diff --git a/Documentation/git-clone.txt b/Documentation/git-clone.txt
index 4b8b26b..0931a3e 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-clone.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-clone.txt
@@ -13,7 +13,8 @@
 	  [-l] [-s] [--no-hardlinks] [-q] [-n] [--bare] [--mirror]
 	  [-o <name>] [-b <name>] [-u <upload-pack>] [--reference <repository>]
 	  [--separate-git-dir <git dir>]
-	  [--depth <depth>] [--recursive|--recurse-submodules] [--] <repository>
+	  [--depth <depth>] [--[no-]single-branch]
+	  [--recursive|--recurse-submodules] [--] <repository>
 	  [<directory>]
 
 DESCRIPTION
@@ -179,6 +180,14 @@
 	with a long history, and would want to send in fixes
 	as patches.
 
+--single-branch::
+	Clone only the history leading to the tip of a single branch,
+	either specified by the `--branch` option or the primary
+	branch remote's `HEAD` points at. When creating a shallow
+	clone with the `--depth` option, this is the default, unless
+	`--no-single-branch` is given to fetch the histories near the
+	tips of all branches.
+
 --recursive::
 --recurse-submodules::
 	After the clone is created, initialize all submodules within,
diff --git a/builtin/clone.c b/builtin/clone.c
index 86db954..9dcc5fe 100644
--- a/builtin/clone.c
+++ b/builtin/clone.c
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@
 	NULL
 };
 
-static int option_no_checkout, option_bare, option_mirror;
+static int option_no_checkout, option_bare, option_mirror, option_single_branch = -1;
 static int option_local, option_no_hardlinks, option_shared, option_recursive;
 static char *option_template, *option_depth;
 static char *option_origin = NULL;
@@ -48,6 +48,7 @@
 static int option_progress;
 static struct string_list option_config;
 static struct string_list option_reference;
+static const char *src_ref_prefix = "refs/heads/";
 
 static int opt_parse_reference(const struct option *opt, const char *arg, int unset)
 {
@@ -92,6 +93,8 @@
 		   "path to git-upload-pack on the remote"),
 	OPT_STRING(0, "depth", &option_depth, "depth",
 		    "create a shallow clone of that depth"),
+	OPT_BOOL(0, "single-branch", &option_single_branch,
+		    "clone only one branch, HEAD or --branch"),
 	OPT_STRING(0, "separate-git-dir", &real_git_dir, "gitdir",
 		   "separate git dir from working tree"),
 	OPT_STRING_LIST('c', "config", &option_config, "key=value",
@@ -427,8 +430,28 @@
 	struct ref *local_refs = head;
 	struct ref **tail = head ? &head->next : &local_refs;
 
-	get_fetch_map(refs, refspec, &tail, 0);
-	if (!option_mirror)
+	if (option_single_branch) {
+		struct ref *remote_head = NULL;
+
+		if (!option_branch)
+			remote_head = guess_remote_head(head, refs, 0);
+		else {
+			struct strbuf sb = STRBUF_INIT;
+			strbuf_addstr(&sb, src_ref_prefix);
+			strbuf_addstr(&sb, option_branch);
+			remote_head = find_ref_by_name(refs, sb.buf);
+			strbuf_release(&sb);
+		}
+
+		if (!remote_head && option_branch)
+			warning(_("Could not find remote branch %s to clone."),
+				option_branch);
+		else
+			get_fetch_map(remote_head, refspec, &tail, 0);
+	} else
+		get_fetch_map(refs, refspec, &tail, 0);
+
+	if (!option_mirror && !option_single_branch)
 		get_fetch_map(refs, tag_refspec, &tail, 0);
 
 	return local_refs;
@@ -448,6 +471,21 @@
 	clear_extra_refs();
 }
 
+static void write_followtags(const struct ref *refs, const char *msg)
+{
+	const struct ref *ref;
+	for (ref = refs; ref; ref = ref->next) {
+		if (prefixcmp(ref->name, "refs/tags/"))
+			continue;
+		if (!suffixcmp(ref->name, "^{}"))
+			continue;
+		if (!has_sha1_file(ref->old_sha1))
+			continue;
+		update_ref(msg, ref->name, ref->old_sha1,
+			   NULL, 0, DIE_ON_ERR);
+	}
+}
+
 static int write_one_config(const char *key, const char *value, void *data)
 {
 	return git_config_set_multivar(key, value ? value : "true", "^$", 0);
@@ -478,7 +516,6 @@
 	struct strbuf key = STRBUF_INIT, value = STRBUF_INIT;
 	struct strbuf branch_top = STRBUF_INIT, reflog_msg = STRBUF_INIT;
 	struct transport *transport = NULL;
-	char *src_ref_prefix = "refs/heads/";
 	int err = 0;
 
 	struct refspec *refspec;
@@ -498,6 +535,9 @@
 		usage_msg_opt(_("You must specify a repository to clone."),
 			builtin_clone_usage, builtin_clone_options);
 
