diff --git a/builtin/fetch.c b/builtin/fetch.c
index da11165ce2..82ac4be8a5 100644
--- a/builtin/fetch.c
+++ b/builtin/fetch.c
@@ -1795,9 +1795,6 @@ int cmd_fetch(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	if (depth || deepen_since || deepen_not.nr)
 		deepen = 1;
 
-	if (filter_options.choice && !has_promisor_remote())
-		die("--filter can only be used when extensions.partialClone is set");
-
 	if (all) {
 		if (argc == 1)
 			die(_("fetch --all does not take a repository argument"));
diff --git a/builtin/sparse-checkout.c b/builtin/sparse-checkout.c
index 595463be68..4003f4d13a 100644
--- a/builtin/sparse-checkout.c
+++ b/builtin/sparse-checkout.c
@@ -253,6 +253,8 @@ static int set_config(enum sparse_checkout_mode mode)
 {
 	const char *config_path;
 
+	if (upgrade_repository_format(1) < 0)
+		die(_("unable to upgrade repository format to enable worktreeConfig"));
 	if (git_config_set_gently("extensions.worktreeConfig", "true")) {
 		error(_("failed to set extensions.worktreeConfig setting"));
 		return 1;
diff --git a/cache.h b/cache.h
index 0f0485ecfe..e5885cc9ea 100644
--- a/cache.h
+++ b/cache.h
@@ -1042,6 +1042,7 @@ struct repository_format {
 	int worktree_config;
 	int is_bare;
 	int hash_algo;
+	int has_extensions;
 	char *work_tree;
 	struct string_list unknown_extensions;
 };
diff --git a/list-objects-filter-options.c b/list-objects-filter-options.c
index 256bcfbdfe..3553ad7b0a 100644
--- a/list-objects-filter-options.c
+++ b/list-objects-filter-options.c
@@ -326,7 +326,8 @@ void partial_clone_register(
 
 	/* Check if it is already registered */
 	if (!promisor_remote_find(remote)) {
-		git_config_set("core.repositoryformatversion", "1");
+		if (upgrade_repository_format(1) < 0)
+			die(_("unable to upgrade repository format to support partial clone"));
 
 		/* Add promisor config for the remote */
 		cfg_name = xstrfmt("remote.%s.promisor", remote);
diff --git a/repository.h b/repository.h
index 6534fbb7b3..3c1f7d54bd 100644
--- a/repository.h
+++ b/repository.h
@@ -196,4 +196,10 @@ void repo_update_index_if_able(struct repository *, struct lock_file *);
 
 void prepare_repo_settings(struct repository *r);
 
+/*
+ * Return 1 if upgrade repository format to target_version succeeded,
+ * 0 if no upgrade is necessary, and -1 when upgrade is not possible.
+ */
+int upgrade_repository_format(int target_version);
+
 #endif /* REPOSITORY_H */
diff --git a/setup.c b/setup.c
index 65fe5ecefb..eb066db6d8 100644
--- a/setup.c
+++ b/setup.c
@@ -455,6 +455,7 @@ static int check_repo_format(const char *var, const char *value, void *vdata)
 	if (strcmp(var, "core.repositoryformatversion") == 0)
 		data->version = git_config_int(var, value);
 	else if (skip_prefix(var, "extensions.", &ext)) {
+		data->has_extensions = 1;
 		/*
 		 * record any known extensions here; otherwise,
 		 * we fall through to recording it as unknown, and
@@ -506,9 +507,15 @@ static int check_repository_format_gently(const char *gitdir, struct repository_
 		die("%s", err.buf);
 	}
 
-	repository_format_precious_objects = candidate->precious_objects;
-	set_repository_format_partial_clone(candidate->partial_clone);
-	repository_format_worktree_config = candidate->worktree_config;
+	if (candidate->version >= 1) {
+		repository_format_precious_objects = candidate->precious_objects;
+		set_repository_format_partial_clone(candidate->partial_clone);
+		repository_format_worktree_config = candidate->worktree_config;
+	} else {
+		repository_format_precious_objects = 0;
+		set_repository_format_partial_clone(NULL);
+		repository_format_worktree_config = 0;
+	}
 	string_list_clear(&candidate->unknown_extensions, 0);
 
 	if (repository_format_worktree_config) {
@@ -538,6 +545,34 @@ static int check_repository_format_gently(const char *gitdir, struct repository_
 	return 0;
 }
 
