diff --git a/mercurial/configitems.py b/mercurial/configitems.py
--- a/mercurial/configitems.py
+++ b/mercurial/configitems.py
@@ -706,6 +706,9 @@ coreconfigitem(
     b'experimental', b'worker.wdir-get-thread-safe', default=False,
 )
 coreconfigitem(
+    b'experimental', b'worker.repository-upgrade', default=False,
+)
+coreconfigitem(
     b'experimental', b'xdiff', default=False,
 )
 coreconfigitem(
diff --git a/mercurial/copies.py b/mercurial/copies.py
--- a/mercurial/copies.py
+++ b/mercurial/copies.py
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 from __future__ import absolute_import
 
 import collections
+import multiprocessing
 import os
 
 from .i18n import _
@@ -1007,6 +1008,102 @@ def _getsidedata(srcrepo, rev):
 
 
 def getsidedataadder(srcrepo, destrepo):
+    use_w = srcrepo.ui.configbool(b'experimental', b'worker.repository-upgrade')
+    if pycompat.iswindows or not use_w:
+        return _get_simple_sidedata_adder(srcrepo, destrepo)
+    else:
+        return _get_worker_sidedata_adder(srcrepo, destrepo)
+
+
+def _sidedata_worker(srcrepo, revs_queue, sidedata_queue, tokens):
+    """The function used by worker precomputing sidedata
+
+    It read an input queue containing revision numbers
+    It write in an output queue containing (rev, <sidedata-map>)
+
+    The `None` input value is used as a stop signal.
+
+    The `tokens` semaphore is user to avoid having too many unprocessed
+    entries. The workers needs to acquire one token before fetching a task.
+    They will be released by the consumer of the produced data.
+    """
+    tokens.acquire()
+    rev = revs_queue.get()
+    while rev is not None:
+        data = _getsidedata(srcrepo, rev)
+        sidedata_queue.put((rev, data))
+        tokens.acquire()
+        rev = revs_queue.get()
+    # processing of `None` is completed, release the token.
+    tokens.release()
+
+
+BUFF_PER_WORKER = 50
+
+
+def _get_worker_sidedata_adder(srcrepo, destrepo):
+    """The parallel version of the sidedata computation
+
+    This code spawn a pool of worker that precompute a buffer of sidedata
+    before we actually need them"""
+    # avoid circular import copies -> scmutil -> worker -> copies
+    from . import worker
+
+    nbworkers = worker._numworkers(srcrepo.ui)
+
+    tokens = multiprocessing.BoundedSemaphore(nbworkers * BUFF_PER_WORKER)
+    revsq = multiprocessing.Queue()
+    sidedataq = multiprocessing.Queue()
+
+    assert srcrepo.filtername is None
+    # queue all tasks beforehand, revision numbers are small and it make
+    # synchronisation simpler
+    #
+    # Since the computation for each node can be quite expensive, the overhead
+    # of using a single queue is not revelant. In practice, most computation
+    # are fast but some are very expensive and dominate all the other smaller
+    # cost.
+    for r in srcrepo.changelog.revs():
+        revsq.put(r)
+    # queue the "no more tasks" markers
+    for i in range(nbworkers):
+        revsq.put(None)
+
+    allworkers = []
+    for i in range(nbworkers):
+        args = (srcrepo, revsq, sidedataq, tokens)
+        w = multiprocessing.Process(target=_sidedata_worker, args=args)
+        allworkers.append(w)
+        w.start()
+
+    # dictionnary to store results for revision higher than we one we are
+    # looking for. For example, if we need the sidedatamap for 42, and 43 is
+    # received, when shelve 43 for later use.
+    staging = {}
+
+    def sidedata_companion(revlog, rev):
+        sidedata = {}
+        if util.safehasattr(revlog, b'filteredrevs'):  # this is a changelog
+            # Is the data previously shelved ?
+            sidedata = staging.pop(rev, None)
+            if sidedata is None:
+                # look at the queued result until we find the one we are lookig
+                # for (shelve the other ones)
+                r, sidedata = sidedataq.get()
+                while r != rev:
+                    staging[r] = sidedata
+                    r, sidedata = sidedataq.get()
+            tokens.release()
+        return False, (), sidedata
+
+    return sidedata_companion
+
+
+def _get_simple_sidedata_adder(srcrepo, destrepo):
+    """The simple version of the sidedata computation
+
+    It just compute it in the same thread on request"""
+
     def sidedatacompanion(revlog, rev):
         sidedata = {}
         if util.safehasattr(revlog, 'filteredrevs'):  # this is a changelog