diff --git a/remote.c b/remote.c
index 3d6c86a36f..846cd1969c 100644
--- a/remote.c
+++ b/remote.c
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@ struct rewrites {
 static struct remote **remotes;
 static int remotes_alloc;
 static int remotes_nr;
+static struct hashmap remotes_hash;
 
 static struct branch **branches;
 static int branches_alloc;
@@ -136,26 +137,51 @@ static void add_url_alias(struct remote *remote, const char *url)
 	add_pushurl_alias(remote, url);
 }
 
+struct remotes_hash_key {
+	const char *str;
+	int len;
+};
+
+static int remotes_hash_cmp(const struct remote *a, const struct remote *b, const struct remotes_hash_key *key)
+{
+	if (key)
+		return strncmp(a->name, key->str, key->len) || a->name[key->len];
+	else
+		return strcmp(a->name, b->name);
+}
+
+static inline void init_remotes_hash(void)
+{
+	if (!remotes_hash.cmpfn)
+		hashmap_init(&remotes_hash, (hashmap_cmp_fn)remotes_hash_cmp, 0);
+}
+
 static struct remote *make_remote(const char *name, int len)
 {
-	struct remote *ret;
-	int i;
+	struct remote *ret, *replaced;
+	struct remotes_hash_key lookup;
+	struct hashmap_entry lookup_entry;
 
-	for (i = 0; i < remotes_nr; i++) {
-		if (len ? (!strncmp(name, remotes[i]->name, len) &&
-			   !remotes[i]->name[len]) :
-		    !strcmp(name, remotes[i]->name))
-			return remotes[i];
-	}
+	if (!len)
+		len = strlen(name);
+
+	init_remotes_hash();
+	lookup.str = name;
+	lookup.len = len;
+	hashmap_entry_init(&lookup_entry, memhash(name, len));
+
+	if ((ret = hashmap_get(&remotes_hash, &lookup_entry, &lookup)) != NULL)
+		return ret;
 
 	ret = xcalloc(1, sizeof(struct remote));
 	ret->prune = -1;  /* unspecified */
 	ALLOC_GROW(remotes, remotes_nr + 1, remotes_alloc);
 	remotes[remotes_nr++] = ret;
-	if (len)
-		ret->name = xstrndup(name, len);
-	else
-		ret->name = xstrdup(name);
+	ret->name = xstrndup(name, len);
+
+	hashmap_entry_init(ret, lookup_entry.hash);
+	replaced = hashmap_put(&remotes_hash, ret);
+	assert(replaced == NULL);  /* no previous entry overwritten */
 	return ret;
 }
 
@@ -717,13 +743,16 @@ struct remote *pushremote_get(const char *name)
 
 int remote_is_configured(const char *name)
 {
-	int i;
+	struct remotes_hash_key lookup;
+	struct hashmap_entry lookup_entry;
 	read_config();
 
-	for (i = 0; i < remotes_nr; i++)
-		if (!strcmp(name, remotes[i]->name))
-			return 1;
-	return 0;
+	init_remotes_hash();
+	lookup.str = name;
+	lookup.len = strlen(name);
+	hashmap_entry_init(&lookup_entry, memhash(name, lookup.len));
+
+	return hashmap_get(&remotes_hash, &lookup_entry, &lookup) != NULL;
 }
 
 int for_each_remote(each_remote_fn fn, void *priv)
diff --git a/remote.h b/remote.h
index 917d383a80..8b62efd2ad 100644
--- a/remote.h
+++ b/remote.h
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 #define REMOTE_H
 
 #include "parse-options.h"
+#include "hashmap.h"
 
 enum {
 	REMOTE_CONFIG,
@@ -10,6 +11,8 @@ enum {
 };
 
 struct remote {
+	struct hashmap_entry ent;  /* must be first */
+
 	const char *name;
 	int origin;