diff --git a/lib/src/working_copy.rs b/lib/src/working_copy.rs
index 4ebfe5c58..e90a97125 100644
--- a/lib/src/working_copy.rs
+++ b/lib/src/working_copy.rs
@@ -327,6 +327,7 @@ impl TreeState {
     // Look for changes to the working copy. If there are any changes, create
     // a new tree from it and return it, and also update the dirstate on disk.
     pub fn write_tree(&mut self, base_ignores: Arc<GitIgnoreFile>) -> TreeId {
+        let sparse_matcher = self.sparse_matcher();
         let mut work = vec![(
             RepoPath::root(),
             self.working_copy_path.clone(),
@@ -336,6 +337,9 @@ impl TreeState {
         let mut deleted_files: HashSet<_> = self.file_states.keys().cloned().collect();
         while !work.is_empty() {
             let (dir, disk_dir, git_ignore) = work.pop().unwrap();
+            if sparse_matcher.visit(&dir).is_nothing() {
+                continue;
+            }
             let git_ignore = git_ignore
                 .chain_with_file(&dir.to_internal_dir_string(), disk_dir.join(".gitignore"));
             for maybe_entry in disk_dir.read_dir().unwrap() {
@@ -367,12 +371,14 @@ impl TreeState {
                     work.push((sub_path, entry.path(), git_ignore.clone()));
                 } else {
                     deleted_files.remove(&sub_path);
-                    self.update_file_state(
-                        sub_path,
-                        entry.path(),
-                        git_ignore.as_ref(),
-                        &mut tree_builder,
-                    );
+                    if sparse_matcher.matches(&sub_path) {
+                        self.update_file_state(
+                            sub_path,
+                            entry.path(),
+                            git_ignore.as_ref(),
+                            &mut tree_builder,
+                        );
+                    }
                 }
             }
         }
diff --git a/lib/tests/test_working_copy_sparse.rs b/lib/tests/test_working_copy_sparse.rs
index f7f5d2041..2eb0424d6 100644
--- a/lib/tests/test_working_copy_sparse.rs
+++ b/lib/tests/test_working_copy_sparse.rs
@@ -13,6 +13,8 @@
 // limitations under the License.
 
 use itertools::Itertools;
+use jujutsu_lib::gitignore::GitIgnoreFile;
+use jujutsu_lib::matchers::EverythingMatcher;
 use jujutsu_lib::repo_path::RepoPath;
 use jujutsu_lib::testutils;
 use jujutsu_lib::working_copy::{CheckoutStats, WorkingCopy};
@@ -122,3 +124,121 @@ fn test_sparse_checkout() {
         vec![&dir1_subdir1_file1_path, &dir2_file1_path, &root_file1_path]
     );
 }
+
+/// Test that sparse patterns are respected on commit
+#[test]
+fn test_sparse_commit() {
+    let settings = testutils::user_settings();
+    let mut test_workspace = testutils::init_workspace(&settings, false);
+    let repo = &test_workspace.repo;
+    let working_copy_path = test_workspace.workspace.workspace_root().clone();
+
+    let root_file1_path = RepoPath::from_internal_string("file1");
+    let dir1_path = RepoPath::from_internal_string("dir1");
+    let dir1_file1_path = RepoPath::from_internal_string("dir1/file1");
+    let dir2_path = RepoPath::from_internal_string("dir2");
+    let dir2_file1_path = RepoPath::from_internal_string("dir2/file1");
+
+    let tree = testutils::create_tree(
+        repo,
+        &[
+            (&root_file1_path, "contents"),
+            (&dir1_file1_path, "contents"),
+            (&dir2_file1_path, "contents"),
+        ],
+    );
+
+    let wc = test_workspace.workspace.working_copy_mut();
+    wc.check_out(repo.op_id().clone(), None, &tree).unwrap();
+
+    // Set sparse patterns to only dir1/
+    let mut locked_wc = wc.start_mutation();
+    let sparse_patterns = vec![dir1_path.clone()];
+    locked_wc.set_sparse_patterns(sparse_patterns).unwrap();
+    locked_wc.finish(repo.op_id().clone());
+
+    // Write modified version of all files, including files that are not in the
+    // sparse patterns.
