diff --git a/odoo/addons/base/ir/ir_model.py b/odoo/addons/base/ir/ir_model.py
index 2a1eb0fad37..ec58bf422ac 100644
--- a/odoo/addons/base/ir/ir_model.py
+++ b/odoo/addons/base/ir/ir_model.py
@@ -695,6 +695,8 @@ class IrModelFields(models.Model):
         # add compute function if given
         if field_data['compute']:
             attrs['compute'] = make_compute(field_data['compute'], field_data['depends'])
+        if field_data.get('sparse'):
+            attrs['sparse'] = field_data['sparse']
 
         return fields.Field.by_type[field_data['ttype']](**attrs)
 
diff --git a/odoo/modules/registry.py b/odoo/modules/registry.py
index 7bdff852c67..60db60cdd50 100644
--- a/odoo/modules/registry.py
+++ b/odoo/modules/registry.py
@@ -212,9 +212,15 @@ class Registry(Mapping):
         if self._fields_by_model is None:
             # Query manual fields for all models at once
             self._fields_by_model = dic = defaultdict(dict)
+            id2name = {}
             cr.execute('SELECT * FROM ir_model_fields WHERE state=%s', ('manual',))
             for field in cr.dictfetchall():
                 dic[field['model']][field['name']] = field
+                id2name[field['id']] = field['name']
+            # compute the attribute 'sparse'
+            for fields in dic.values():
+                for name, field in fields.items():
+                    field['sparse'] = id2name.get(field['serialization_field_id'])
         return self._fields_by_model[model_name]
 
     def do_parent_store(self, cr):