diff --git a/builtin/clone.c b/builtin/clone.c
index b24f04c..40c0bf2 100644
--- a/builtin/clone.c
+++ b/builtin/clone.c
@@ -927,8 +927,6 @@
 
 	struct argv_array ref_prefixes = ARGV_ARRAY_INIT;
 
-	fetch_if_missing = 0;
-
 	packet_trace_identity("clone");
 	argc = parse_options(argc, argv, prefix, builtin_clone_options,
 			     builtin_clone_usage, 0);
@@ -1265,7 +1263,6 @@
 	}
 
 	junk_mode = JUNK_LEAVE_REPO;
-	fetch_if_missing = 1;
 	err = checkout(submodule_progress);
 
 	strbuf_release(&reflog_msg);
diff --git a/builtin/fetch.c b/builtin/fetch.c
index 256a6a6..46ce7c2 100644
--- a/builtin/fetch.c
+++ b/builtin/fetch.c
@@ -1077,7 +1077,8 @@
 	 * we need all direct targets to exist.
 	 */
 	for (r = rm; r; r = r->next) {
-		if (!has_object_file(&r->old_oid))
+		if (!has_object_file_with_flags(&r->old_oid,
+						OBJECT_INFO_SKIP_FETCH_OBJECT))
 			return -1;
 	}
 
@@ -1826,8 +1827,6 @@
 		}
 	}
 
-	fetch_if_missing = 0;
-
 	if (remote) {
 		if (filter_options.choice || has_promisor_remote())
 			fetch_one_setup_partial(remote);
diff --git a/connected.c b/connected.c
index 36c4e5d..c337f5f 100644
--- a/connected.c
+++ b/connected.c
@@ -62,7 +62,8 @@
 		 * received the objects pointed to by each wanted ref.
 		 */
 		do {
-			if (!repo_has_object_file(the_repository, &oid))
+			if (!repo_has_object_file_with_flags(the_repository, &oid,
+							     OBJECT_INFO_SKIP_FETCH_OBJECT))
 				return 1;
 		} while (!fn(cb_data, &oid));
 		return 0;
diff --git a/fetch-pack.c b/fetch-pack.c
index f80e2d1..ba92587 100644
--- a/fetch-pack.c
+++ b/fetch-pack.c
@@ -673,7 +673,8 @@
 		struct object *o;
 
 		if (!has_object_file_with_flags(&ref->old_oid,
-						OBJECT_INFO_QUICK))
+						OBJECT_INFO_QUICK |
+							OBJECT_INFO_SKIP_FETCH_OBJECT))
 			continue;
 		o = parse_object(the_repository, &ref->old_oid);
 		if (!o)
@@ -934,8 +935,15 @@
 	struct object_id oid;
 	const char *agent_feature;
 	int agent_len;
-	struct fetch_negotiator negotiator;
-	fetch_negotiator_init(r, &negotiator);
+	struct fetch_negotiator negotiator_alloc;
+	struct fetch_negotiator *negotiator;
+
+	if (args->no_dependents) {
+		negotiator = NULL;
+	} else {
+		negotiator = &negotiator_alloc;
+		fetch_negotiator_init(r, negotiator);
+	}
 
 	sort_ref_list(&ref, ref_compare_name);
 	QSORT(sought, nr_sought, cmp_ref_by_name);
@@ -1022,7 +1030,7 @@
 		die(_("Server does not support --deepen"));
 
 	if (!args->no_dependents) {
-		mark_complete_and_common_ref(&negotiator, args, &ref);
+		mark_complete_and_common_ref(negotiator, args, &ref);
 		filter_refs(args, &ref, sought, nr_sought);
 		if (everything_local(args, &ref)) {
 			packet_flush(fd[1]);
@@ -1031,7 +1039,7 @@
 	} else {
 		filter_refs(args, &ref, sought, nr_sought);
 	}
-	if (find_common(&negotiator, args, fd, &oid, ref) < 0)
+	if (find_common(negotiator, args, fd, &oid, ref) < 0)
 		if (!args->keep_pack)
 			/* When cloning, it is not unusual to have
 			 * no common commit.
@@ -1051,7 +1059,8 @@
 		die(_("git fetch-pack: fetch failed."));
 
  all_done:
-	negotiator.release(&negotiator);
+	if (negotiator)
+		negotiator->release(negotiator);
 	return ref;
 }
 
@@ -1269,7 +1278,8 @@
 				struct commit *commit;
 				oidset_insert(common, &oid);
 				commit = lookup_commit(the_repository, &oid);
-				negotiator->ack(negotiator, commit);
+				if (negotiator)
+					negotiator->ack(negotiator, commit);
 			}
 			continue;
 		}
@@ -1421,8 +1431,16 @@
 	struct packet_reader reader;
 	int in_vain = 0, negotiation_started = 0;
 	int haves_to_send = INITIAL_FLUSH;
-	struct fetch_negotiator negotiator;
-	fetch_negotiator_init(r, &negotiator);
+	struct fetch_negotiator negotiator_alloc;
+	struct fetch_negotiator *negotiator;
+
+	if (args->no_dependents) {
+		negotiator = NULL;
+	} else {
+		negotiator = &negotiator_alloc;
+		fetch_negotiator_init(r, negotiator);
+	}
+
 	packet_reader_init(&reader, fd[0], NULL, 0,
 			   PACKET_READ_CHOMP_NEWLINE |
 			   PACKET_READ_DIE_ON_ERR_PACKET);
@@ -1446,15 +1464,15 @@
 
