diff --git a/mercurial/posix.py b/mercurial/posix.py
--- a/mercurial/posix.py
+++ b/mercurial/posix.py
@@ -349,5 +349,21 @@ def hidewindow():
     """
     pass
 
+class cachestat(object):
+    def __init__(self, path):
+        self.stat = os.stat(path)
+
+    def cacheable(self):
+        return bool(self.stat.st_ino)
+
+    def __eq__(self, other):
+        try:
+            return self.stat == other.stat
+        except AttributeError:
+            return False
+
+    def __ne__(self, other):
+        return not self == other
+
 def executablepath():
     return None # available on Windows only
diff --git a/mercurial/util.py b/mercurial/util.py
--- a/mercurial/util.py
+++ b/mercurial/util.py
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ if os.name == 'nt':
 else:
     import posix as platform
 
+cachestat = platform.cachestat
 checkexec = platform.checkexec
 checklink = platform.checklink
 executablepath = platform.executablepath
diff --git a/mercurial/windows.py b/mercurial/windows.py
--- a/mercurial/windows.py
+++ b/mercurial/windows.py
@@ -286,4 +286,11 @@ def isexec(f):
 
 from win32 import *
 
+class cachestat(object):
+    def __init__(self, path):
+        pass
+
+    def cacheable(self):
+        return False
+
 expandglobs = True
diff --git a/tests/hghave b/tests/hghave
--- a/tests/hghave
+++ b/tests/hghave
@@ -101,6 +101,16 @@ def has_inotify():
 def has_fifo():
     return hasattr(os, "mkfifo")
 
+def has_cacheable_fs():
+    from mercurial import util
+
+    fd, path = tempfile.mkstemp(prefix=tempprefix)
+    os.close(fd)
+    try:
+        return util.cachestat(path).cacheable()
+    finally:
+        os.remove(path)
+
 def has_lsprof():
     try:
         import _lsprof
@@ -200,6 +210,7 @@ checks = {
     "baz": (has_baz, "GNU Arch baz client"),
     "bzr": (has_bzr, "Canonical's Bazaar client"),
     "bzr114": (has_bzr114, "Canonical's Bazaar client >= 1.14"),
+    "cacheable": (has_cacheable_fs, "cacheable filesystem"),
     "cvs": (has_cvs, "cvs client/server"),
     "darcs": (has_darcs, "darcs client"),
     "docutils": (has_docutils, "Docutils text processing library"),