diff --git a/Commands.md b/Commands.md
index 72e45227b..a644e45be 100644
--- a/Commands.md
+++ b/Commands.md
@@ -1520,12 +1520,14 @@ $ git browse-ci upstream
 
 ## git utimes
 
-Change files modification time to their last commit date.
+Change files modification time to their last commit date. Does not touch files that are in the working tree or index.
+
+The `--newer` flag preserves the original modification time of files that were committed from the local repo, by only touching files that are newer than their last commit date.
 
 ```bash
 git-extras$ ls -l bin | head
 total 308
--rwxr-xr-x 1 vt vt   489 Nov  8 13:56 git-alias
+-rwxr-xr-x 1 vt vt   489 Jul 28  2015 git-alias
 -rwxr-xr-x 1 vt vt  1043 Nov  8 13:56 git-archive-file
 -rwxr-xr-x 1 vt vt   970 Nov  8 13:56 git-authors
 -rwxr-xr-x 1 vt vt   267 Nov  8 13:56 git-back
@@ -1534,8 +1536,8 @@ total 308
 -rwxr-xr-x 1 vt vt  6282 Nov  8 13:56 git-bulk
 -rwxr-xr-x 1 vt vt 18561 Nov  8 13:56 git-changelog
 -rwxr-xr-x 1 vt vt   215 Nov  8 13:56 git-clear
-git-extras$ git utimes
-+ touch -d 2015-08-09T19:27:49+08:00 bin/git-alias
+
+git-extras$ git utimes --newer
 + touch -d 2020-05-22T10:40:29+08:00 bin/git-archive-file
 + touch -d 2017-05-05T16:02:09+08:00 bin/git-authors
 + touch -d 2020-02-23T11:41:54+08:00 bin/git-back
@@ -1545,9 +1547,10 @@ git-extras$ git utimes
 + touch -d 2019-09-05T12:41:38+08:00 bin/git-changelog
 + touch -d 2016-11-19T16:41:19+00:00 bin/git-clear
 [...]
+
 git-extras$ ls -l bin | head
 total 308
--rwxr-xr-x 1 vt vt   489 Aug  9  2015 git-alias
+-rwxr-xr-x 1 vt vt   489 Jul 28  2015 git-alias
 -rwxr-xr-x 1 vt vt  1043 May 22 05:40 git-archive-file
 -rwxr-xr-x 1 vt vt   970 May  5  2017 git-authors
 -rwxr-xr-x 1 vt vt   267 Feb 23  2020 git-back
@@ -1558,6 +1561,8 @@ total 308
 -rwxr-xr-x 1 vt vt   215 Nov 19  2016 git-clear
 ```
 
+Note above, that because of the `--newer` flag, the file `git-alias` was not touched since its modified date is earlier than the commit date.
+
 ## git abort
 
