diff --git a/builtin/clone.c b/builtin/clone.c
index eceaa749223419a276d18fd1621a5e88ff5b4510..f9c380eb6c536b657ddc65b88f6839ec761f7f25 100644
--- a/builtin/clone.c
+++ b/builtin/clone.c
@@ -377,10 +377,32 @@ static void clone_local(const char *src_repo, const char *dest_repo)
 static const char *junk_work_tree;
 static const char *junk_git_dir;
 static pid_t junk_pid;
+enum {
+	JUNK_LEAVE_NONE,
+	JUNK_LEAVE_REPO,
+	JUNK_LEAVE_ALL
+} junk_mode = JUNK_LEAVE_NONE;
+
+static const char junk_leave_repo_msg[] =
+N_("Clone succeeded, but checkout failed.\n"
+   "You can inspect what was checked out with 'git status'\n"
+   "and retry the checkout with 'git checkout -f HEAD'\n");
 
 static void remove_junk(void)
 {
 	struct strbuf sb = STRBUF_INIT;
+
+	switch (junk_mode) {
+	case JUNK_LEAVE_REPO:
+		warning("%s", _(junk_leave_repo_msg));
+		/* fall-through */
+	case JUNK_LEAVE_ALL:
+		return;
+	default:
+		/* proceed to removal */
+		break;
+	}
+
 	if (getpid() != junk_pid)
 		return;
 	if (junk_git_dir) {
@@ -925,12 +947,13 @@ int cmd_clone(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	transport_unlock_pack(transport);
 	transport_disconnect(transport);
 
+	junk_mode = JUNK_LEAVE_REPO;
 	err = checkout();
 
 	strbuf_release(&reflog_msg);
 	strbuf_release(&branch_top);
 	strbuf_release(&key);
 	strbuf_release(&value);
-	junk_pid = 0;
+	junk_mode = JUNK_LEAVE_ALL;
 	return err;
 }
diff --git a/t/t1060-object-corruption.sh b/t/t1060-object-corruption.sh
index c65a57cd2297ba3150c83f0ee2bf5fa8d3199a6c..3f8705139d74e8e358ae60cabe5d1cd92d316489 100755
--- a/t/t1060-object-corruption.sh
+++ b/t/t1060-object-corruption.sh
@@ -89,6 +89,10 @@ test_expect_success 'clone --local detects corruption' '
 	test_must_fail git clone --local bit-error corrupt-checkout
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'error detected during checkout leaves repo intact' '
+	test_path_is_dir corrupt-checkout/.git
+'
+
 test_expect_success 'clone --local detects missing objects' '
 	test_must_fail git clone --local missing missing-checkout
 '