diff --git a/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/ignore/SimpleIgnoreCache.java b/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/ignore/SimpleIgnoreCache.java
index be37a9ad8..0d74e881c 100644
--- a/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/ignore/SimpleIgnoreCache.java
+++ b/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/ignore/SimpleIgnoreCache.java
@@ -46,11 +46,12 @@ import java.io.File;
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.net.URI;
 import java.util.HashMap;
-import java.util.HashSet;
 
+import org.eclipse.jgit.lib.Constants;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.lib.Repository;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.treewalk.FileTreeIterator;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.treewalk.TreeWalk;
+import org.eclipse.jgit.treewalk.filter.PathSuffixFilter;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.util.FS;
 
 /**
@@ -112,19 +113,10 @@ public class SimpleIgnoreCache {
 		TreeWalk tw = new TreeWalk(repository);
 		tw.reset();
 		tw.addTree(new FileTreeIterator(repository.getWorkDir(), FS.DETECTED));
+		tw.setFilter(PathSuffixFilter.create("/" + Constants.DOT_GIT_IGNORE));
 		tw.setRecursive(true);
-
-		//Don't waste time trying to add iterators that already exist
-		HashSet<FileTreeIterator> toAdd = new HashSet<FileTreeIterator>();
-		while (tw.next()) {
-			FileTreeIterator t = tw.getTree(0, FileTreeIterator.class);
-			if (t.hasGitIgnore()) {
-				toAdd.add(t);
-				//TODO: Account for and test the removal of .gitignore files
-			}
-		}
-		for (FileTreeIterator t : toAdd)
-			addNodeFromTree(t);
+		while (tw.next())
+			addNodeFromTree(tw.getTree(0, FileTreeIterator.class));
 
 		//The base is special
 		//TODO: Test alternate locations for GIT_DIR
@@ -153,24 +145,15 @@ public class SimpleIgnoreCache {
 	}
 
 	/**
-	 *	Adds a node located at the FileTreeIterator's root directory.
-	 *	<br>
-	 *	Will check for the presence of a .gitignore using {@link FileTreeIterator#hasGitIgnore()}.
-	 *	If no .gitignore file exists, nothing will be done.
-	 *  <br>
-	 *  Will check the last time of modification using {@link FileTreeIterator#hasGitIgnore()}.
-	 *  If a node already exists and the time stamp has not changed, do nothing.
-	 *	<br>
-	 *  Note: This can be extended later if necessary to AbstractTreeIterator by using
-	 *  byte[] path instead of File directory.
+	 * Adds a node located at the FileTreeIterator's current position.
 	 *
 	 * @param t
-	 * 			  AbstractTreeIterator to check for ignore info. The name of the node
-	 * 			  should be .gitignore
+	 *            FileTreeIterator to check for ignore info. The name of the
+	 *            entry should be ".gitignore".
 	 */
 	protected void addNodeFromTree(FileTreeIterator t) {
 		IgnoreNode n = ignoreMap.get(relativize(t.getDirectory()));
-		long time = t.getGitIgnoreLastModified();
+		long time = t.getEntryLastModified();
 		if (n != null) {
 			if (n.getLastModified() == time)
 				//TODO: Test and optimize
diff --git a/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/treewalk/AbstractTreeIterator.java b/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/treewalk/AbstractTreeIterator.java
index 178657a42..3b68abca9 100644
--- a/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/treewalk/AbstractTreeIterator.java
+++ b/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/treewalk/AbstractTreeIterator.java
@@ -138,19 +138,11 @@ public abstract class AbstractTreeIterator {
 	 */
 	protected int pathLen;
 
-	/**
-	 * Last modified time of the .gitignore file. Greater than 0 if a .gitignore
-	 * file exists.
-	 *
-	 */
-	protected long gitIgnoreTimeStamp;
-
 	/** Create a new iterator with no parent. */
 	protected AbstractTreeIterator() {
 		parent = null;
 		path = new byte[DEFAULT_PATH_SIZE];
 		pathOffset = 0;
-		gitIgnoreTimeStamp = 0l;
 	}
 
 	/**
@@ -170,7 +162,6 @@ public abstract class AbstractTreeIterator {
 	 */
 	protected AbstractTreeIterator(final String prefix) {
 		parent = null;
-		gitIgnoreTimeStamp = 0l;
 
 		if (prefix != null && prefix.length() > 0) {
 			final ByteBuffer b;
@@ -205,7 +196,6 @@ public abstract class AbstractTreeIterator {
 	 */
 	protected AbstractTreeIterator(final byte[] prefix) {
 		parent = null;
-		gitIgnoreTimeStamp = 0l;
 
 		if (prefix != null && prefix.length > 0) {
 			pathLen = prefix.length;
@@ -230,7 +220,6 @@ public abstract class AbstractTreeIterator {
 		parent = p;
 		path = p.path;
 		pathOffset = p.pathLen + 1;
-		gitIgnoreTimeStamp = 0l;
 
 		try {
 			path[pathOffset - 1] = '/';
@@ -261,7 +250,6 @@ public abstract class AbstractTreeIterator {
 		parent = p;
 		path = childPath;
 		pathOffset = childPathOffset;
-		gitIgnoreTimeStamp = 0l;
 	}
 
 	/**
@@ -605,22 +593,4 @@ public abstract class AbstractTreeIterator {
 	public void getName(byte[] buffer, int offset) {
 		System.arraycopy(path, pathOffset, buffer, offset, pathLen - pathOffset);
 	}
-
-	/**
-	 * @return
-	 * 			  True if this iterator encountered a .gitignore file when initializing entries.
-	 * 			  Checks if the gitIgnoreTimeStamp > 0.
-	 */
-	public boolean hasGitIgnore() {
-		return gitIgnoreTimeStamp > 0;
-	}
-
-	/**
-	 * @return
-	 * 			  Last modified time of the .gitignore file, if any. Will be > 0 if a .gitignore
-	 * 			  exists.
-	 */
-	public long getGitIgnoreLastModified() {
-		return gitIgnoreTimeStamp;
-	}
 }
diff --git a/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/treewalk/FileTreeIterator.java b/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/treewalk/FileTreeIterator.java
index aab25ee80..b17d48a5e 100644
--- a/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/treewalk/FileTreeIterator.java
+++ b/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/treewalk/FileTreeIterator.java
@@ -69,6 +69,7 @@ public class FileTreeIterator extends WorkingTreeIterator {
 	 *            the root of the repository.
 	 */
 	protected final File directory;
+
 	/**
 	 *  the file system abstraction which will be necessary to
 	 *            perform certain file system operations.
@@ -117,16 +118,12 @@ public class FileTreeIterator extends WorkingTreeIterator {
 	}
 
 	private Entry[] entries() {
-		gitIgnoreTimeStamp = 0l;
 		final File[] all = directory.listFiles();
 		if (all == null)
 			return EOF;
 		final Entry[] r = new Entry[all.length];
-		for (int i = 0; i < r.length; i++) {
+		for (int i = 0; i < r.length; i++)
 			r[i] = new FileEntry(all[i], fs);
-			if (all[i].getName().equals(Constants.DOT_GIT_IGNORE))
-				gitIgnoreTimeStamp = r[i].getLastModified();
-		}
 		return r;
 	}