 Abort current rebase, merge or cherry-pick, without the need to find exact command in history.
diff --git a/bin/git-utimes b/bin/git-utimes
index 9e45c0513..80d9d337e 100755
--- a/bin/git-utimes
+++ b/bin/git-utimes
@@ -2,20 +2,28 @@
 #
 # Change files modification time to their last commit date
 #
-if [ "$1" = --touch ]; then
+if [ "$1" = "--touch" ]; then
   # Internal use option only just to parallelize things.
-  shift
+  newer_flag=""
+  [ "$2" = "--newer" ] && newer_flag="true"
+  shift 2
+  bsd=$(date -j > /dev/null 2>&1 && echo 'true')
+  if [ -n "$bsd" ]; then
+    stat_flags="-f %m"
+    date_flags="-r"
+  else
+    stat_flags="-c %Y"
+    date_flags="-d@"
+  fi
   for f; do
-    iso_t=$(git --no-pager log --no-renames --pretty=format:%cI -1 @ -- "$f" 2>/dev/null)
-    if [ -n "$iso_t" ]; then
-      bsd=$(date -j > /dev/null 2>&1 && echo 'true')
-      if [ "$bsd" == "true" ]; then
-        t=$(date -j -f %Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S "$iso_t" +%Y%m%d%H%M.%S)
-      else
-        t=$(date -d"$iso_t" +%Y%m%d%H%M.%S)
+    git_s=$(git --no-pager log --no-renames --pretty=format:%ct -1 @ -- "$f" 2>/dev/null)
+    mod_s=$(stat $stat_flags "$f" 2>/dev/null)
+    if [ -n "$git_s" ] && [ -n "$mod_s" ] && [ "$mod_s" -ne "$git_s" ]; then
+      if [ "$mod_s" -gt "$git_s" ] || [ ! -n "$newer_flag" ]; then
+        t=$(date $date_flags$git_s '+%Y%m%d%H%M.%S')
+        echo "+ touch -h -t $t $f" >&2
+        touch -h -t "$t" "$f"
       fi
-      echo "+ touch -t $t $f" >&2
-      touch -t "$t" "$f"
     fi
   done
 else
@@ -25,6 +33,12 @@ else
   # because all args will go into single worker.
   NPROC=$(nproc 2>/dev/null || sysctl -n hw.ncpu 2>/dev/null || getconf _NPROCESSORS_ONLN 2>/dev/null)
   # shellcheck disable=SC2086
-  git ls-tree -z -r -t --name-only @ \
-  | xargs -0 -P${NPROC:-1} -n${NPROC:-1} $opt_r git utimes --touch
+  # don't touch files that have been modified in the worktree or index
+  #   bsd doesn't have `-z` option for `comm` and `cut`, so use `tr` as work around
+  prefix="$(git rev-parse --show-prefix) "
+  comm -23 <(git ls-tree -z -r --name-only --full-name @ | tr '\0' '\n' | sort) \
+           <(git status -z --porcelain | tr '\0' '\n' | cut -c 4- | sort) \
+  | cut -c ${#prefix}- \
+  | tr '\n' '\0' \
+  | xargs -0 -P${NPROC:-1} -n 24 $opt_r git utimes --touch "$1"
 fi
diff --git a/check_dependencies.sh b/check_dependencies.sh
index 639951036..05c2f735b 100755
--- a/check_dependencies.sh
+++ b/check_dependencies.sh
@@ -6,5 +6,5 @@ err() {
 }
 
 if ! command -v column >/dev/null 2>&1; then
-    err "Need to install dependency 'column' before installation"
+    err "Need to install dependency 'column' before installation (can be found in bsdmainutils)"
 fi
diff --git a/man/git-utimes.md b/man/git-utimes.md
index 5ad693a3e..9e9cf363c 100644
--- a/man/git-utimes.md
+++ b/man/git-utimes.md
@@ -3,23 +3,31 @@ git-utimes(1) -- Change files modification time to their last commit date
 
 ## SYNOPSIS
 
-`git-utimes`
+`git-utimes` [--newer]
 
 ## DESCRIPTION
 
-  Change files modification time to their last commit date.
+  Change files modification time to their last commit date. Does not touch files that are in the working tree or index.
 
 ## OPTIONS
 
-  No options needed.
+  --newer
+
+  Preserves the original modification time of files that were committed from the local repo, by only touching files that are newer than their last commit date.
 
 ## EXAMPLES
 
-  git utimes
+  * Update all files' modification time to their last commit date, except those in working tree or index:
+
+    $ git utimes
+
+  * As above, but preserve original modification time of files that were committed from local repo:
+
+    $ git utimes --newer
 
 ## AUTHOR
 
-Written by Vitaly Chikunov &lt;<vt@altlinux.org>&gt;, inspired by Stackexchange comments.
+Written by Vitaly Chikunov &lt;<vt@altlinux.org>&gt;, inspired by Stackexchange comments. Updated by Bill Wood &lt;<wpwoodjr@gmail.com>&gt; to add `--newer` flag and ignore files in the working tree or index.
 
 ## REPORTING BUGS