diff --git a/builtin-clone.c b/builtin-clone.c
index 7190952071..b2dfe1ab5c 100644
--- a/builtin-clone.c
+++ b/builtin-clone.c
@@ -400,6 +400,9 @@ int cmd_clone(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 
 	if (!option_bare) {
 		junk_work_tree = work_tree;
+		if (safe_create_leading_directories_const(work_tree) < 0)
+			die("could not create leading directories of '%s'",
+					work_tree);
 		if (mkdir(work_tree, 0755))
 			die("could not create work tree dir '%s'.", work_tree);
 		set_git_work_tree(work_tree);
@@ -410,6 +413,8 @@ int cmd_clone(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 
 	setenv(CONFIG_ENVIRONMENT, xstrdup(mkpath("%s/config", git_dir)), 1);
 
+	if (safe_create_leading_directories_const(git_dir) < 0)
+		die("could not create leading directories of '%s'", git_dir);
 	set_git_dir(make_absolute_path(git_dir));
 
 	fprintf(stderr, "Initialize %s\n", git_dir);
diff --git a/builtin-merge-recursive.c b/builtin-merge-recursive.c
index 4aa28a1bab..43bf6aa45e 100644
--- a/builtin-merge-recursive.c
+++ b/builtin-merge-recursive.c
@@ -481,15 +481,6 @@ static char *unique_path(const char *path, const char *branch)
 	return newpath;
 }
 
-static int mkdir_p(const char *path, unsigned long mode)
-{
-	/* path points to cache entries, so xstrdup before messing with it */
-	char *buf = xstrdup(path);
-	int result = safe_create_leading_directories(buf);
-	free(buf);
-	return result;
-}
-
 static void flush_buffer(int fd, const char *buf, unsigned long size)
 {
 	while (size > 0) {
@@ -512,7 +503,7 @@ static int make_room_for_path(const char *path)
 	int status;
 	const char *msg = "failed to create path '%s'%s";
 
-	status = mkdir_p(path, 0777);
+	status = safe_create_leading_directories_const(path);
 	if (status) {
 		if (status == -3) {
 			/* something else exists */
@@ -583,7 +574,7 @@ static void update_file_flags(const unsigned char *sha,
 			close(fd);
 		} else if (S_ISLNK(mode)) {
 			char *lnk = xmemdupz(buf, size);
-			mkdir_p(path, 0777);
+			safe_create_leading_directories_const(path);
 			unlink(path);
 			symlink(lnk, path);
 			free(lnk);
diff --git a/cache.h b/cache.h
index a68866c1b4..a9c14da7a2 100644
--- a/cache.h
+++ b/cache.h
@@ -517,6 +517,7 @@ enum sharedrepo {
 int git_config_perm(const char *var, const char *value);
 int adjust_shared_perm(const char *path);
 int safe_create_leading_directories(char *path);
+int safe_create_leading_directories_const(const char *path);
 char *enter_repo(char *path, int strict);
 static inline int is_absolute_path(const char *path)
 {
diff --git a/sha1_file.c b/sha1_file.c
index b858c1308f..b2db549d8a 100644
--- a/sha1_file.c
+++ b/sha1_file.c
@@ -116,6 +116,15 @@ int safe_create_leading_directories(char *path)
 	return 0;
 }
 
+int safe_create_leading_directories_const(const char *path)
+{
+	/* path points to cache entries, so xstrdup before messing with it */
+	char *buf = xstrdup(path);
+	int result = safe_create_leading_directories(buf);
+	free(buf);
+	return result;
+}
+
 char *sha1_to_hex(const unsigned char *sha1)
 {
 	static int bufno;
diff --git a/t/t5601-clone.sh b/t/t5601-clone.sh
index 593d1a3877..b642fb260b 100755
--- a/t/t5601-clone.sh
+++ b/t/t5601-clone.sh
@@ -30,4 +30,26 @@ test_expect_success 'clone checks out files' '
 
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'clone respects GIT_WORK_TREE' '
+
+	GIT_WORK_TREE=worktree git clone src bare &&
+	test -f bare/config &&
+	test -f worktree/file
+
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'clone creates intermediate directories' '
+
+	git clone src long/path/to/dst &&
+	test -f long/path/to/dst/file
+
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'clone creates intermediate directories for bare repo' '
+
+	git clone --bare src long/path/to/bare/dst &&
+	test -f long/path/to/bare/dst/config
+
+'
+
 test_done