diff --git a/builtin/clone.c b/builtin/clone.c
index 253a7946ce..3cfedb3a93 100644
--- a/builtin/clone.c
+++ b/builtin/clone.c
@@ -518,8 +518,7 @@ static void update_head(const struct ref *our, const struct ref *remote,
 	} else if (remote) {
 		/*
 		 * We know remote HEAD points to a non-branch, or
-		 * HEAD points to a branch but we don't know which one, or
-		 * we asked for a specific branch but it did not exist.
+		 * HEAD points to a branch but we don't know which one.
 		 * Detach HEAD in all these cases.
 		 */
 		update_ref(msg, "HEAD", remote->old_sha1,
@@ -816,12 +815,9 @@ int cmd_clone(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 			our_head_points_at =
 				find_remote_branch(mapped_refs, option_branch);
 
-			if (!our_head_points_at) {
-				warning(_("Remote branch %s not found in "
-					"upstream %s, using HEAD instead"),
-					option_branch, option_origin);
-				our_head_points_at = remote_head_points_at;
-			}
+			if (!our_head_points_at)
+				die(_("Remote branch %s not found in upstream %s"),
+				    option_branch, option_origin);
 		}
 		else
 			our_head_points_at = remote_head_points_at;
diff --git a/t/t5500-fetch-pack.sh b/t/t5500-fetch-pack.sh
index 7e85c71ad1..5237066140 100755
--- a/t/t5500-fetch-pack.sh
+++ b/t/t5500-fetch-pack.sh
@@ -282,13 +282,6 @@ test_expect_success 'clone shallow object count' '
 	test_cmp count3.expected count3.actual
 '
 
-test_expect_success 'clone shallow with nonexistent --branch' '
-	git clone --depth 1 --branch Z "file://$(pwd)/." shallow4 &&
-	GIT_DIR=shallow4/.git git rev-parse HEAD >actual &&
-	git rev-parse HEAD >expected &&
-	test_cmp expected actual
-'
-
 test_expect_success 'clone shallow with detached HEAD' '
 	git checkout HEAD^ &&
 	git clone --depth 1 "file://$(pwd)/." shallow5 &&
diff --git a/t/t5706-clone-branch.sh b/t/t5706-clone-branch.sh
index f3f9a76056..56be67e07e 100755
--- a/t/t5706-clone-branch.sh
+++ b/t/t5706-clone-branch.sh
@@ -57,12 +57,8 @@ test_expect_success 'clone -b does not munge remotes/origin/HEAD' '
 	)
 '
 
-test_expect_success 'clone -b with bogus branch chooses HEAD' '
-	git clone -b bogus parent clone-bogus &&
-	(cd clone-bogus &&
-	 check_HEAD master &&
-	 check_file one
-	)
+test_expect_success 'clone -b with bogus branch' '
+	test_must_fail git clone -b bogus parent clone-bogus
 '
 
 test_done