diff --git a/bisect.c b/bisect.c
index 96beeb5d13..a852cc9d19 100644
--- a/bisect.c
+++ b/bisect.c
@@ -433,7 +433,12 @@ static int read_bisect_refs(void)
 
 static GIT_PATH_FUNC(git_path_bisect_names, "BISECT_NAMES")
 static GIT_PATH_FUNC(git_path_bisect_expected_rev, "BISECT_EXPECTED_REV")
+static GIT_PATH_FUNC(git_path_bisect_ancestors_ok, "BISECT_ANCESTORS_OK")
+static GIT_PATH_FUNC(git_path_bisect_run, "BISECT_RUN")
+static GIT_PATH_FUNC(git_path_bisect_start, "BISECT_START")
+static GIT_PATH_FUNC(git_path_bisect_log, "BISECT_LOG")
 static GIT_PATH_FUNC(git_path_bisect_terms, "BISECT_TERMS")
+static GIT_PATH_FUNC(git_path_head_name, "head-name")
 
 static void read_bisect_paths(struct argv_array *array)
 {
@@ -1044,3 +1049,40 @@ int estimate_bisect_steps(int all)
 
 	return (e < 3 * x) ? n : n - 1;
 }
+
+static int mark_for_removal(const char *refname, const struct object_id *oid,
+			    int flag, void *cb_data)
+{
+	struct string_list *refs = cb_data;
+	char *ref = xstrfmt("refs/bisect%s", refname);
+	string_list_append(refs, ref);
+	return 0;
+}
+
+int bisect_clean_state(void)
+{
+	int result = 0;
+
+	/* There may be some refs packed during bisection */
+	struct string_list refs_for_removal = STRING_LIST_INIT_NODUP;
+	for_each_ref_in("refs/bisect", mark_for_removal, (void *) &refs_for_removal);
+	string_list_append(&refs_for_removal, xstrdup("BISECT_HEAD"));
+	result = delete_refs("bisect: remove", &refs_for_removal, REF_NODEREF);
+	refs_for_removal.strdup_strings = 1;
+	string_list_clear(&refs_for_removal, 0);
+	unlink_or_warn(git_path_bisect_expected_rev());
+	unlink_or_warn(git_path_bisect_ancestors_ok());
+	unlink_or_warn(git_path_bisect_log());
+	unlink_or_warn(git_path_bisect_names());
+	unlink_or_warn(git_path_bisect_run());
+	unlink_or_warn(git_path_bisect_terms());
+	/* Cleanup head-name if it got left by an old version of git-bisect */
+	unlink_or_warn(git_path_head_name());
+	/*
+	 * Cleanup BISECT_START last to support the --no-checkout option
+	 * introduced in the commit 4796e823a.
+	 */
+	unlink_or_warn(git_path_bisect_start());
+
+	return result;
+}
diff --git a/bisect.h b/bisect.h
index acd12ef802..0ae63d4616 100644
--- a/bisect.h
+++ b/bisect.h
@@ -28,4 +28,6 @@ extern int estimate_bisect_steps(int all);
 
 extern void read_bisect_terms(const char **bad, const char **good);
 
+extern int bisect_clean_state(void);
+
 #endif
diff --git a/builtin/bisect--helper.c b/builtin/bisect--helper.c
index 3324229025..35d2105f94 100644
--- a/builtin/bisect--helper.c
+++ b/builtin/bisect--helper.c
@@ -2,19 +2,128 @@
 #include "cache.h"
 #include "parse-options.h"
 #include "bisect.h"
+#include "refs.h"
+
+static GIT_PATH_FUNC(git_path_bisect_terms, "BISECT_TERMS")
+static GIT_PATH_FUNC(git_path_bisect_expected_rev, "BISECT_EXPECTED_REV")
+static GIT_PATH_FUNC(git_path_bisect_ancestors_ok, "BISECT_ANCESTORS_OK")
 
 static const char * const git_bisect_helper_usage[] = {
 	N_("git bisect--helper --next-all [--no-checkout]"),
+	N_("git bisect--helper --write-terms <bad_term> <good_term>"),
+	N_("git bisect--helper --bisect-clean-state"),
 	NULL
 };
 
