diff --git a/refs/files-backend.c b/refs/files-backend.c
index ab666af..950f973 100644
--- a/refs/files-backend.c
+++ b/refs/files-backend.c
@@ -852,6 +852,115 @@ static struct ref_iterator *files_ref_iterator_begin(
 	return ref_iterator;
 }
 
+/*
+ * Callback function for raceproof_create_file(). This function is
+ * expected to do something that makes dirname(path) permanent despite
+ * the fact that other processes might be cleaning up empty
+ * directories at the same time. Usually it will create a file named
+ * path, but alternatively it could create another file in that
+ * directory, or even chdir() into that directory. The function should
+ * return 0 if the action was completed successfully. On error, it
+ * should return a nonzero result and set errno.
+ * raceproof_create_file() treats two errno values specially:
+ *
+ * - ENOENT -- dirname(path) does not exist. In this case,
+ *             raceproof_create_file() tries creating dirname(path)
+ *             (and any parent directories, if necessary) and calls
+ *             the function again.
+ *
+ * - EISDIR -- the file already exists and is a directory. In this
+ *             case, raceproof_create_file() removes the directory if
+ *             it is empty (and recursively any empty directories that
+ *             it contains) and calls the function again.
+ *
+ * Any other errno causes raceproof_create_file() to fail with the
+ * callback's return value and errno.
+ *
+ * Obviously, this function should be OK with being called again if it
+ * fails with ENOENT or EISDIR. In other scenarios it will not be
+ * called again.
+ */
+typedef int create_file_fn(const char *path, void *cb);
+
+/*
+ * Create a file in dirname(path) by calling fn, creating leading
+ * directories if necessary. Retry a few times in case we are racing
+ * with another process that is trying to clean up the directory that
+ * contains path. See the documentation for create_file_fn for more
+ * details.
+ *
+ * Return the value and set the errno that resulted from the most
+ * recent call of fn. fn is always called at least once, and will be
+ * called more than once if it returns ENOENT or EISDIR.
+ */
+static int raceproof_create_file(const char *path, create_file_fn fn, void *cb)
+{
+	/*
+	 * The number of times we will try to remove empty directories
+	 * in the way of path. This is only 1 because if another
+	 * process is racily creating directories that conflict with
+	 * us, we don't want to fight against them.
+	 */
+	int remove_directories_remaining = 1;
+
+	/*
+	 * The number of times that we will try to create the
+	 * directories containing path. We are willing to attempt this
+	 * more than once, because another process could be trying to
+	 * clean up empty directories at the same time as we are
+	 * trying to create them.
+	 */
+	int create_directories_remaining = 3;
+
+	/* A scratch copy of path, filled lazily if we need it: */
+	struct strbuf path_copy = STRBUF_INIT;
+
+	int ret, save_errno;
+
+	/* Sanity check: */
+	assert(*path);
+
+retry_fn:
+	ret = fn(path, cb);
+	save_errno = errno;
+	if (!ret)
+		goto out;
+
+	if (errno == EISDIR && remove_directories_remaining-- > 0) {
+		/*
+		 * A directory is in the way. Maybe it is empty; try
+		 * to remove it:
+		 */
+		if (!path_copy.len)
+			strbuf_addstr(&path_copy, path);
+
+		if (!remove_dir_recursively(&path_copy, REMOVE_DIR_EMPTY_ONLY))
+			goto retry_fn;
+	} else if (errno == ENOENT && create_directories_remaining-- > 0) {
+		/*
+		 * Maybe the containing directory didn't exist, or
+		 * maybe it was just deleted by a process that is
+		 * racing with us to clean up empty directories. Try
+		 * to create it:
+		 */
+		enum scld_error scld_result;
+
+		if (!path_copy.len)
+			strbuf_addstr(&path_copy, path);
+
+		do {
+			scld_result = safe_create_leading_directories(path_copy.buf);
+			if (scld_result == SCLD_OK)
+				goto retry_fn;
+		} while (scld_result == SCLD_VANISHED && create_directories_remaining-- > 0);
+	}
+
+out:
+	strbuf_release(&path_copy);
+	errno = save_errno;
+	return ret;
+}
+
 static int remove_empty_directories(struct strbuf *path)
 {
 	/*