diff --git a/builtin/clone.c b/builtin/clone.c
index 4d66a7f4e82..488f48e9a57 100644
--- a/builtin/clone.c
+++ b/builtin/clone.c
@@ -113,9 +113,26 @@ static char *get_repo_path(const char *repo, int *is_bundle)
 	for (i = 0; i < ARRAY_SIZE(suffix); i++) {
 		const char *path;
 		path = mkpath("%s%s", repo, suffix[i]);
-		if (is_directory(path)) {
+		if (stat(path, &st))
+			continue;
+		if (S_ISDIR(st.st_mode)) {
 			*is_bundle = 0;
 			return xstrdup(absolute_path(path));
+		} else if (S_ISREG(st.st_mode) && st.st_size > 8) {
+			/* Is it a "gitfile"? */
+			char signature[8];
+			int len, fd = open(path, O_RDONLY);
+			if (fd < 0)
+				continue;
+			len = read_in_full(fd, signature, 8);
+			close(fd);
+			if (len != 8 || strncmp(signature, "gitdir: ", 8))
+				continue;
+			path = read_gitfile(path);
+			if (path) {
+				*is_bundle = 0;
+				return xstrdup(absolute_path(path));
+			}
 		}
 	}
 
diff --git a/builtin/init-db.c b/builtin/init-db.c
index 025aa47c804..d07554c8844 100644
--- a/builtin/init-db.c
+++ b/builtin/init-db.c
@@ -347,7 +347,7 @@ static void separate_git_dir(const char *git_dir)
 		const char *src;
 
 		if (S_ISREG(st.st_mode))
-			src = read_gitfile_gently(git_link);
+			src = read_gitfile(git_link);
 		else if (S_ISDIR(st.st_mode))
 			src = git_link;
 		else
diff --git a/cache.h b/cache.h
index 83b1ec13963..607c2ea6128 100644
--- a/cache.h
+++ b/cache.h
@@ -438,7 +438,7 @@ extern int set_git_dir(const char *path);
 extern const char *get_git_namespace(void);
 extern const char *strip_namespace(const char *namespaced_ref);
 extern const char *get_git_work_tree(void);
-extern const char *read_gitfile_gently(const char *path);
+extern const char *read_gitfile(const char *path);
 extern void set_git_work_tree(const char *tree);
 
 #define ALTERNATE_DB_ENVIRONMENT "GIT_ALTERNATE_OBJECT_DIRECTORIES"
diff --git a/environment.c b/environment.c
index 03d29e8d48f..e96edcfebc4 100644
--- a/environment.c
+++ b/environment.c
@@ -117,7 +117,7 @@ static void setup_git_env(void)
 	git_dir = getenv(GIT_DIR_ENVIRONMENT);
 	git_dir = git_dir ? xstrdup(git_dir) : NULL;
 	if (!git_dir) {
-		git_dir = read_gitfile_gently(DEFAULT_GIT_DIR_ENVIRONMENT);
+		git_dir = read_gitfile(DEFAULT_GIT_DIR_ENVIRONMENT);
 		git_dir = git_dir ? xstrdup(git_dir) : NULL;
 	}
 	if (!git_dir)
diff --git a/path.c b/path.c
index 4d73cc9cd26..6f3f5d56c0e 100644
--- a/path.c
+++ b/path.c
@@ -139,7 +139,7 @@ char *git_path_submodule(const char *path, const char *fmt, ...)
 		strbuf_addch(&buf, '/');
 	strbuf_addstr(&buf, ".git");
 
-	git_dir = read_gitfile_gently(buf.buf);
+	git_dir = read_gitfile(buf.buf);
 	if (git_dir) {
 		strbuf_reset(&buf);
 		strbuf_addstr(&buf, git_dir);
diff --git a/refs.c b/refs.c
index 6f313a9e0cd..e5b2b1ac2bf 100644
--- a/refs.c
+++ b/refs.c
@@ -451,7 +451,7 @@ int resolve_gitlink_ref(const char *path, const char *refname, unsigned char *re
 	memcpy(gitdir + len, "/.git", 6);
 	len += 5;
 
