diff --git a/changelog/unreleased/issue-1665 b/changelog/unreleased/issue-1665
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ba956edfb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog/unreleased/issue-1665
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+Enhancement: Improve cache handling for `restic check`
+
+For safety reasons, restic does not use a local metadata cache for the `restic
+check` command, so that data is loaded from the repository and restic can check
+it's in good condition. When the cache is disabled, restic will fetch each tiny
+blob needed for checking the integrity using a separate backend request. For
+non-local backends, that will take a long time, and depending on the backend
+(e.g. B2) may also be much more expensive.
+
+This PR adds a few commits which will change the behavior as follows:
+
+ * When `restic check` is called without any additional parameters, it will
+   build a new cache in a temporary directory, which is removed at the end of
+   the check. This way, we'll get readahead for metadata files (so restic will
+   fetch the whole file when the first blob from the file is requested), but
+   all data is freshly fetched from the storage backend. This is the default
+   behavior and will work for almost all users.
+
+ * When `restic check` is called with `--with-cache`, the default on-disc cache
+   is used. This behavior hasn't changed since the cache was introduced.
+
+ * When `--no-cache` is specified, restic falls back to the old behavior, and
+   read all tiny blobs in separate requests.
+
+https://github.com/restic/restic/issues/1665
+https://github.com/restic/restic/issues/1694
+https://github.com/restic/restic/pull/1696
diff --git a/cmd/restic/cmd_check.go b/cmd/restic/cmd_check.go
index ac669c6c7..cee676766 100644
--- a/cmd/restic/cmd_check.go
+++ b/cmd/restic/cmd_check.go
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ package main
 
 import (
 	"fmt"
+	"io/ioutil"
 	"os"
 	"strconv"
 	"strings"
@@ -11,6 +12,7 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/restic/restic/internal/checker"
 	"github.com/restic/restic/internal/errors"
+	"github.com/restic/restic/internal/fs"
 	"github.com/restic/restic/internal/restic"
 )
 
@@ -117,15 +119,52 @@ func newReadProgress(gopts GlobalOptions, todo restic.Stat) *restic.Progress {
 	return readProgress
 }
 
+// prepareCheckCache configures a special cache directory for check.
+//
+//  * if --with-cache is specified, the default cache is used
+//  * if the user explicitely requested --no-cache, we don't use any cache
+//  * by default, we use a cache in a temporary directory that is deleted after the check
+func prepareCheckCache(opts CheckOptions, gopts *GlobalOptions) (cleanup func()) {
+	cleanup = func() {}
+	if opts.WithCache {
+		// use the default cache, no setup needed
+		return cleanup
+	}
+
+	if gopts.NoCache {
+		// don't use any cache, no setup needed
+		return cleanup
+	}
+
+	// use a cache in a temporary directory
+	tempdir, err := ioutil.TempDir("", "restic-check-cache-")
+	if err != nil {
+		// if an error occurs, don't use any cache
+		Warnf("unable to create temporary directory for cache during check, disabling cache: %v\n", err)
+		gopts.NoCache = true
+		return cleanup
+	}
+
+	gopts.CacheDir = tempdir
+	Verbosef("using temporary cache in %v\n", tempdir)
+
+	cleanup = func() {
+		err := fs.RemoveAll(tempdir)
+		if err != nil {
+			Warnf("error removing temporary cache directory: %v\n", err)
+		}
+	}
+
+	return cleanup
+}
+
 func runCheck(opts CheckOptions, gopts GlobalOptions, args []string) error {
 	if len(args) != 0 {
 		return errors.Fatal("check has no arguments")
 	}
 
-	if !opts.WithCache {
-		// do not use a cache for the checker
-		gopts.NoCache = true
-	}
+	cleanup := prepareCheckCache(opts, &gopts)
+	defer cleanup()
 
 	repo, err := OpenRepository(gopts)
 	if err != nil {
diff --git a/internal/checker/checker.go b/internal/checker/checker.go
index 81c0d8347..ca289be10 100644
--- a/internal/checker/checker.go
+++ b/internal/checker/checker.go
@@ -164,7 +164,11 @@ func (c *Checker) LoadIndex(ctx context.Context) (hints []error, errs []error) {
 		}
 	}
 
-	c.repo.SetIndex(c.masterIndex)
+	err := c.repo.SetIndex(c.masterIndex)
+	if err != nil {
+		debug.Log("SetIndex returned error: %v", err)
+		errs = append(errs, err)
+	}
 
 	return hints, errs
 }
diff --git a/internal/mock/repository.go b/internal/mock/repository.go
index a6a68988a..c3a9f0f9f 100644
--- a/internal/mock/repository.go
+++ b/internal/mock/repository.go
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ type Repository struct {
 
 	KeyFn func() *crypto.Key
 
-	SetIndexFn func(restic.Index)
+	SetIndexFn func(restic.Index) error
 
 	IndexFn         func() restic.Index
 	SaveFullIndexFn func() error
@@ -51,8 +51,8 @@ func (repo Repository) Key() *crypto.Key {
 }
 