+    std::fs::write(root_file1_path.to_fs_path(&working_copy_path), "modified").unwrap();
+    std::fs::write(dir1_file1_path.to_fs_path(&working_copy_path), "modified").unwrap();
+    std::fs::create_dir(dir2_path.to_fs_path(&working_copy_path)).unwrap();
+    std::fs::write(dir2_file1_path.to_fs_path(&working_copy_path), "modified").unwrap();
+
+    // Create a tree from the working copy. Only dir1/file1 should be updated in the
+    // tree.
+    let mut locked_wc = wc.start_mutation();
+    let modified_tree_id = locked_wc.write_tree(GitIgnoreFile::empty());
+    locked_wc.finish(repo.op_id().clone());
+    let modified_tree = repo
+        .store()
+        .get_tree(&RepoPath::root(), &modified_tree_id)
+        .unwrap();
+    let diff = tree.diff(&modified_tree, &EverythingMatcher).collect_vec();
+    assert_eq!(diff.len(), 1);
+    assert_eq!(diff[0].0, dir1_file1_path);
+
+    // Set sparse patterns to also include dir2/
+    let mut locked_wc = wc.start_mutation();
+    let sparse_patterns = vec![dir1_path, dir2_path];
+    locked_wc.set_sparse_patterns(sparse_patterns).unwrap();
+    locked_wc.finish(repo.op_id().clone());
+    // Write out a modified version of dir2/file1 again because it was overwritten
+    // when we added dir2/ to the sparse patterns.
+    // TODO: We shouldn't overwrite files when updating (there's already a TODO
+    // about that in `TreeState::write_file()`).
+    std::fs::write(dir2_file1_path.to_fs_path(&working_copy_path), "modified").unwrap();
+
+    // Create a tree from the working copy. Only dir1/file1 and dir2/file1 should be
+    // updated in the tree.
+    let mut locked_wc = wc.start_mutation();
+    let modified_tree_id = locked_wc.write_tree(GitIgnoreFile::empty());
+    locked_wc.finish(repo.op_id().clone());
+    let modified_tree = repo
+        .store()
+        .get_tree(&RepoPath::root(), &modified_tree_id)
+        .unwrap();
+    let diff = tree.diff(&modified_tree, &EverythingMatcher).collect_vec();
+    assert_eq!(diff.len(), 2);
+    assert_eq!(diff[0].0, dir1_file1_path);
+    assert_eq!(diff[1].0, dir2_file1_path);
+}
+
+#[test]
+fn test_sparse_commit_gitignore() {
+    // Test that (untracked) .gitignore files in parent directories are respected
+    let settings = testutils::user_settings();
+    let mut test_workspace = testutils::init_workspace(&settings, false);
+    let repo = &test_workspace.repo;
+    let working_copy_path = test_workspace.workspace.workspace_root().clone();
+
+    let dir1_path = RepoPath::from_internal_string("dir1");
+    let dir1_file1_path = RepoPath::from_internal_string("dir1/file1");
+    let dir1_file2_path = RepoPath::from_internal_string("dir1/file2");
+
+    let wc = test_workspace.workspace.working_copy_mut();
+
+    // Set sparse patterns to only dir1/
+    let mut locked_wc = wc.start_mutation();
+    let sparse_patterns = vec![dir1_path.clone()];
+    locked_wc.set_sparse_patterns(sparse_patterns).unwrap();
+    locked_wc.finish(repo.op_id().clone());
+
+    // Write dir1/file1 and dir1/file2 and a .gitignore saying to ignore dir1/file1
+    std::fs::write(working_copy_path.join(".gitignore"), "dir1/file1").unwrap();
+    std::fs::create_dir(dir1_path.to_fs_path(&working_copy_path)).unwrap();
+    std::fs::write(dir1_file1_path.to_fs_path(&working_copy_path), "contents").unwrap();
+    std::fs::write(dir1_file2_path.to_fs_path(&working_copy_path), "contents").unwrap();
+
+    // Create a tree from the working copy. Only dir1/file2 should be updated in the
+    // tree because dir1/file1 is ignored.
+    let mut locked_wc = wc.start_mutation();
+    let modified_tree_id = locked_wc.write_tree(GitIgnoreFile::empty());
+    locked_wc.finish(repo.op_id().clone());
+    let modified_tree = repo
+        .store()
+        .get_tree(&RepoPath::root(), &modified_tree_id)
+        .unwrap();
+    let entries = modified_tree.entries().collect_vec();
+    assert_eq!(entries.len(), 1);
+    assert_eq!(entries[0].0, dir1_file2_path);
+}