diff --git a/builtin/diff.c b/builtin/diff.c
index 16bfb22f73..00424c296d 100644
--- a/builtin/diff.c
+++ b/builtin/diff.c
@@ -352,6 +352,13 @@ int cmd_diff(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	rev.diffopt.flags.allow_external = 1;
 	rev.diffopt.flags.allow_textconv = 1;
 
+	/*
+	 * Default to intent-to-add entries invisible in the
+	 * index. This makes them show up as new files in diff-files
+	 * and not at all in diff-cached.
+	 */
+	rev.diffopt.ita_invisible_in_index = 1;
+
 	if (nongit)
 		die(_("Not a git repository"));
 	argc = setup_revisions(argc, argv, &rev, NULL);
diff --git a/t/t2203-add-intent.sh b/t/t2203-add-intent.sh
index 3ab07cb404..1115347712 100755
--- a/t/t2203-add-intent.sh
+++ b/t/t2203-add-intent.sh
@@ -70,8 +70,7 @@ test_expect_success 'i-t-a entry is simply ignored' '
 	git commit -m second &&
 	test $(git ls-tree HEAD -- nitfol | wc -l) = 0 &&
 	test $(git diff --name-only HEAD -- nitfol | wc -l) = 1 &&
-	test $(git diff --name-only --ita-invisible-in-index HEAD -- nitfol | wc -l) = 1 &&
-	test $(git diff --name-only --ita-invisible-in-index -- nitfol | wc -l) = 1
+	test $(git diff --name-only -- nitfol | wc -l) = 1
 '
 
 test_expect_success 'can commit with an unrelated i-t-a entry in index' '
@@ -99,13 +98,13 @@ test_expect_success 'cache-tree invalidates i-t-a paths' '
 
 	: >dir/bar &&
 	git add -N dir/bar &&
-	git diff --cached --name-only >actual &&
+	git diff --name-only >actual &&
 	echo dir/bar >expect &&
 	test_cmp expect actual &&
 
 	git write-tree >/dev/null &&
 
-	git diff --cached --name-only >actual &&
+	git diff --name-only >actual &&
 	echo dir/bar >expect &&
 	test_cmp expect actual
 '
@@ -186,7 +185,19 @@ test_expect_success 'rename detection finds the right names' '
 		cat >expected.3 <<-EOF &&
 		2 .R N... 100644 100644 100644 $hash $hash R100 third	first
 		EOF
-		test_cmp expected.3 actual.3
+		test_cmp expected.3 actual.3 &&
+
+		git diff --stat >actual.4 &&
+		cat >expected.4 <<-EOF &&
+		 first => third | 0
+		 1 file changed, 0 insertions(+), 0 deletions(-)
+		EOF
+		test_cmp expected.4 actual.4 &&
+
+		git diff --cached --stat >actual.5 &&
+		: >expected.5 &&
+		test_cmp expected.5 actual.5
+
 	)
 '
 
@@ -222,5 +233,16 @@ test_expect_success 'double rename detection in status' '
 	)
 '
 
-test_done
+test_expect_success 'diff-files/diff-cached shows ita as new/not-new files' '
+	git reset --hard &&
+	echo new >new-ita &&
+	git add -N new-ita &&
+	git diff --summary >actual &&
+	echo " create mode 100644 new-ita" >expected &&
+	test_cmp expected actual &&
+	git diff --cached --summary >actual2 &&
+	: >expected2 &&
+	test_cmp expected2 actual2
+'
 
+test_done
diff --git a/t/t4011-diff-symlink.sh b/t/t4011-diff-symlink.sh
index cf0f3a1ee7..108c012a3a 100755
--- a/t/t4011-diff-symlink.sh
+++ b/t/t4011-diff-symlink.sh
@@ -139,11 +139,13 @@ test_expect_success SYMLINKS 'setup symlinks with attributes' '
 test_expect_success SYMLINKS 'symlinks do not respect userdiff config by path' '
 	cat >expect <<-\EOF &&
 	diff --git a/file.bin b/file.bin
-	index e69de29..d95f3ad 100644
-	Binary files a/file.bin and b/file.bin differ
+	new file mode 100644
+	index 0000000..d95f3ad
+	Binary files /dev/null and b/file.bin differ
 	diff --git a/link.bin b/link.bin
-	index e69de29..dce41ec 120000
-	--- a/link.bin
+	new file mode 120000
+	index 0000000..dce41ec
+	--- /dev/null
 	+++ b/link.bin
 	@@ -0,0 +1 @@
 	+file.bin