diff --git a/gerrit-server/src/main/java/com/google/gerrit/server/patch/PatchListCacheImpl.java b/gerrit-server/src/main/java/com/google/gerrit/server/patch/PatchListCacheImpl.java
index fa75f42716..8048bdf488 100644
--- a/gerrit-server/src/main/java/com/google/gerrit/server/patch/PatchListCacheImpl.java
+++ b/gerrit-server/src/main/java/com/google/gerrit/server/patch/PatchListCacheImpl.java
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ import org.eclipse.jgit.errors.IncorrectObjectTypeException;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.errors.MissingObjectException;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.lib.AnyObjectId;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.lib.Constants;
+import org.eclipse.jgit.lib.FileMode;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.lib.ObjectId;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.lib.ObjectLoader;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.lib.ObjectWriter;
@@ -191,6 +192,13 @@ public class PatchListCacheImpl implements PatchListCache {
       return new PatchListEntry(fileHeader, Collections.<Edit> emptyList());
     }
 
+    final FileMode oldMode = fileHeader.getOldMode();
+    final FileMode newMode = fileHeader.getNewMode();
+
+    if (oldMode == FileMode.GITLINK || newMode == FileMode.GITLINK) {
+      return new PatchListEntry(fileHeader, Collections.<Edit> emptyList());
+    }
+
     List<Edit> edits = fileHeader.toEditList();
 
     // Bypass the longer task of looking for replacement edits if