diff --git a/builtin/clone.c b/builtin/clone.c
index 9288fe2aa0..eafbd3de4e 100644
--- a/builtin/clone.c
+++ b/builtin/clone.c
@@ -1290,8 +1290,6 @@ int cmd_clone(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 			option_no_checkout = 1;
 		}
 
-		our_head_points_at = NULL;
-
 		if (transport_ls_refs_options.unborn_head_target &&
 		    skip_prefix(transport_ls_refs_options.unborn_head_target,
 				"refs/heads/", &branch)) {
@@ -1303,7 +1301,20 @@ int cmd_clone(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 			ref = ref_free;
 		}
 
-		if (!option_bare)
+		/*
+		 * We may have selected a local default branch name "foo",
+		 * and even though the remote's HEAD does not point there,
+		 * it may still have a "foo" branch. If so, set it up so
+		 * that we can follow the usual checkout code later.
+		 *
+		 * Note that for an empty repo we'll already have set
+		 * option_no_checkout above, which would work against us here.
+		 * But for an empty repo, find_remote_branch() can never find
+		 * a match.
+		 */
+		our_head_points_at = find_remote_branch(mapped_refs, branch);
+
+		if (!option_bare && !our_head_points_at)
 			install_branch_config(0, branch, remote_name, ref);
 		free(ref_free);
 	}
diff --git a/t/t5605-clone-local.sh b/t/t5605-clone-local.sh
index 7d63365f93..aa38db6416 100755
--- a/t/t5605-clone-local.sh
+++ b/t/t5605-clone-local.sh
@@ -21,7 +21,9 @@ test_expect_success 'preparing origin repository' '
 	git bundle create b2.bundle main &&
 	mkdir dir &&
 	cp b1.bundle dir/b3 &&
-	cp b1.bundle b4
+	cp b1.bundle b4 &&
+	git branch not-main main &&
+	git bundle create b5.bundle not-main
 '
 
 test_expect_success 'local clone without .git suffix' '
@@ -83,11 +85,19 @@ test_expect_success 'bundle clone from b4.bundle that does not exist' '
 	test_must_fail git clone b4.bundle bb
 '
 
-test_expect_success 'bundle clone with nonexistent HEAD' '
+test_expect_success 'bundle clone with nonexistent HEAD (match default)' '
 	git clone b2.bundle b2 &&
 	(cd b2 &&
 	git fetch &&
-	test_must_fail git rev-parse --verify refs/heads/main)
+	git rev-parse --verify refs/heads/main)
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'bundle clone with nonexistent HEAD (no match default)' '
+	git clone b5.bundle b5 &&
+	(cd b5 &&
+	git fetch &&
+	test_must_fail git rev-parse --verify refs/heads/main &&
+	test_must_fail git rev-parse --verify refs/heads/not-main)
 '
 
 test_expect_success 'clone empty repository' '
diff --git a/t/t5702-protocol-v2.sh b/t/t5702-protocol-v2.sh
index 2b3a78b842..5d42a355a8 100755
--- a/t/t5702-protocol-v2.sh
+++ b/t/t5702-protocol-v2.sh
@@ -288,6 +288,27 @@ test_expect_success 'bare clone propagates unborn HEAD from non-empty repo' '
 	! grep "warning:" stderr
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'defaulted HEAD uses remote branch if available' '
+	test_when_finished "rm -rf file_unborn_parent file_unborn_child" &&
+
+	git init file_unborn_parent &&
+	(
+		cd file_unborn_parent &&
+		git config lsrefs.unborn ignore &&
+		git checkout -b branchwithstuff &&
+		test_commit --no-tag stuff &&
+		git symbolic-ref HEAD refs/heads/mydefaultbranch
+	) &&
+
+	GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_INITIAL_BRANCH_NAME= \
+	git -c init.defaultBranch=branchwithstuff -c protocol.version=2 \
+		clone "file://$(pwd)/file_unborn_parent" \
+		file_unborn_child 2>stderr &&
+	grep "refs/heads/branchwithstuff" file_unborn_child/.git/HEAD &&
+	test_path_is_file file_unborn_child/stuff.t &&
+	! grep "warning:" stderr
+'
+
 test_expect_success 'fetch with file:// using protocol v2' '
 	test_when_finished "rm -f log" &&