diff --git a/builtin/pull.c b/builtin/pull.c
index 1b87ea95eb..e8927fc2ff 100644
--- a/builtin/pull.c
+++ b/builtin/pull.c
@@ -949,6 +949,7 @@ int cmd_pull(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	struct object_id rebase_fork_point;
 	int autostash;
 	int rebase_unspecified = 0;
+	int can_ff;
 
 	if (!getenv("GIT_REFLOG_ACTION"))
 		set_reflog_message(argc, argv);
@@ -1044,7 +1045,9 @@ int cmd_pull(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	if (opt_rebase && merge_heads.nr > 1)
 		die(_("Cannot rebase onto multiple branches."));
 
-	if (rebase_unspecified && !opt_ff) {
+	can_ff = get_can_ff(&orig_head, &merge_heads.oid[0]);
+
+	if (rebase_unspecified && !opt_ff && !can_ff) {
 		if (opt_verbosity >= 0)
 			show_advice_pull_non_ff();
 	}
@@ -1063,7 +1066,7 @@ int cmd_pull(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 		    submodule_touches_in_range(the_repository, &upstream, &curr_head))
 			die(_("cannot rebase with locally recorded submodule modifications"));
 		if (!autostash) {
-			if (get_can_ff(&orig_head, &merge_heads.oid[0])) {
+			if (can_ff) {
 				/* we can fast-forward this without invoking rebase */
 				opt_ff = "--ff-only";
 				ran_ff = 1;
diff --git a/t/t7601-merge-pull-config.sh b/t/t7601-merge-pull-config.sh
index 6774e9d86f..52e8ccc933 100755
--- a/t/t7601-merge-pull-config.sh
+++ b/t/t7601-merge-pull-config.sh
@@ -29,11 +29,8 @@ test_expect_success 'setup' '
 
 test_expect_success 'pull.rebase not set' '
 	git reset --hard c0 &&
-	git -c color.advice=always pull . c1 2>err &&
-	test_decode_color <err >decoded &&
-	test_i18ngrep "<YELLOW>hint: " decoded &&
-	test_i18ngrep "Pulling without specifying how to reconcile" decoded
-
+	git pull . c1 2>err &&
+	test_i18ngrep ! "Pulling without specifying how to reconcile" err
 '
 
 test_expect_success 'pull.rebase not set and pull.ff=true' '
@@ -87,6 +84,65 @@ test_expect_success 'pull.rebase not set and --ff-only given' '
 	test_i18ngrep ! "Pulling without specifying how to reconcile" err
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'pull.rebase not set (not-fast-forward)' '
+	git reset --hard c2 &&
+	git -c color.advice=always pull . c1 2>err &&
+	test_decode_color <err >decoded &&
+	test_i18ngrep "<YELLOW>hint: " decoded &&
+	test_i18ngrep "Pulling without specifying how to reconcile" decoded
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'pull.rebase not set and pull.ff=true (not-fast-forward)' '
+	git reset --hard c2 &&
+	test_config pull.ff true &&
+	git pull . c1 2>err &&
+	test_i18ngrep ! "Pulling without specifying how to reconcile" err
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'pull.rebase not set and pull.ff=false (not-fast-forward)' '
+	git reset --hard c2 &&
+	test_config pull.ff false &&
+	git pull . c1 2>err &&
+	test_i18ngrep ! "Pulling without specifying how to reconcile" err
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'pull.rebase not set and pull.ff=only (not-fast-forward)' '
+	git reset --hard c2 &&
+	test_config pull.ff only &&
+	test_must_fail git pull . c1 2>err &&
+	test_i18ngrep ! "Pulling without specifying how to reconcile" err
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'pull.rebase not set and --rebase given (not-fast-forward)' '
+	git reset --hard c2 &&
+	git pull --rebase . c1 2>err &&
+	test_i18ngrep ! "Pulling without specifying how to reconcile" err
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'pull.rebase not set and --no-rebase given (not-fast-forward)' '
+	git reset --hard c2 &&
+	git pull --no-rebase . c1 2>err &&
+	test_i18ngrep ! "Pulling without specifying how to reconcile" err
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'pull.rebase not set and --ff given (not-fast-forward)' '
+	git reset --hard c2 &&
+	git pull --ff . c1 2>err &&
+	test_i18ngrep ! "Pulling without specifying how to reconcile" err
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'pull.rebase not set and --no-ff given (not-fast-forward)' '
+	git reset --hard c2 &&
+	git pull --no-ff . c1 2>err &&
+	test_i18ngrep ! "Pulling without specifying how to reconcile" err
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'pull.rebase not set and --ff-only given (not-fast-forward)' '
+	git reset --hard c2 &&
+	test_must_fail git pull --ff-only . c1 2>err &&
+	test_i18ngrep ! "Pulling without specifying how to reconcile" err
+'
+
 test_expect_success 'merge c1 with c2' '
 	git reset --hard c1 &&
 	test -f c0.c &&