-	tmp = read_gitfile_gently(gitdir);
+	tmp = read_gitfile(gitdir);
 	if (tmp) {
 		free(gitdir);
 		len = strlen(tmp);
diff --git a/setup.c b/setup.c
index ca7ee496e59..27c1d4787a2 100644
--- a/setup.c
+++ b/setup.c
@@ -379,7 +379,7 @@ static int check_repository_format_gently(const char *gitdir, int *nongit_ok)
  * Try to read the location of the git directory from the .git file,
  * return path to git directory if found.
  */
-const char *read_gitfile_gently(const char *path)
+const char *read_gitfile(const char *path)
 {
 	char *buf;
 	char *dir;
@@ -441,7 +441,7 @@ static const char *setup_explicit_git_dir(const char *gitdirenv,
 	if (PATH_MAX - 40 < strlen(gitdirenv))
 		die("'$%s' too big", GIT_DIR_ENVIRONMENT);
 
-	gitfile = (char*)read_gitfile_gently(gitdirenv);
+	gitfile = (char*)read_gitfile(gitdirenv);
 	if (gitfile) {
 		gitfile = xstrdup(gitfile);
 		gitdirenv = gitfile;
@@ -665,7 +665,7 @@ static const char *setup_git_directory_gently_1(int *nongit_ok)
 	if (one_filesystem)
 		current_device = get_device_or_die(".", NULL);
 	for (;;) {
-		gitfile = (char*)read_gitfile_gently(DEFAULT_GIT_DIR_ENVIRONMENT);
+		gitfile = (char*)read_gitfile(DEFAULT_GIT_DIR_ENVIRONMENT);
 		if (gitfile)
 			gitdirenv = gitfile = xstrdup(gitfile);
 		else {
diff --git a/submodule.c b/submodule.c
index 1ba9646d348..f71d5ed8b0e 100644
--- a/submodule.c
+++ b/submodule.c
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ static int add_submodule_odb(const char *path)
 	const char *git_dir;
 
 	strbuf_addf(&objects_directory, "%s/.git", path);
-	git_dir = read_gitfile_gently(objects_directory.buf);
+	git_dir = read_gitfile(objects_directory.buf);
 	if (git_dir) {
 		strbuf_reset(&objects_directory);
 		strbuf_addstr(&objects_directory, git_dir);
@@ -479,7 +479,7 @@ int fetch_populated_submodules(int num_options, const char **options,
 		strbuf_addf(&submodule_path, "%s/%s", work_tree, ce->name);
 		strbuf_addf(&submodule_git_dir, "%s/.git", submodule_path.buf);
 		strbuf_addf(&submodule_prefix, "%s%s/", prefix, ce->name);
-		git_dir = read_gitfile_gently(submodule_git_dir.buf);
+		git_dir = read_gitfile(submodule_git_dir.buf);
 		if (!git_dir)
 			git_dir = submodule_git_dir.buf;
 		if (is_directory(git_dir)) {
@@ -517,7 +517,7 @@ unsigned is_submodule_modified(const char *path, int ignore_untracked)
 	const char *git_dir;
 
 	strbuf_addf(&buf, "%s/.git", path);
-	git_dir = read_gitfile_gently(buf.buf);
+	git_dir = read_gitfile(buf.buf);
 	if (!git_dir)
 		git_dir = buf.buf;
 	if (!is_directory(git_dir)) {
diff --git a/t/t5601-clone.sh b/t/t5601-clone.sh
index d87214cfbf9..e8103144bb0 100755
--- a/t/t5601-clone.sh
+++ b/t/t5601-clone.sh
@@ -202,6 +202,10 @@ test_expect_success 'clone separate gitdir: output' '
 	test_cmp expected dst/.git
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'clone from .git file' '
+	git clone dst/.git dst2
+'
+
 test_expect_success 'clone separate gitdir where target already exists' '
 	rm -rf dst &&
 	test_must_fail git clone --separate-git-dir realgitdir src dst