+	if (option_single_branch == -1)
+		option_single_branch = option_depth ? 1 : 0;
+
 	if (option_mirror)
 		option_bare = 1;
 
@@ -645,6 +685,8 @@
 		if (option_depth)
 			transport_set_option(transport, TRANS_OPT_DEPTH,
 					     option_depth);
+		if (option_single_branch)
+			transport_set_option(transport, TRANS_OPT_FOLLOWTAGS, "1");
 
 		transport_set_verbosity(transport, option_verbosity, option_progress);
 
@@ -663,6 +705,8 @@
 		clear_extra_refs();
 
 		write_remote_refs(mapped_refs);
+		if (option_single_branch)
+			write_followtags(refs, reflog_msg.buf);
 
 		remote_head = find_ref_by_name(refs, "HEAD");
 		remote_head_points_at =
diff --git a/t/t5500-fetch-pack.sh b/t/t5500-fetch-pack.sh
index 9bf69e9..7e85c71 100755
--- a/t/t5500-fetch-pack.sh
+++ b/t/t5500-fetch-pack.sh
@@ -114,8 +114,19 @@
 
 pull_to_client 3rd "refs/heads/A" $((1*3))
 
+test_expect_success 'single branch clone' '
+	git clone --single-branch "file://$(pwd)/." singlebranch
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'single branch object count' '
+	GIT_DIR=singlebranch/.git git count-objects -v |
+		grep "^in-pack:" > count.singlebranch &&
+	echo "in-pack: 198" >expected &&
+	test_cmp expected count.singlebranch
+'
+
 test_expect_success 'clone shallow' '
-	git clone --depth 2 "file://$(pwd)/." shallow
+	git clone --no-single-branch --depth 2 "file://$(pwd)/." shallow
 '
 
 test_expect_success 'clone shallow object count' '
@@ -248,4 +259,63 @@
 	grep "^count: 52" count.shallow
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'clone shallow without --no-single-branch' '
+	git clone --depth 1 "file://$(pwd)/." shallow2
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'clone shallow object count' '
+	(
+		cd shallow2 &&
+		git count-objects -v
+	) > count.shallow2 &&
+	grep "^in-pack: 6" count.shallow2
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'clone shallow with --branch' '
+	git clone --depth 1 --branch A "file://$(pwd)/." shallow3
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'clone shallow object count' '
+	echo "in-pack: 12" > count3.expected &&
+	GIT_DIR=shallow3/.git git count-objects -v |
+		grep "^in-pack" > count3.actual &&
+	test_cmp count3.expected count3.actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'clone shallow with nonexistent --branch' '
+	git clone --depth 1 --branch Z "file://$(pwd)/." shallow4 &&
+	GIT_DIR=shallow4/.git git rev-parse HEAD >actual &&
+	git rev-parse HEAD >expected &&
+	test_cmp expected actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'clone shallow with detached HEAD' '
+	git checkout HEAD^ &&
+	git clone --depth 1 "file://$(pwd)/." shallow5 &&
+	git checkout - &&
+	GIT_DIR=shallow5/.git git rev-parse HEAD >actual &&
+	git rev-parse HEAD^ >expected &&
+	test_cmp expected actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'shallow clone pulling tags' '
+	git tag -a -m A TAGA1 A &&
+	git tag -a -m B TAGB1 B &&
+	git tag TAGA2 A &&
+	git tag TAGB2 B &&
+	git clone --depth 1 "file://$(pwd)/." shallow6 &&
+
+	cat >taglist.expected <<\EOF &&
+TAGB1
+TAGB2
+EOF
+	GIT_DIR=shallow6/.git git tag -l >taglist.actual &&
+	test_cmp taglist.expected taglist.actual &&
+
+	echo "in-pack: 7" > count6.expected &&
+	GIT_DIR=shallow6/.git git count-objects -v |
+		grep "^in-pack" > count6.actual &&
+	test_cmp count6.expected count6.actual
+'
+
 test_done