, "Failed to create blob. '%s' appears to be corrupted", full_path);
+		if ((size = gitfo_size(fd)) < 0 || !git__is_sizet(size)) {
+			gitfo_close(fd);
+			return git__throw(GIT_EOSERR, "Failed to create blob. '%s' appears to be corrupted", full_path);
+		}
+	} else {
+		size = st.st_size;
 	}
 
 	if ((error = git_odb_open_wstream(&stream, repo->db, (size_t)size, GIT_OBJ_BLOB)) < GIT_SUCCESS) {
-		gitfo_close(fd);
+		if (!islnk)
+			gitfo_close(fd);
 		return git__rethrow(error, "Failed to create blob");
 	}
 
 	while (size > 0) {
 		ssize_t read_len;
 
-		read_len = read(fd, buffer, sizeof(buffer));
+		if (!islnk)
+			read_len = read(fd, buffer, sizeof(buffer));
+		else
+			read_len = readlink(full_path, buffer, sizeof(buffer));
 
 		if (read_len < 0) {
-			gitfo_close(fd);
+			if (!islnk)
+				gitfo_close(fd);
 			stream->free(stream);
 			return git__throw(GIT_EOSERR, "Failed to create blob. Can't read full file");
 		}
@@ -121,7 +133,8 @@ int git_blob_create_fromfile(git_oid *oid, git_repository *repo, const char *pat
 
 	error = stream->finalize_write(oid, stream);
 	stream->free(stream);
-	gitfo_close(fd);
+	if (!islnk)
+		gitfo_close(fd);
 
 	if (error < GIT_SUCCESS)
 		return git__rethrow(error, "Failed to create blob");
diff --git a/src/index.c b/src/index.c
index e25c899a3..6aefe4432 100644
--- a/src/index.c
+++ b/src/index.c
@@ -425,7 +425,7 @@ static int index_init_entry(git_index_entry *entry, git_index *index, const char
 	entry->file_size = st.st_size;
 
 	/* write the blob to disk and get the oid */
-	if ((error = git_blob_create_fromfile(&entry->oid, index->repository, rel_path)) < GIT_SUCCESS)
+	if ((error = git_blob_create_fromfile(&entry->oid, index->repository, rel_path, st)) < GIT_SUCCESS)
 		return git__rethrow(error, "Failed to initialize index entry");
 
 	entry->flags |= (stage << GIT_IDXENTRY_STAGESHIFT);