diff --git a/packfile.c b/packfile.c
index 2c819a0ad8deb3..e6ecf12ab581bf 100644
--- a/packfile.c
+++ b/packfile.c
@@ -469,8 +469,19 @@ static int open_packed_git_1(struct packed_git *p)
 	ssize_t read_result;
 	const unsigned hashsz = the_hash_algo->rawsz;
 
-	if (!p->index_data && open_pack_index(p))
-		return error("packfile %s index unavailable", p->pack_name);
+	if (!p->index_data) {
+		struct multi_pack_index *m;
+		const char *pack_name = strrchr(p->pack_name, '/');
+
+		for (m = the_repository->objects->multi_pack_index;
+		     m; m = m->next) {
+			if (midx_contains_pack(m, pack_name))
+				break;
+		}
+
+		if (!m && open_pack_index(p))
+			return error("packfile %s index unavailable", p->pack_name);
+	}
 
 	if (!pack_max_fds) {
 		unsigned int max_fds = get_max_fd_limit();
@@ -521,6 +532,10 @@ static int open_packed_git_1(struct packed_git *p)
 			" supported (try upgrading GIT to a newer version)",
 			p->pack_name, ntohl(hdr.hdr_version));
 
+	/* Skip index checking if in multi-pack-index */
+	if (!p->index_data)
+		return 0;
+
 	/* Verify the pack matches its index. */
 	if (p->num_objects != ntohl(hdr.hdr_entries))
 		return error("packfile %s claims to have %"PRIu32" objects"