diff --git a/Documentation/git-pack-objects.txt b/Documentation/git-pack-objects.txt
index cdab9ed503..d2d8f4792a 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-pack-objects.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-pack-objects.txt
@@ -64,6 +64,8 @@ base-name::
 	the same way as 'git rev-list' with the `--objects` flag
 	uses its `commit` arguments to build the list of objects it
 	outputs.  The objects on the resulting list are packed.
+	Besides revisions, `--not` or `--shallow <SHA-1>` lines are
+	also accepted.
 
 --unpacked::
 	This implies `--revs`.  When processing the list of
diff --git a/builtin/pack-objects.c b/builtin/pack-objects.c
index 61a55b3c7e..0ee5f1ff94 100644
--- a/builtin/pack-objects.c
+++ b/builtin/pack-objects.c
@@ -2449,6 +2449,9 @@ static void get_object_list(int ac, const char **av)
 	save_commit_buffer = 0;
 	setup_revisions(ac, av, &revs, NULL);
 
+	/* make sure shallows are read */
+	is_repository_shallow();
+
 	while (fgets(line, sizeof(line), stdin) != NULL) {
 		int len = strlen(line);
 		if (len && line[len - 1] == '\n')
@@ -2461,6 +2464,13 @@ static void get_object_list(int ac, const char **av)
 				write_bitmap_index = 0;
 				continue;
 			}
+			if (starts_with(line, "--shallow ")) {
+				unsigned char sha1[20];
+				if (get_sha1_hex(line + 10, sha1))
+					die("not an SHA-1 '%s'", line + 10);
+				register_shallow(sha1);
+				continue;
+			}
 			die("not a rev '%s'", line);
 		}
 		if (handle_revision_arg(line, &revs, flags, REVARG_CANNOT_BE_FILENAME))
diff --git a/t/t5537-fetch-shallow.sh b/t/t5537-fetch-shallow.sh
index 3ae9092f5c..be951a4679 100755
--- a/t/t5537-fetch-shallow.sh
+++ b/t/t5537-fetch-shallow.sh
@@ -173,4 +173,45 @@ EOF
 	)
 '
 
+if test -n "$NO_CURL" -o -z "$GIT_TEST_HTTPD"; then
+	say 'skipping remaining tests, git built without http support'
+	test_done
+fi
+
+LIB_HTTPD_PORT=${LIB_HTTPD_PORT-'5537'}
+. "$TEST_DIRECTORY"/lib-httpd.sh
+start_httpd
+
+test_expect_success 'clone http repository' '
+	git clone --bare --no-local shallow "$HTTPD_DOCUMENT_ROOT_PATH/repo.git" &&
+	git clone $HTTPD_URL/smart/repo.git clone &&
+	(
+	cd clone &&
+	git fsck &&
+	git log --format=%s origin/master >actual &&
+	cat <<EOF >expect &&
+7
+6
+5
+4
+3
+EOF
+	test_cmp expect actual
+	)
+'
+
+test_expect_success POSIXPERM,SANITY 'shallow fetch from a read-only repo' '
+	cp -R .git read-only.git &&
+	find read-only.git -print | xargs chmod -w &&
+	test_when_finished "find read-only.git -type d -print | xargs chmod +w" &&
+	git clone --no-local --depth=2 read-only.git from-read-only &&
+	git --git-dir=from-read-only/.git log --format=%s >actual &&
+	cat >expect <<EOF &&
+add-1-back
+4
+EOF
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
+stop_httpd
 test_done
diff --git a/upload-pack.c b/upload-pack.c
index 3a6f9f5b0d..286a9ed3ea 100644
--- a/upload-pack.c
+++ b/upload-pack.c
@@ -70,6 +70,14 @@ static ssize_t send_client_data(int fd, const char *data, ssize_t sz)
 	return sz;
 }
 
+static int write_one_shallow(const struct commit_graft *graft, void *cb_data)
+{
+	FILE *fp = cb_data;
+	if (graft->nr_parent == -1)
+		fprintf(fp, "--shallow %s\n", sha1_to_hex(graft->sha1));
+	return 0;
+}
+
 static void create_pack_file(void)
 {
 	struct child_process pack_objects;
@@ -81,12 +89,10 @@ static void create_pack_file(void)
 	const char *argv[12];
 	int i, arg = 0;
 	FILE *pipe_fd;
-	const char *shallow_file = NULL;
 
 	if (shallow_nr) {
-		shallow_file = setup_temporary_shallow(NULL);
 		argv[arg++] = "--shallow-file";
-		argv[arg++] = shallow_file;
+		argv[arg++] = "";
 	}
 	argv[arg++] = "pack-objects";
 	argv[arg++] = "--revs";
@@ -114,6 +120,9 @@ static void create_pack_file(void)
 
 	pipe_fd = xfdopen(pack_objects.in, "w");
 
+	if (shallow_nr)
+		for_each_commit_graft(write_one_shallow, pipe_fd);
+
 	for (i = 0; i < want_obj.nr; i++)
 		fprintf(pipe_fd, "%s\n",
 			sha1_to_hex(want_obj.objects[i].item->sha1));