+/*
+ * Check whether the string `term` belongs to the set of strings
+ * included in the variable arguments.
+ */
+LAST_ARG_MUST_BE_NULL
+static int one_of(const char *term, ...)
+{
+	int res = 0;
+	va_list matches;
+	const char *match;
+
+	va_start(matches, term);
+	while (!res && (match = va_arg(matches, const char *)))
+		res = !strcmp(term, match);
+	va_end(matches);
+
+	return res;
+}
+
+static int check_term_format(const char *term, const char *orig_term)
+{
+	int res;
+	char *new_term = xstrfmt("refs/bisect/%s", term);
+
+	res = check_refname_format(new_term, 0);
+	free(new_term);
+
+	if (res)
+		return error(_("'%s' is not a valid term"), term);
+
+	if (one_of(term, "help", "start", "skip", "next", "reset",
+			"visualize", "replay", "log", "run", "terms", NULL))
+		return error(_("can't use the builtin command '%s' as a term"), term);
+
+	/*
+	 * In theory, nothing prevents swapping completely good and bad,
+	 * but this situation could be confusing and hasn't been tested
+	 * enough. Forbid it for now.
+	 */
+
+	if ((strcmp(orig_term, "bad") && one_of(term, "bad", "new", NULL)) ||
+		 (strcmp(orig_term, "good") && one_of(term, "good", "old", NULL)))
+		return error(_("can't change the meaning of the term '%s'"), term);
+
+	return 0;
+}
+
+static int write_terms(const char *bad, const char *good)
+{
+	FILE *fp = NULL;
+	int res;
+
+	if (!strcmp(bad, good))
+		return error(_("please use two different terms"));
+
+	if (check_term_format(bad, "bad") || check_term_format(good, "good"))
+		return -1;
+
+	fp = fopen(git_path_bisect_terms(), "w");
+	if (!fp)
+		return error_errno(_("could not open the file BISECT_TERMS"));
+
+	res = fprintf(fp, "%s\n%s\n", bad, good);
+	res |= fclose(fp);
+	return (res < 0) ? -1 : 0;
+}
+
+static int is_expected_rev(const char *expected_hex)
+{
+	struct strbuf actual_hex = STRBUF_INIT;
+	int res = 0;
+	if (strbuf_read_file(&actual_hex, git_path_bisect_expected_rev(), 0) >= 40) {
+		strbuf_trim(&actual_hex);
+		res = !strcmp(actual_hex.buf, expected_hex);
+	}
+	strbuf_release(&actual_hex);
+	return res;
+}
+
+static void check_expected_revs(const char **revs, int rev_nr)
+{
+	int i;
+
+	for (i = 0; i < rev_nr; i++) {
+		if (!is_expected_rev(revs[i])) {
+			unlink_or_warn(git_path_bisect_ancestors_ok());
+			unlink_or_warn(git_path_bisect_expected_rev());
+		}
+	}
+}
+
 int cmd_bisect__helper(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 {
-	int next_all = 0;
+	enum {
+		NEXT_ALL = 1,
+		WRITE_TERMS,
+		BISECT_CLEAN_STATE,
+		CHECK_EXPECTED_REVS
+	} cmdmode = 0;
 	int no_checkout = 0;
 	struct option options[] = {
-		OPT_BOOL(0, "next-all", &next_all,
-			 N_("perform 'git bisect next'")),
+		OPT_CMDMODE(0, "next-all", &cmdmode,
+			 N_("perform 'git bisect next'"), NEXT_ALL),
+		OPT_CMDMODE(0, "write-terms", &cmdmode,
+			 N_("write the terms to .git/BISECT_TERMS"), WRITE_TERMS),
+		OPT_CMDMODE(0, "bisect-clean-state", &cmdmode,
+			 N_("cleanup the bisection state"), BISECT_CLEAN_STATE),
+		OPT_CMDMODE(0, "check-expected-revs", &cmdmode,
+			 N_("check for expected revs"), CHECK_EXPECTED_REVS),
 		OPT_BOOL(0, "no-checkout", &no_checkout,
 			 N_("update BISECT_HEAD instead of checking out the current commit")),
 		OPT_END()
@@ -23,9 +132,25 @@ int cmd_bisect__helper(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	argc = parse_options(argc, argv, prefix, options,
 			     git_bisect_helper_usage, 0);
 
-	if (!next_all)
+	if (!cmdmode)
 		usage_with_options(git_bisect_helper_usage, options);
 
