diff --git a/Annex/Branch.hs b/Annex/Branch.hs
index e86a3d7d18..fad818fb0a 100644
--- a/Annex/Branch.hs
+++ b/Annex/Branch.hs
@@ -244,9 +244,13 @@ siblingBranches = do
 		pair l = (head l, last l)
 		uref (a, _) (b, _) = a == b
 
-{- Applies a function to modifiy the content of a file. -}
+{- Applies a function to modifiy the content of a file.
+ -
+ - Note that this does not cause the branch to be merged, it only
+ - modifes the current content of the file on the branch.
+ -}
 change :: FilePath -> (String -> String) -> Annex ()
-change file a = lockJournal $ get file >>= return . a >>= set file
+change file a = lockJournal $ getStale file >>= return . a >>= set file
 
 {- Records new content of a file into the journal. -}
 set :: FilePath -> String -> Annex ()
@@ -259,13 +263,24 @@ set file content = do
  -
  - Returns an empty string if the file doesn't exist yet. -}
 get :: FilePath -> Annex String
-get file = fromcache =<< getCache file
+get = get' False
+
+{- Like get, but does not merge the branch, so the info returned may not
+ - reflect changes in remotes. (Changing the value this returns, and then
+ - merging is always the same as using get, and then changing its value.) -}
+getStale :: FilePath -> Annex String
+getStale = get' True
+
+get' :: Bool -> FilePath -> Annex String
+get' staleok file = fromcache =<< getCache file
 	where
 		fromcache (Just content) = return content
 		fromcache Nothing = fromjournal =<< getJournalFile file
 		fromjournal (Just content) = cache content
-		fromjournal Nothing = withIndexUpdate $
-			cache =<< catFile fullname file
+		fromjournal Nothing
+			| staleok = withIndex frombranch
+			| otherwise = withIndexUpdate $ frombranch >>= cache
+		frombranch = catFile fullname file
 		cache content = do
 			setCache file content
 			return content
diff --git a/debian/changelog b/debian/changelog
index ff735a79d3..76a29131db 100644
--- a/debian/changelog
+++ b/debian/changelog
@@ -1,6 +1,9 @@
 git-annex (3.20111112) UNRELEASED; urgency=low
 
   * merge: Improve commit messages to mention what was merged.
+  * Avoid doing auto-merging in commands that don't need fully current
+    information from the git-annex branch. In particular, git annex add
+    no longer needs to auto-merge.
 
  -- Joey Hess <joeyh@debian.org>  Sat, 12 Nov 2011 14:50:21 -0400
 
diff --git a/doc/todo/avoid_unnecessary_union_merges.mdwn b/doc/todo/avoid_unnecessary_union_merges.mdwn
index 67aa285799..5cd4b64373 100644
--- a/doc/todo/avoid_unnecessary_union_merges.mdwn
+++ b/doc/todo/avoid_unnecessary_union_merges.mdwn
@@ -16,3 +16,5 @@ occurs before it has done anything, so ctrl-c should not be a problem
 there.
 
 This is a delicate change, I need to take care.. --[[Joey]]
+
+> [[done]] (assuming I didn't miss any cases where this is not safe!) --[[Joey]]