diff --git a/builtin/fetch.c b/builtin/fetch.c
index a21ce89312..a09606b472 100644
--- a/builtin/fetch.c
+++ b/builtin/fetch.c
@@ -2196,6 +2196,9 @@ int cmd_fetch(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	if (dry_run)
 		write_fetch_head = 0;
 
+	if (!max_jobs)
+		max_jobs = online_cpus();
+
 	if (!git_config_get_string_tmp("fetch.bundleuri", &bundle_uri) &&
 	    fetch_bundle_uri(the_repository, bundle_uri, NULL))
 		warning(_("failed to fetch bundles from '%s'"), bundle_uri);
diff --git a/t/t5514-fetch-multiple.sh b/t/t5514-fetch-multiple.sh
index 511ba3bd45..54f422ced3 100755
--- a/t/t5514-fetch-multiple.sh
+++ b/t/t5514-fetch-multiple.sh
@@ -197,4 +197,9 @@ test_expect_success 'parallel' '
 	test_i18ngrep "could not fetch .two.*128" err
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'git fetch --multiple --jobs=0 picks a default' '
+	(cd test &&
+	 git fetch --multiple --jobs=0)
+'
+
 test_done