-	/* next-all */
-	return bisect_next_all(prefix, no_checkout);
+	switch (cmdmode) {
+	case NEXT_ALL:
+		return bisect_next_all(prefix, no_checkout);
+	case WRITE_TERMS:
+		if (argc != 2)
+			return error(_("--write-terms requires two arguments"));
+		return write_terms(argv[0], argv[1]);
+	case BISECT_CLEAN_STATE:
+		if (argc != 0)
+			return error(_("--bisect-clean-state requires no arguments"));
+		return bisect_clean_state();
+	case CHECK_EXPECTED_REVS:
+		check_expected_revs(argv, argc);
+		return 0;
+	default:
+		return error("BUG: unknown subcommand '%d'", cmdmode);
+	}
+	return 0;
 }
diff --git a/git-bisect.sh b/git-bisect.sh
index ae3cb013e7..0138a8860e 100755
--- a/git-bisect.sh
+++ b/git-bisect.sh
@@ -186,7 +186,7 @@ bisect_start() {
 	#
 	# Get rid of any old bisect state.
 	#
-	bisect_clean_state || exit
+	git bisect--helper --bisect-clean-state || exit
 
 	#
 	# Change state.
@@ -195,7 +195,7 @@ bisect_start() {
 	# We have to trap this to be able to clean up using
 	# "bisect_clean_state".
 	#
-	trap 'bisect_clean_state' 0
+	trap 'git bisect--helper --bisect-clean-state' 0
 	trap 'exit 255' 1 2 3 15
 
 	#
@@ -209,7 +209,7 @@ bisect_start() {
 	eval "$eval true" &&
 	if test $must_write_terms -eq 1
 	then
-		write_terms "$TERM_BAD" "$TERM_GOOD"
+		git bisect--helper --write-terms "$TERM_BAD" "$TERM_GOOD" || exit
 	fi &&
 	echo "git bisect start$orig_args" >>"$GIT_DIR/BISECT_LOG" || exit
 	#
@@ -237,22 +237,6 @@ bisect_write() {
 	test -n "$nolog" || echo "git bisect $state $rev" >>"$GIT_DIR/BISECT_LOG"
 }
 
-is_expected_rev() {
-	test -f "$GIT_DIR/BISECT_EXPECTED_REV" &&
-	test "$1" = $(cat "$GIT_DIR/BISECT_EXPECTED_REV")
-}
-
-check_expected_revs() {
-	for _rev in "$@"; do
-		if ! is_expected_rev "$_rev"
-		then
-			rm -f "$GIT_DIR/BISECT_ANCESTORS_OK"
-			rm -f "$GIT_DIR/BISECT_EXPECTED_REV"
-			return
-		fi
-	done
-}
-
 bisect_skip() {
 	all=''
 	for arg in "$@"
@@ -280,7 +264,7 @@ bisect_state() {
 		rev=$(git rev-parse --verify "$bisected_head") ||
 			die "$(eval_gettext "Bad rev input: \$bisected_head")"
 		bisect_write "$state" "$rev"
-		check_expected_revs "$rev" ;;
+		git bisect--helper --check-expected-revs "$rev" ;;
 	2,"$TERM_BAD"|*,"$TERM_GOOD"|*,skip)
 		shift
 		hash_list=''
@@ -294,7 +278,7 @@ bisect_state() {
 		do
 			bisect_write "$state" "$rev"
 		done
-		check_expected_revs $hash_list ;;
+		git bisect--helper --check-expected-revs $hash_list ;;
 	*,"$TERM_BAD")
 		die "$(eval_gettext "'git bisect \$TERM_BAD' can take only one argument.")" ;;
 	*)
@@ -430,27 +414,7 @@ bisect_reset() {
 		die "$(eval_gettext "Could not check out original HEAD '\$branch'.
 Try 'git bisect reset <commit>'.")"
 	fi
-	bisect_clean_state
-}
-
-bisect_clean_state() {
-	# There may be some refs packed during bisection.
-	git for-each-ref --format='%(refname) %(objectname)' refs/bisect/\* |
-	while read ref hash
-	do
-		git update-ref -d $ref $hash || exit
-	done
-	rm -f "$GIT_DIR/BISECT_EXPECTED_REV" &&
-	rm -f "$GIT_DIR/BISECT_ANCESTORS_OK" &&
-	rm -f "$GIT_DIR/BISECT_LOG" &&
-	rm -f "$GIT_DIR/BISECT_NAMES" &&
-	rm -f "$GIT_DIR/BISECT_RUN" &&
-	rm -f "$GIT_DIR/BISECT_TERMS" &&
-	# Cleanup head-name if it got left by an old version of git-bisect
-	rm -f "$GIT_DIR/head-name" &&
-	git update-ref -d --no-deref BISECT_HEAD &&
-	# clean up BISECT_START last
-	rm -f "$GIT_DIR/BISECT_START"
+	git bisect--helper --bisect-clean-state || exit
 }
 
