diff --git a/plumbing/format/gitignore/dir.go b/plumbing/format/gitignore/dir.go
index f10b21da8..edb656a6e 100644
--- a/plumbing/format/gitignore/dir.go
+++ b/plumbing/format/gitignore/dir.go
@@ -14,13 +14,14 @@ import (
 )
 
 const (
-	commentPrefix = "#"
-	coreSection   = "core"
-	excludesfile  = "excludesfile"
-	gitDir        = ".git"
-	gitignoreFile = ".gitignore"
-	gitconfigFile = ".gitconfig"
-	systemFile    = "/etc/gitconfig"
+	commentPrefix   = "#"
+	coreSection     = "core"
+	excludesfile    = "excludesfile"
+	gitDir          = ".git"
+	gitignoreFile   = ".gitignore"
+	gitconfigFile   = ".gitconfig"
+	systemFile      = "/etc/gitconfig"
+	infoExcludeFile = gitDir + "/info/exclude"
 )
 
 // readIgnoreFile reads a specific git ignore file.
@@ -43,10 +44,12 @@ func readIgnoreFile(fs billy.Filesystem, path []string, ignoreFile string) (ps [
 	return
 }
 
-// ReadPatterns reads gitignore patterns recursively traversing through the directory
-// structure. The result is in the ascending order of priority (last higher).
+// ReadPatterns reads the .git/info/exclude and then the gitignore patterns
+// recursively traversing through the directory structure. The result is in
+// the ascending order of priority (last higher).
 func ReadPatterns(fs billy.Filesystem, path []string, ignoreFiles []string) (ps []Pattern, err error) {
-	ps = []Pattern{}
+	ps, _ = readIgnoreFile(fs, path, infoExcludeFile)
+
 	for _, filename := range ignoreFiles {
 		var subps []Pattern
 		if subps, err = readIgnoreFile(fs, path, filename); err != nil {
diff --git a/plumbing/format/gitignore/dir_test.go b/plumbing/format/gitignore/dir_test.go
index 05944ae4b..9eab96ff1 100644
--- a/plumbing/format/gitignore/dir_test.go
+++ b/plumbing/format/gitignore/dir_test.go
@@ -24,7 +24,17 @@ var _ = Suite(&MatcherSuite{})
 func (s *MatcherSuite) SetUpTest(c *C) {
 	// setup generic git repository root
 	fs := memfs.New()
-	f, err := fs.Create(".gitignore")
+
+	err := fs.MkdirAll(".git/info", os.ModePerm)
+	c.Assert(err, IsNil)
+	f, err := fs.Create(".git/info/exclude")
+	c.Assert(err, IsNil)
+	_, err = f.Write([]byte("exclude.crlf\r\n"))
+	c.Assert(err, IsNil)
+	err = f.Close()
+	c.Assert(err, IsNil)
+
+	f, err = fs.Create(".gitignore")
 	c.Assert(err, IsNil)
 	_, err = f.Write([]byte("vendor/g*/\n"))
 	c.Assert(err, IsNil)
@@ -44,6 +54,8 @@ func (s *MatcherSuite) SetUpTest(c *C) {
 
 	err = fs.MkdirAll("another", os.ModePerm)
 	c.Assert(err, IsNil)
+	err = fs.MkdirAll("exclude.crlf", os.ModePerm)
+	c.Assert(err, IsNil)
 	err = fs.MkdirAll("ignore.crlf", os.ModePerm)
 	c.Assert(err, IsNil)
 	err = fs.MkdirAll("vendor/github.com", os.ModePerm)
@@ -173,9 +185,10 @@ func (s *MatcherSuite) SetUpTest(c *C) {
 func (s *MatcherSuite) TestDir_ReadPatterns(c *C) {
 	ps, err := ReadPatterns(s.GFS, nil, []string{".gitignore"})
 	c.Assert(err, IsNil)
-	c.Assert(ps, HasLen, 3)
+	c.Assert(ps, HasLen, 4)
 
 	m := NewMatcher(ps)
+	c.Assert(m.Match([]string{"exclude.crlf"}, true), Equals, true)
 	c.Assert(m.Match([]string{"ignore.crlf"}, true), Equals, true)
 	c.Assert(m.Match([]string{"vendor", "gopkg.in"}, true), Equals, true)
 	c.Assert(m.Match([]string{"vendor", "github.com"}, true), Equals, false)