diff --git a/LibGit2Sharp.Tests/IndexFixture.cs b/LibGit2Sharp.Tests/IndexFixture.cs
index 1b401bc7a..3f5d5c41b 100644
--- a/LibGit2Sharp.Tests/IndexFixture.cs
+++ b/LibGit2Sharp.Tests/IndexFixture.cs
@@ -340,5 +340,31 @@ public void CanResetIndexWithUnmergedEntriesFromTree()
                 Assert.Equal(FileStatus.Modified, repo.Index.RetrieveStatus(testFile));
             }
         }
+
+        [Fact]
+        public void CanClearTheIndex()
+        {
+            string path = CloneStandardTestRepo();
+            const string testFile = "1.txt";
+
+            // It is sufficient to check just one of the stage area changes, such as the modified file,
+            // to verify that the index has indeed been read from the tree.
+            using (var repo = new Repository(path))
+            {
+                Assert.Equal(FileStatus.Unaltered, repo.Index.RetrieveStatus(testFile));
+                Assert.NotEqual(0, repo.Index.Count);
+
+                repo.Index.Clear();
+                Assert.Equal(0, repo.Index.Count);
+
+                Assert.Equal(FileStatus.Removed | FileStatus.Untracked, repo.Index.RetrieveStatus(testFile));
+            }
+
+            // Check that the index was persisted to disk.
+            using (var repo = new Repository(path))
+            {
+                Assert.Equal(FileStatus.Removed | FileStatus.Untracked, repo.Index.RetrieveStatus(testFile));
+            }
+        }
     }
 }
diff --git a/LibGit2Sharp/Core/NativeMethods.cs b/LibGit2Sharp/Core/NativeMethods.cs
index 826c94635..24f704fec 100644
--- a/LibGit2Sharp/Core/NativeMethods.cs
+++ b/LibGit2Sharp/Core/NativeMethods.cs
@@ -612,6 +612,9 @@ internal static extern IndexReucEntrySafeHandle git_index_reuc_get_bypath(
         [DllImport(libgit2)]
         internal static extern int git_index_read_tree(IndexSafeHandle index, GitObjectSafeHandle tree);
 
+        [DllImport(libgit2)]
+        internal static extern int git_index_clear(IndexSafeHandle index);
+
         [DllImport(libgit2)]
         internal static extern int git_merge_base_many(
             out GitOid mergeBase,
diff --git a/LibGit2Sharp/Core/Proxy.cs b/LibGit2Sharp/Core/Proxy.cs
index 8040594ea..40b757330 100644
--- a/LibGit2Sharp/Core/Proxy.cs
+++ b/LibGit2Sharp/Core/Proxy.cs
@@ -993,6 +993,15 @@ public static void git_index_read_fromtree(Index index, GitObjectSafeHandle tree
             }
         }
 
+        public static void git_index_clear(Index index)
+        {
+            using (ThreadAffinity())
+            {
+                int res = NativeMethods.git_index_clear(index.Handle);
+                Ensure.ZeroResult(res);
+            }
+        }
+
         #endregion
 
         #region git_merge_
diff --git a/LibGit2Sharp/Index.cs b/LibGit2Sharp/Index.cs
index aacdef59d..89bd9b156 100644
--- a/LibGit2Sharp/Index.cs
+++ b/LibGit2Sharp/Index.cs
@@ -475,6 +475,19 @@ public virtual void Reset(Tree source)
             UpdatePhysicalIndex();
         }
 
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Clears all entries the index. This is semantically equivalent to
+        /// creating an empty tree object and resetting the index to that tree.
+        /// <para>
+        ///   This overwrites all existing state in the staging area.
+        /// </para>
+        /// </summary>
+        public virtual void Clear()
+        {
+            Proxy.git_index_clear(this);
+            UpdatePhysicalIndex();
+        }
+
         private IDictionary<Tuple<string, FileStatus>, Tuple<string, FileStatus>> PrepareBatch(IEnumerable<string> leftPaths, IEnumerable<string> rightPaths)
         {
             IDictionary<Tuple<string, FileStatus>, Tuple<string, FileStatus>> dic = new Dictionary<Tuple<string, FileStatus>, Tuple<string, FileStatus>>();