diff --git a/CHANGELOG b/CHANGELOG
index 673e75001b..df0c6cb687 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG
+++ b/CHANGELOG
@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@ git-annex (8.20200618) UNRELEASED; urgency=medium
   * Fix a deadlock that could occur after git-annex got an unlocked
     file, causing the command to hang indefinitely. Known to happen on 
     vfat filesystems, possibly others.
+  * Build with the git-lfs library when available, otherwise use the
+    vendored copy as before.
 
  -- Joey Hess <id@joeyh.name>  Thu, 18 Jun 2020 12:21:14 -0400
 
diff --git a/Remote/GitLFS.hs b/Remote/GitLFS.hs
index 1d2444b050..a829bd39e8 100644
--- a/Remote/GitLFS.hs
+++ b/Remote/GitLFS.hs
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
  -}
 
 {-# LANGUAGE OverloadedStrings #-}
+{-# LANGUAGE CPP #-}
 
 module Remote.GitLFS (remote, gen, configKnownUrl) where
 
@@ -39,9 +40,14 @@ import Utility.SshHost
 import Utility.Url
 import Logs.Remote
 import Logs.RemoteState
-import qualified Utility.GitLFS as LFS
 import qualified Git.Config
 
+#ifdef WITH_GIT_LFS
+import qualified Network.GitLFS as LFS
+#else
+import qualified Utility.GitLFS as LFS
+#endif
+
 import Control.Concurrent.STM
 import Data.String
 import Network.HTTP.Types
diff --git a/Utility/GitLFS.hs b/Utility/GitLFS.hs
index 82c4808e39..831423502a 100644
--- a/Utility/GitLFS.hs
+++ b/Utility/GitLFS.hs
@@ -21,6 +21,9 @@
 {-# LANGUAGE OverloadedStrings #-}
 {-# LANGUAGE LambdaCase #-}
 
+-- This is a vendored copy of Network.GitLFS from the git-lfs package,
+-- and will be removed once that package is available in all build
+-- environments.
 module Utility.GitLFS (
 	-- * Transfer requests
 	TransferRequest(..),
diff --git a/git-annex.cabal b/git-annex.cabal
index 670f711173..35dd3ef3c5 100644
--- a/git-annex.cabal
+++ b/git-annex.cabal
@@ -289,6 +289,10 @@ Flag NetworkBSD
   Description: Build with network-3.0 which split out network-bsd
   Default: True
 
+Flag GitLfs
+  Description: Build with git-lfs library (rather than vendored copy)
+  Default: True
+
 source-repository head
   type: git
   location: git://git-annex.branchable.com/
@@ -407,6 +411,12 @@ Executable git-annex
   else
     Build-Depends: network (< 3.0.0.0), network (>= 2.6.3.0)
 
+  if flag(GitLfs)
+    Build-Depends: git-lfs (>= 1.1.0)
+    CPP-Options: -DWITH_GIT_LFS
+  else
+    Other-Modules: Utility.GitLFS
+
   if flag(S3)
     Build-Depends: aws (>= 0.20)
     CPP-Options: -DWITH_S3
@@ -418,6 +428,7 @@ Executable git-annex
     Other-Modules:
       Remote.WebDAV
       Remote.WebDAV.DavLocation
+
   if flag(S3) || flag(WebDAV)
     Other-Modules:
       Remote.Helper.Http
@@ -1059,7 +1070,6 @@ Executable git-annex
     Utility.FileSystemEncoding
     Utility.Format
     Utility.FreeDesktop
-    Utility.GitLFS
     Utility.Glob
     Utility.Gpg
     Utility.Hash
diff --git a/stack-lts-12.14.yaml b/stack-lts-12.14.yaml
index 93ee338fa7..918a042c6c 100644
--- a/stack-lts-12.14.yaml
+++ b/stack-lts-12.14.yaml
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ flags:
     debuglocks: false
     benchmark: false
     networkbsd: false
+    gitlfs: true
 packages:
 - '.'
 extra-deps:
diff --git a/stack.yaml b/stack.yaml
index 487ccfad2d..d2ee985a14 100644
--- a/stack.yaml
+++ b/stack.yaml
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ flags:
     debuglocks: false
     benchmark: false
     networkbsd: false
+    gitlfs: true
 packages:
 - '.'
 extra-deps: