diff --git a/changelog/unreleased/pull-2816 b/changelog/unreleased/pull-2816
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..4033a17ab
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog/unreleased/pull-2816
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+Enhancement: backup no longer updates file access times on Linux
+
+When reading files during backup, restic caused the operating system to update
+the file access times. Note that this does not apply to filesystems with
+disabled file access times.
+
+Restic now instructs the operation system not to update the file access time,
+if the user running restic is the file owner or has root permissions.
+
+https://github.com/restic/restic/pull/2816
diff --git a/internal/fs/fs_local.go b/internal/fs/fs_local.go
index dd1faafa0..48c40dc90 100644
--- a/internal/fs/fs_local.go
+++ b/internal/fs/fs_local.go
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ func (fs Local) Open(name string) (File, error) {
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
+	_ = setFlags(f)
 	return f, nil
 }
 
@@ -37,6 +38,7 @@ func (fs Local) OpenFile(name string, flag int, perm os.FileMode) (File, error)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
+	_ = setFlags(f)
 	return f, nil
 }
 
diff --git a/internal/fs/setflags_linux.go b/internal/fs/setflags_linux.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..32e3d2683
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/fs/setflags_linux.go
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+package fs
+
+import (
+	"os"
+
+	"golang.org/x/sys/unix"
+)
+
+// SetFlags tries to set the O_NOATIME flag on f, which prevents the kernel
+// from updating the atime on a read call.
+//
+// The call fails when we're not the owner of the file or root. The caller
+// should ignore the error, which is returned for testing only.
+func setFlags(f *os.File) error {
+	fd := f.Fd()
+	flags, err := unix.FcntlInt(fd, unix.F_GETFL, 0)
+	if err == nil {
+		_, err = unix.FcntlInt(fd, unix.F_SETFL, flags|unix.O_NOATIME)
+	}
+	return err
+}
diff --git a/internal/fs/setflags_linux_test.go b/internal/fs/setflags_linux_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..7818146ac
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/fs/setflags_linux_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,67 @@
+package fs
+
+import (
+	"io"
+	"io/ioutil"
+	"os"
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+
+	rtest "github.com/restic/restic/internal/test"
+
+	"golang.org/x/sys/unix"
+)
+
+func TestNoatime(t *testing.T) {
+	f, err := ioutil.TempFile("", "restic-test-noatime")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	defer func() {
+		_ = f.Close()
+		err = Remove(f.Name())
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+	}()
+
+	// Only run this test on common filesystems that support O_NOATIME.
+	// On others, we may not get an error.
+	if !supportsNoatime(t, f) {
+		t.Skip("temp directory may not support O_NOATIME, skipping")
+	}
+	// From this point on, we own the file, so we should not get EPERM.
+
+	_, err = io.WriteString(f, "Hello!")
+	rtest.OK(t, err)
+	_, err = f.Seek(0, io.SeekStart)
+	rtest.OK(t, err)
+
+	getAtime := func() time.Time {
+		info, err := f.Stat()
+		rtest.OK(t, err)
+		return ExtendedStat(info).AccessTime
+	}
+
+	atime := getAtime()
+
+	err = setFlags(f)
+	rtest.OK(t, err)
+
+	_, err = f.Read(make([]byte, 1))
+	rtest.OK(t, err)
+	rtest.Equals(t, atime, getAtime())
+}
+
+func supportsNoatime(t *testing.T, f *os.File) bool {
+	var fsinfo unix.Statfs_t
+	err := unix.Fstatfs(int(f.Fd()), &fsinfo)
+	rtest.OK(t, err)
+
+	return fsinfo.Type == unix.BTRFS_SUPER_MAGIC ||
+		fsinfo.Type == unix.EXT2_SUPER_MAGIC ||
+		fsinfo.Type == unix.EXT3_SUPER_MAGIC ||
+		fsinfo.Type == unix.EXT4_SUPER_MAGIC ||
+		fsinfo.Type == unix.TMPFS_MAGIC
+}
diff --git a/internal/fs/setflags_other.go b/internal/fs/setflags_other.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..6485126e0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/fs/setflags_other.go
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+//go:build !linux
+// +build !linux
+
+package fs
+
+import "os"
+
+// OS-specific replacements of setFlags can set file status flags
+// that improve I/O performance.
+func setFlags(*os.File) error {
+	return nil
+}