diff --git a/Documentation/git-clone.txt b/Documentation/git-clone.txt
index 1b15cd7b16..ec41d3d698 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-clone.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-clone.txt
@@ -191,9 +191,8 @@ objects from the source repository into a pack in the cloned repository.
 	Create a 'shallow' clone with a history truncated to the
 	specified number of commits. Implies `--single-branch` unless
 	`--no-single-branch` is given to fetch the histories near the
-	tips of all branches. This implies `--shallow-submodules`. If
-	you want to have a shallow superproject clone, but full submodules,
-	also pass `--no-shallow-submodules`.
+	tips of all branches. If you want to clone submodules shallowly,
+	also pass `--shallow-submodules`.
 
 --[no-]single-branch::
 	Clone only the history leading to the tip of a single branch,
diff --git a/builtin/clone.c b/builtin/clone.c
index 5f867e67d8..8f7db98af6 100644
--- a/builtin/clone.c
+++ b/builtin/clone.c
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ static const char * const builtin_clone_usage[] = {
 
 static int option_no_checkout, option_bare, option_mirror, option_single_branch = -1;
 static int option_local = -1, option_no_hardlinks, option_shared, option_recursive;
-static int option_shallow_submodules = -1;
+static int option_shallow_submodules;
 static char *option_template, *option_depth;
 static char *option_origin = NULL;
 static char *option_branch = NULL;
@@ -738,8 +738,7 @@ static int checkout(void)
 		struct argv_array args = ARGV_ARRAY_INIT;
 		argv_array_pushl(&args, "submodule", "update", "--init", "--recursive", NULL);
 
-		if (option_shallow_submodules == 1
-		    || (option_shallow_submodules == -1 && option_depth))
+		if (option_shallow_submodules == 1)
 			argv_array_push(&args, "--depth=1");
 
 		if (max_jobs != -1)
diff --git a/t/t5614-clone-submodules.sh b/t/t5614-clone-submodules.sh
index 62044c5a02..a9aaa018ed 100755
--- a/t/t5614-clone-submodules.sh
+++ b/t/t5614-clone-submodules.sh
@@ -37,7 +37,22 @@ test_expect_success 'nonshallow clone implies nonshallow submodule' '
 	)
 '
 
-test_expect_success 'shallow clone implies shallow submodule' '
+test_expect_success 'shallow clone with shallow submodule' '
+	test_when_finished "rm -rf super_clone" &&
+	git clone --recurse-submodules --depth 2 --shallow-submodules "file://$pwd/." super_clone &&
+	(
+		cd super_clone &&
+		git log --oneline >lines &&
+		test_line_count = 2 lines
+	) &&
+	(
+		cd super_clone/sub &&
+		git log --oneline >lines &&
+		test_line_count = 1 lines
+	)
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'shallow clone does not imply shallow submodule' '
 	test_when_finished "rm -rf super_clone" &&
 	git clone --recurse-submodules --depth 2 "file://$pwd/." super_clone &&
 	(
@@ -48,7 +63,7 @@ test_expect_success 'shallow clone implies shallow submodule' '
 	(
 		cd super_clone/sub &&
 		git log --oneline >lines &&
-		test_line_count = 1 lines
+		test_line_count = 3 lines
 	)
 '