 // SetIndex is a stub method.
-func (repo Repository) SetIndex(idx restic.Index) {
-	repo.SetIndexFn(idx)
+func (repo Repository) SetIndex(idx restic.Index) error {
+	return repo.SetIndexFn(idx)
 }
 
 // Index is a stub method.
diff --git a/internal/repository/repository.go b/internal/repository/repository.go
index fc31c8392..3a1ce40c2 100644
--- a/internal/repository/repository.go
+++ b/internal/repository/repository.go
@@ -331,8 +331,20 @@ func (r *Repository) Index() restic.Index {
 }
 
 // SetIndex instructs the repository to use the given index.
-func (r *Repository) SetIndex(i restic.Index) {
+func (r *Repository) SetIndex(i restic.Index) error {
 	r.idx = i.(*MasterIndex)
+
+	ids := restic.NewIDSet()
+	for _, idx := range r.idx.All() {
+		id, err := idx.ID()
+		if err != nil {
+			debug.Log("not using index, ID() returned error %v", err)
+			continue
+		}
+		ids.Insert(id)
+	}
+
+	return r.PrepareCache(ids)
 }
 
 // SaveIndex saves an index in the repository.
@@ -413,52 +425,75 @@ func (r *Repository) LoadIndex(ctx context.Context) error {
 		r.idx.Insert(idx)
 	}
 
-	if r.Cache != nil {
-		// clear old index files
-		err := r.Cache.Clear(restic.IndexFile, validIndex)
-		if err != nil {
-			fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "error clearing index files in cache: %v\n", err)
-		}
-
-		packs := restic.NewIDSet()
-		for _, idx := range r.idx.All() {
-			for id := range idx.Packs() {
-				packs.Insert(id)
-			}
-		}
-
-		// clear old data files
-		err = r.Cache.Clear(restic.DataFile, packs)
-		if err != nil {
-			fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "error clearing data files in cache: %v\n", err)
-		}
-
-		treePacks := restic.NewIDSet()
-		for _, idx := range r.idx.All() {
-			for _, id := range idx.TreePacks() {
-				treePacks.Insert(id)
-			}
-		}
-
-		// use readahead
-		cache := r.Cache.(*cache.Cache)
-		cache.PerformReadahead = func(h restic.Handle) bool {
-			if h.Type != restic.DataFile {
-				return false
-			}
-
-			id, err := restic.ParseID(h.Name)
-			if err != nil {
-				return false
-			}
-
-			return treePacks.Has(id)
-		}
+	err := r.PrepareCache(validIndex)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
 	}
 
 	return <-errCh
 }
 
+// PrepareCache initializes the local cache. indexIDs is the list of IDs of
+// index files still present in the repo.
+func (r *Repository) PrepareCache(indexIDs restic.IDSet) error {
+	if r.Cache == nil {
+		return nil
+	}
+
+	debug.Log("prepare cache with %d index files", len(indexIDs))
+
+	// clear old index files
+	err := r.Cache.Clear(restic.IndexFile, indexIDs)
+	if err != nil {
+		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "error clearing index files in cache: %v\n", err)
+	}
+
+	packs := restic.NewIDSet()
+	for _, idx := range r.idx.All() {
+		for id := range idx.Packs() {
+			packs.Insert(id)
+		}
+	}
+
+	// clear old data files
+	err = r.Cache.Clear(restic.DataFile, packs)
+	if err != nil {
+		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "error clearing data files in cache: %v\n", err)
+	}
+
+	treePacks := restic.NewIDSet()
+	for _, idx := range r.idx.All() {
+		for _, id := range idx.TreePacks() {
+			treePacks.Insert(id)
+		}
+	}
+
+	// use readahead
+	debug.Log("using readahead")
+	cache := r.Cache.(*cache.Cache)
+	cache.PerformReadahead = func(h restic.Handle) bool {
+		if h.Type != restic.DataFile {
+			debug.Log("no readahead for %v, is not data file", h)
+			return false
+		}
+
+		id, err := restic.ParseID(h.Name)
+		if err != nil {
+			debug.Log("no readahead for %v, invalid ID", h)
+			return false
+		}
+
+		if treePacks.Has(id) {
+			debug.Log("perform readahead for %v", h)
+			return true
+		}
+		debug.Log("no readahead for %v, not tree file", h)
+		return false
+	}
+
+	return nil
+}
+
 // LoadIndex loads the index id from backend and returns it.
 func LoadIndex(ctx context.Context, repo restic.Repository, id restic.ID) (*Index, error) {
 	idx, err := LoadIndexWithDecoder(ctx, repo, id, DecodeIndex)
diff --git a/internal/restic/repository.go b/internal/restic/repository.go
index 5a3a01a8a..ff8f38034 100644
--- a/internal/restic/repository.go
+++ b/internal/restic/repository.go
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ type Repository interface {
 
 	Key() *crypto.Key
 
-	SetIndex(Index)
+	SetIndex(Index) error
 
 	Index() Index
 	SaveFullIndex(context.Context) error