+int upgrade_repository_format(int target_version)
+{
+	struct strbuf sb = STRBUF_INIT;
+	struct strbuf err = STRBUF_INIT;
+	struct strbuf repo_version = STRBUF_INIT;
+	struct repository_format repo_fmt = REPOSITORY_FORMAT_INIT;
+
+	strbuf_git_common_path(&sb, the_repository, "config");
+	read_repository_format(&repo_fmt, sb.buf);
+	strbuf_release(&sb);
+
+	if (repo_fmt.version >= target_version)
+		return 0;
+
+	if (verify_repository_format(&repo_fmt, &err) < 0 ||
+	    (!repo_fmt.version && repo_fmt.has_extensions)) {
+		warning("unable to upgrade repository format from %d to %d: %s",
+			repo_fmt.version, target_version, err.buf);
+		strbuf_release(&err);
+		return -1;
+	}
+
+	strbuf_addf(&repo_version, "%d", target_version);
+	git_config_set("core.repositoryformatversion", repo_version.buf);
+	strbuf_release(&repo_version);
+	return 1;
+}
+
 static void init_repository_format(struct repository_format *format)
 {
 	const struct repository_format fresh = REPOSITORY_FORMAT_INIT;
diff --git a/t/t0410-partial-clone.sh b/t/t0410-partial-clone.sh
index a3988bd4b8..463dc3a8be 100755
--- a/t/t0410-partial-clone.sh
+++ b/t/t0410-partial-clone.sh
@@ -30,6 +30,29 @@ test_expect_success 'extensions.partialclone without filter' '
 	git -C client fetch origin
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'convert shallow clone to partial clone' '
+	rm -fr server client &&
+	test_create_repo server &&
+	test_commit -C server my_commit 1 &&
+	test_commit -C server my_commit2 1 &&
+	git clone --depth=1 "file://$(pwd)/server" client &&
+	git -C client fetch --unshallow --filter="blob:none" &&
+	test_cmp_config -C client true remote.origin.promisor &&
+	test_cmp_config -C client blob:none remote.origin.partialclonefilter &&
+	test_cmp_config -C client 1 core.repositoryformatversion
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'convert shallow clone to partial clone must fail with any extension' '
+	rm -fr server client &&
+	test_create_repo server &&
+	test_commit -C server my_commit 1 &&
+	test_commit -C server my_commit2 1 &&
+	git clone --depth=1 "file://$(pwd)/server" client &&
+	test_cmp_config -C client 0 core.repositoryformatversion &&
+	git -C client config extensions.partialclone origin &&
+	test_must_fail git -C client fetch --unshallow --filter="blob:none"
+'
+
 test_expect_success 'missing reflog object, but promised by a commit, passes fsck' '
 	rm -rf repo &&
 	test_create_repo repo &&
diff --git a/t/t1090-sparse-checkout-scope.sh b/t/t1090-sparse-checkout-scope.sh
index 40cc004326..f35a73dd20 100755
--- a/t/t1090-sparse-checkout-scope.sh
+++ b/t/t1090-sparse-checkout-scope.sh
@@ -63,7 +63,6 @@ test_expect_success 'in partial clone, sparse checkout only fetches needed blobs
 	git -C server commit -m message &&
 
 	test_config -C client core.sparsecheckout 1 &&
-	test_config -C client extensions.partialclone origin &&
 	echo "!/*" >client/.git/info/sparse-checkout &&
 	echo "/a" >>client/.git/info/sparse-checkout &&
 	git -C client fetch --filter=blob:none origin &&
diff --git a/t/t2404-worktree-config.sh b/t/t2404-worktree-config.sh
index 286121d8de..9536d10919 100755
--- a/t/t2404-worktree-config.sh
+++ b/t/t2404-worktree-config.sh
@@ -23,8 +23,10 @@ test_expect_success 'config --worktree without extension' '
 '
 
 test_expect_success 'enable worktreeConfig extension' '
+	git config core.repositoryformatversion 1 &&
 	git config extensions.worktreeConfig true &&
-	test_cmp_config true extensions.worktreeConfig
+	test_cmp_config true extensions.worktreeConfig &&
+	test_cmp_config 1 core.repositoryformatversion
 '
 
 test_expect_success 'config is shared as before' '
diff --git a/t/t5500-fetch-pack.sh b/t/t5500-fetch-pack.sh
index 8c54e34ef1..0f5ff25179 100755
--- a/t/t5500-fetch-pack.sh
+++ b/t/t5500-fetch-pack.sh
@@ -999,7 +999,6 @@ fetch_filter_blob_limit_zero () {
 	test_config -C "$SERVER" uploadpack.allowfilter 1 &&
 
 	git clone "$URL" client &&
-	test_config -C client extensions.partialclone origin &&
 
 	test_commit -C "$SERVER" two &&
 
diff --git a/t/t5702-protocol-v2.sh b/t/t5702-protocol-v2.sh
index 7ab0217fb3..baf1d7b5c8 100755
--- a/t/t5702-protocol-v2.sh
+++ b/t/t5702-protocol-v2.sh
@@ -348,7 +348,6 @@ test_expect_success 'partial fetch' '
 	rm -rf client "$(pwd)/trace" &&
 	git init client &&
 	SERVER="file://$(pwd)/server" &&
-	test_config -C client extensions.partialClone "$SERVER" &&
 
 	GIT_TRACE_PACKET="$(pwd)/trace" git -C client -c protocol.version=2 \
 		fetch --filter=blob:none "$SERVER" master:refs/heads/other &&