Index: src/wp-includes/nav-menu.php
===================================================================
--- src/wp-includes/nav-menu.php	(revision 37687)
+++ src/wp-includes/nav-menu.php	(working copy)
@@ -621,6 +621,22 @@
 		return false;
 	}
 
+
+	/**
+	 * Filters whether to short-circuit the navigation menu items being returned.
+	 *
+	 * @since 4.6.0
+	 *
+	 * @param array|null  $items An array of menu item post objects to short-circuit with. Default null.
+	 * @param object $menu  The menu object.
+	 * @param array  $args  An array of arguments used to retrieve menu item objects.
+	 */
+	$items = apply_filters( 'pre_wp_get_nav_menu_items', null, $menu, $args );
+
+	if ( null !== $items ) {
+		return $items;
+	}
+
 	static $fetched = array();
 
 	$items = get_objects_in_term( $menu->term_id, 'nav_menu' );