diff --git a/include/git2/status.h b/include/git2/status.h
index 794a629af..858f68841 100644
--- a/include/git2/status.h
+++ b/include/git2/status.h
@@ -148,6 +148,7 @@ typedef enum {
 	GIT_STATUS_OPT_RENAMES_FROM_REWRITES    = (1u << 11),
 	GIT_STATUS_OPT_NO_REFRESH               = (1u << 12),
 	GIT_STATUS_OPT_UPDATE_INDEX             = (1u << 13),
+	GIT_STATUS_OPT_INCLUDE_UNREADABLE       = (1u << 14),
 } git_status_opt_t;
 
 #define GIT_STATUS_OPT_DEFAULTS \
diff --git a/src/status.c b/src/status.c
index 6b8009854..5a592a7c5 100644
--- a/src/status.c
+++ b/src/status.c
@@ -313,6 +313,8 @@ int git_status_list_new(
 		diffopt.flags = diffopt.flags | GIT_DIFF_IGNORE_SUBMODULES;
 	if ((flags & GIT_STATUS_OPT_UPDATE_INDEX) != 0)
 		diffopt.flags = diffopt.flags | GIT_DIFF_UPDATE_INDEX;
+	if ((flags & GIT_STATUS_OPT_INCLUDE_UNREADABLE) != 0)
+		diffopt.flags = diffopt.flags | GIT_DIFF_INCLUDE_UNREADABLE;
 
 	if ((flags & GIT_STATUS_OPT_RENAMES_FROM_REWRITES) != 0)
 		findopt.flags = findopt.flags |