diff --git a/diff-lib.c b/diff-lib.c
index 23e180eed13230..c6c425e624124c 100644
--- a/diff-lib.c
+++ b/diff-lib.c
@@ -161,7 +161,7 @@ int run_diff_files(struct rev_info *revs, unsigned int option)
 				continue;
 		}
 
-		if ((ce_uptodate(ce) && !S_ISGITLINK(ce->ce_mode)) || ce_skip_worktree(ce))
+		if (ce_uptodate(ce) || ce_skip_worktree(ce))
 			continue;
 
 		/* If CE_VALID is set, don't look at workdir for file removal */
diff --git a/preload-index.c b/preload-index.c
index 92899333c2d8ed..e3d0bda31a9837 100644
--- a/preload-index.c
+++ b/preload-index.c
@@ -47,6 +47,8 @@ static void *preload_thread(void *_data)
 
 		if (ce_stage(ce))
 			continue;
+		if (S_ISGITLINK(ce->ce_mode))
+			continue;
 		if (ce_uptodate(ce))
 			continue;
 		if (!ce_path_match(ce, p->pathspec))
diff --git a/read-cache.c b/read-cache.c
index 79938bf09a7e5c..309b77a6c9bae4 100644
--- a/read-cache.c
+++ b/read-cache.c
@@ -612,7 +612,8 @@ int add_to_index(struct index_state *istate, const char *path, struct stat *st,
 	if (alias && !ce_stage(alias) && !ie_match_stat(istate, alias, st, ce_option)) {
 		/* Nothing changed, really */
 		free(ce);
-		ce_mark_uptodate(alias);
+		if (!S_ISGITLINK(alias->ce_mode))
+			ce_mark_uptodate(alias);
 		alias->ce_flags |= CE_ADDED;
 		return 0;
 	}
@@ -1050,7 +1051,8 @@ static struct cache_entry *refresh_cache_ent(struct index_state *istate,
 			 * because CE_UPTODATE flag is in-core only;
 			 * we are not going to write this change out.
 			 */
-			ce_mark_uptodate(ce);
+			if (!S_ISGITLINK(ce->ce_mode))
+				ce_mark_uptodate(ce);
 			return ce;
 		}
 	}