diff --git a/src/libostree/ostree-repo.c b/src/libostree/ostree-repo.c
index ac3a3dc5..4081b0b6 100644
--- a/src/libostree/ostree-repo.c
+++ b/src/libostree/ostree-repo.c
@@ -1276,6 +1276,7 @@ devino_cache_lookup (OstreeRepo           *self,
 
 gboolean
 ostree_repo_prepare_transaction (OstreeRepo     *self,
+                                 gboolean        enable_commit_hardlink_scan,
                                  GCancellable   *cancellable,
                                  GError        **error)
 {
@@ -1285,13 +1286,14 @@ ostree_repo_prepare_transaction (OstreeRepo     *self,
 
   self->in_transaction = TRUE;
 
-  if (!self->loose_object_devino_hash)
+  if (enable_commit_hardlink_scan)
     {
-      self->loose_object_devino_hash = g_hash_table_new_full (devino_hash, devino_equal, g_free, g_free);
+      if (!self->loose_object_devino_hash)
+        self->loose_object_devino_hash = g_hash_table_new_full (devino_hash, devino_equal, g_free, g_free);
+      g_hash_table_remove_all (self->loose_object_devino_hash);
+      if (!scan_loose_devino (self, self->loose_object_devino_hash, cancellable, error))
+        goto out;
     }
-  g_hash_table_remove_all (self->loose_object_devino_hash);
-  if (!scan_loose_devino (self, self->loose_object_devino_hash, cancellable, error))
-    goto out;
 
   ret = TRUE;
  out:
diff --git a/src/libostree/ostree-repo.h b/src/libostree/ostree-repo.h
index 2f7ac7a8..0ed4c2bf 100644
--- a/src/libostree/ostree-repo.h
+++ b/src/libostree/ostree-repo.h
@@ -77,6 +77,7 @@ GFile *       ostree_repo_get_file_object_path (OstreeRepo   *self,
                                                 const char   *object);
 
 gboolean      ostree_repo_prepare_transaction (OstreeRepo     *self,
+                                               gboolean        enable_commit_hardlink_scan,
                                                GCancellable   *cancellable,
                                                GError        **error);
 
diff --git a/src/ostree/ostree-pull.c b/src/ostree/ostree-pull.c
index ccbb0032..a618ee99 100644
--- a/src/ostree/ostree-pull.c
+++ b/src/ostree/ostree-pull.c
@@ -1333,7 +1333,7 @@ ostree_builtin_pull (int argc, char **argv, GFile *repo_path, GError **error)
         }
     }
 
-  if (!ostree_repo_prepare_transaction (pull_data->repo, NULL, error))
+  if (!ostree_repo_prepare_transaction (pull_data->repo, FALSE, NULL, error))
     goto out;
 
   pull_data->metadata_scan_active = TRUE;
diff --git a/src/ostree/ot-builtin-commit.c b/src/ostree/ot-builtin-commit.c
index 730e3218..96a41ebb 100644
--- a/src/ostree/ot-builtin-commit.c
+++ b/src/ostree/ot-builtin-commit.c
@@ -351,7 +351,7 @@ ostree_builtin_commit (int argc, char **argv, GFile *repo_path, GError **error)
         goto out;
     }
 
-  if (!ostree_repo_prepare_transaction (repo, cancellable, error))
+  if (!ostree_repo_prepare_transaction (repo, TRUE, cancellable, error))
     goto out;
 
   in_transaction = TRUE;
diff --git a/src/ostree/ot-builtin-pull-local.c b/src/ostree/ot-builtin-pull-local.c
index 8b7304db..94f0b880 100644
--- a/src/ostree/ot-builtin-pull-local.c
+++ b/src/ostree/ot-builtin-pull-local.c
@@ -196,7 +196,7 @@ ostree_builtin_pull_local (int argc, char **argv, GFile *repo_path, GError **err
 
   g_print ("%u objects to copy\n", g_hash_table_size (objects_to_copy));
 
-  if (!ostree_repo_prepare_transaction (data.dest_repo, cancellable, error))
+  if (!ostree_repo_prepare_transaction (data.dest_repo, FALSE, cancellable, error))
     goto out;
   
   g_hash_table_iter_init (&hash_iter, objects_to_copy);