 bisect_replay () {
@@ -557,45 +521,6 @@ get_terms () {
 	fi
 }
 
-write_terms () {
-	TERM_BAD=$1
-	TERM_GOOD=$2
-	if test "$TERM_BAD" = "$TERM_GOOD"
-	then
-		die "$(gettext "please use two different terms")"
-	fi
-	check_term_format "$TERM_BAD" bad
-	check_term_format "$TERM_GOOD" good
-	printf '%s\n%s\n' "$TERM_BAD" "$TERM_GOOD" >"$GIT_DIR/BISECT_TERMS"
-}
-
-check_term_format () {
-	term=$1
-	git check-ref-format refs/bisect/"$term" ||
-	die "$(eval_gettext "'\$term' is not a valid term")"
-	case "$term" in
-	help|start|terms|skip|next|reset|visualize|replay|log|run)
-		die "$(eval_gettext "can't use the builtin command '\$term' as a term")"
-		;;
-	bad|new)
-		if test "$2" != bad
-		then
-			# In theory, nothing prevents swapping
-			# completely good and bad, but this situation
-			# could be confusing and hasn't been tested
-			# enough. Forbid it for now.
-			die "$(eval_gettext "can't change the meaning of term '\$term'")"
-		fi
-		;;
-	good|old)
-		if test "$2" != good
-		then
-			die "$(eval_gettext "can't change the meaning of term '\$term'")"
-		fi
-		;;
-	esac
-}
-
 check_and_set_terms () {
 	cmd="$1"
 	case "$cmd" in
@@ -609,13 +534,17 @@ check_and_set_terms () {
 		bad|good)
 			if ! test -s "$GIT_DIR/BISECT_TERMS"
 			then
-				write_terms bad good
+				TERM_BAD=bad
+				TERM_GOOD=good
+				git bisect--helper --write-terms "$TERM_BAD" "$TERM_GOOD" || exit
 			fi
 			;;
 		new|old)
 			if ! test -s "$GIT_DIR/BISECT_TERMS"
 			then
-				write_terms new old
+				TERM_BAD=new
+				TERM_GOOD=old
+				git bisect--helper --write-terms "$TERM_BAD" "$TERM_GOOD" || exit
 			fi
 			;;
 		esac ;;
diff --git a/t/t6030-bisect-porcelain.sh b/t/t6030-bisect-porcelain.sh
index 8c2c6eaef8..f84ff941c3 100755
--- a/t/t6030-bisect-porcelain.sh
+++ b/t/t6030-bisect-porcelain.sh
@@ -894,4 +894,21 @@ test_expect_success 'bisect start takes options and revs in any order' '
 	test_cmp expected actual
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'git bisect reset cleans bisection state properly' '
+	git bisect reset &&
+	git bisect start &&
+	git bisect good $HASH1 &&
+	git bisect bad $HASH4 &&
+	git bisect reset &&
+	test -z "$(git for-each-ref "refs/bisect/*")" &&
+	test_path_is_missing "$GIT_DIR/BISECT_EXPECTED_REV" &&
+	test_path_is_missing "$GIT_DIR/BISECT_ANCESTORS_OK" &&
+	test_path_is_missing "$GIT_DIR/BISECT_LOG" &&
+	test_path_is_missing "$GIT_DIR/BISECT_RUN" &&
+	test_path_is_missing "$GIT_DIR/BISECT_TERMS" &&
+	test_path_is_missing "$GIT_DIR/head-name" &&
+	test_path_is_missing "$GIT_DIR/BISECT_HEAD" &&
+	test_path_is_missing "$GIT_DIR/BISECT_START"
+'
+
 test_done