diff --git a/CHANGELOG b/CHANGELOG
index 877a1c3787f..dbaa396143f 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG
+++ b/CHANGELOG
@@ -51,6 +51,7 @@ v 8.8.4 (unreleased)
   - Remove prev/next buttons on issues and merge requests
   - Import GitHub repositories respecting the API rate limit
   - Fix importer for GitHub comments on diff
+  - Disable Webhooks before proceeding with the GitHub import
 
 v 8.8.3
   - Fix 404 page when viewing TODOs that contain milestones or labels in different projects. !4312
diff --git a/app/views/import/github/status.html.haml b/app/views/import/github/status.html.haml
index 5b7f11440c1..6c4a9d68d1f 100644
--- a/app/views/import/github/status.html.haml
+++ b/app/views/import/github/status.html.haml
@@ -4,6 +4,10 @@
   %i.fa.fa-github
   Import projects from GitHub
 
+%p
+  %i.fa.fa-warning
+  To import GitHub pull requests, any pull request source branches that had been deleted are temporarily restored on GitHub. To prevent any connected CI services from being overloaded with dozens of irrelevant branches being created and deleted again, GitHub webhooks are temporarily disabled during the import process.
+
 %p.light
   Select projects you want to import.
 %hr
diff --git a/lib/gitlab/github_import/hook_formatter.rb b/lib/gitlab/github_import/hook_formatter.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..db1fabaa18a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/gitlab/github_import/hook_formatter.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+module Gitlab
+  module GithubImport
+    class HookFormatter
+      EVENTS = %w[* create delete pull_request push].freeze
+
+      attr_reader :raw
+
+      delegate :id, :name, :active, to: :raw
+
+      def initialize(raw)
+        @raw = raw
+      end
+
+      def config
+        raw.config.attrs
+      end
+
+      def valid?
+        (EVENTS & raw.events).any? && active
+      end
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/lib/gitlab/github_import/importer.rb b/lib/gitlab/github_import/importer.rb
index a2ee56bee89..442b4c389fe 100644
--- a/lib/gitlab/github_import/importer.rb
+++ b/lib/gitlab/github_import/importer.rb
@@ -109,6 +109,9 @@ module Gitlab
       end
 
       def import_pull_requests
+        hooks = client.hooks(repo).map { |raw| HookFormatter.new(raw) }.select(&:valid?)
+        disable_webhooks(hooks)
+
         pull_requests = paginate { client.pull_requests(repo, state: :all, sort: :created, direction: :asc, per_page: 100) }
         pull_requests = pull_requests.map { |raw| PullRequestFormatter.new(project, raw) }.select(&:valid?)
 
@@ -116,7 +119,7 @@ module Gitlab
         target_branches_removed = pull_requests.reject(&:target_branch_exists?).map { |pr| [pr.target_branch_name, pr.target_branch_sha] }
         branches_removed = source_branches_removed | target_branches_removed
 
-        create_refs(branches_removed)
+        restore_branches(branches_removed)
 
         pull_requests.each do |pull_request|
           merge_request = pull_request.create!
@@ -129,10 +132,25 @@ module Gitlab
       rescue ActiveRecord::RecordInvalid => e
         raise Projects::ImportService::Error, e.message
       ensure
-        delete_refs(branches_removed)
+        clean_up_restored_branches(branches_removed)
+        clean_up_disabled_webhooks(hooks)
       end
 
-      def create_refs(branches)
+      def disable_webhooks(hooks)
+        update_webhooks(hooks, active: false)
+      end
+
+      def clean_up_disabled_webhooks(hooks)
+        update_webhooks(hooks, active: true)
+      end
+
+      def update_webhooks(hooks, options)
+        hooks.each do |hook|
+          client.edit_hook(repo, hook.id, hook.name, hook.config, options)
+        end
+      end
+
+      def restore_branches(branches)
         branches.each do |name, sha|
           sleep rate_limit_sleep_time if rate_limit_exceed?
           client.create_ref(repo, "refs/heads/#{name}", sha)
@@ -141,7 +159,7 @@ module Gitlab
         project.repository.fetch_ref(repo_url, '+refs/heads/*', 'refs/heads/*')
       end
 
-      def delete_refs(branches)
+      def clean_up_restored_branches(branches)
         branches.each do |name, _|
           sleep rate_limit_sleep_time if rate_limit_exceed?
           client.delete_ref(repo, "heads/#{name}")
diff --git a/spec/lib/gitlab/github_import/hook_formatter_spec.rb b/spec/lib/gitlab/github_import/hook_formatter_spec.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..110ba428258
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/lib/gitlab/github_import/hook_formatter_spec.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,65 @@
+require 'spec_helper'
+
+describe Gitlab::GithubImport::HookFormatter, lib: true do
+  describe '#id' do
+    it 'returns raw id' do
+      raw = double(id: 100000)
+      formatter = described_class.new(raw)
+      expect(formatter.id).to eq 100000
+    end
+  end
+
+  describe '#name' do
+    it 'returns raw id' do
+      raw = double(name: 'web')
+      formatter = described_class.new(raw)
+      expect(formatter.name).to eq 'web'
+    end
+  end
+
+  describe '#config' do
+    it 'returns raw config.attrs' do
+      raw = double(config: double(attrs: { url: 'http://something.com/webhook' }))
+      formatter = described_class.new(raw)
+      expect(formatter.config).to eq({ url: 'http://something.com/webhook' })
+    end
+  end
+
+  describe '#valid?' do
+    it 'returns true when events contains the wildcard event' do
+      raw = double(events: ['*', 'commit_comment'], active: true)
+      formatter = described_class.new(raw)
+      expect(formatter.valid?).to eq true
+    end
+
+    it 'returns true when events contains the create event' do
+      raw = double(events: ['create', 'commit_comment'], active: true)
+      formatter = described_class.new(raw)
+      expect(formatter.valid?).to eq true
+    end
+
+    it 'returns true when events contains delete event' do
+      raw = double(events: ['delete', 'commit_comment'], active: true)
+      formatter = described_class.new(raw)
+      expect(formatter.valid?).to eq true
+    end
+
+    it 'returns true when events contains pull_request event' do
+      raw = double(events: ['pull_request', 'commit_comment'], active: true)
+      formatter = described_class.new(raw)
+      expect(formatter.valid?).to eq true
+    end
+
+    it 'returns false when events does not contains branch related events' do
+      raw = double(events: ['member', 'commit_comment'], active: true)
+      formatter = described_class.new(raw)
+      expect(formatter.valid?).to eq false
+    end
+
+    it 'returns false when hook is not active' do
+      raw = double(events: ['pull_request', 'commit_comment'], active: false)
+      formatter = described_class.new(raw)
+      expect(formatter.valid?).to eq false
+    end
+  end
+end