 			/* Filter 'ref' by 'sought' and those that aren't local */
 			if (!args->no_dependents) {
-				mark_complete_and_common_ref(&negotiator, args, &ref);
+				mark_complete_and_common_ref(negotiator, args, &ref);
 				filter_refs(args, &ref, sought, nr_sought);
 				if (everything_local(args, &ref))
 					state = FETCH_DONE;
 				else
 					state = FETCH_SEND_REQUEST;
 
-				mark_tips(&negotiator, args->negotiation_tips);
-				for_each_cached_alternate(&negotiator,
+				mark_tips(negotiator, args->negotiation_tips);
+				for_each_cached_alternate(negotiator,
 							  insert_one_alternate_object);
 			} else {
 				filter_refs(args, &ref, sought, nr_sought);
@@ -1468,7 +1486,7 @@
 						    "negotiation_v2",
 						    the_repository);
 			}
-			if (send_fetch_request(&negotiator, fd[1], args, ref,
+			if (send_fetch_request(negotiator, fd[1], args, ref,
 					       &common,
 					       &haves_to_send, &in_vain,
 					       reader.use_sideband))
@@ -1478,7 +1496,7 @@
 			break;
 		case FETCH_PROCESS_ACKS:
 			/* Process ACKs/NAKs */
-			switch (process_acks(&negotiator, &reader, &common)) {
+			switch (process_acks(negotiator, &reader, &common)) {
 			case 2:
 				state = FETCH_GET_PACK;
 				break;
@@ -1513,7 +1531,8 @@
 		}
 	}
 
-	negotiator.release(&negotiator);
+	if (negotiator)
+		negotiator->release(negotiator);
 	oidset_clear(&common);
 	return ref;
 }
diff --git a/promisor-remote.c b/promisor-remote.c
index 9bd5b79..9f338c9 100644
--- a/promisor-remote.c
+++ b/promisor-remote.c
@@ -16,10 +16,8 @@
 {
 	struct remote *remote;
 	struct transport *transport;
-	int original_fetch_if_missing = fetch_if_missing;
 	int res;
 
-	fetch_if_missing = 0;
 	remote = remote_get(remote_name);
 	if (!remote->url[0])
 		die(_("Remote with no URL"));
@@ -28,7 +26,6 @@
 	transport_set_option(transport, TRANS_OPT_FROM_PROMISOR, "1");
 	transport_set_option(transport, TRANS_OPT_NO_DEPENDENTS, "1");
 	res = transport_fetch_refs(transport, ref);
-	fetch_if_missing = original_fetch_if_missing;
 
 	return res;
 }
diff --git a/t/t5616-partial-clone.sh b/t/t5616-partial-clone.sh
index eaa33a8..fea56cd 100755
--- a/t/t5616-partial-clone.sh
+++ b/t/t5616-partial-clone.sh
@@ -304,6 +304,76 @@
 	test_i18ngrep "unable to parse sparse filter data in" err
 '
 
+setup_triangle () {
+	rm -rf big-blob.txt server client promisor-remote &&
+
+	printf "line %d\n" $(test_seq 1 100) >big-blob.txt &&
+
+	# Create a server with 2 commits: a commit with a big blob and a child
+	# commit with an incremental change. Also, create a partial clone
+	# client that only contains the first commit.
+	git init server &&
+	git -C server config --local uploadpack.allowfilter 1 &&
+	cp big-blob.txt server &&
+	git -C server add big-blob.txt &&
+	git -C server commit -m "initial" &&
+	git clone --bare --filter=tree:0 "file://$(pwd)/server" client &&
+	echo another line >>server/big-blob.txt &&
+	git -C server commit -am "append line to big blob" &&
+
+	# Create a promisor remote that only contains the blob from the first
+	# commit, and set it as the promisor remote of client. Thus, whenever
+	# the client lazy fetches, the lazy fetch will succeed only if it is
+	# for this blob.
+	git init promisor-remote &&
+	test_commit -C promisor-remote one && # so that ref advertisement is not empty
+	git -C promisor-remote config --local uploadpack.allowanysha1inwant 1 &&
+	git -C promisor-remote hash-object -w --stdin <big-blob.txt &&
+	git -C client remote set-url origin "file://$(pwd)/promisor-remote"
+}
+
+# NEEDSWORK: The tests beginning with "fetch lazy-fetches" below only
+# test that "fetch" avoid fetching trees and blobs, but not commits or
+# tags. Revisit this if Git is ever taught to support partial clones
+# with commits and/or tags filtered out.
+
+test_expect_success 'fetch lazy-fetches only to resolve deltas' '
+	setup_triangle &&
+
+	# Exercise to make sure it works. Git will not fetch anything from the
+	# promisor remote other than for the big blob (because it needs to
+	# resolve the delta).
+	GIT_TRACE_PACKET="$(pwd)/trace" git -C client \
+		fetch "file://$(pwd)/server" master &&
+
+	# Verify the assumption that the client needed to fetch the delta base
+	# to resolve the delta.
+	git hash-object big-blob.txt >hash &&
+	grep "want $(cat hash)" trace
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'fetch lazy-fetches only to resolve deltas, protocol v2' '
+	setup_triangle &&
+
+	git -C server config --local protocol.version 2 &&
+	git -C client config --local protocol.version 2 &&
+	git -C promisor-remote config --local protocol.version 2 &&
+
+	# Exercise to make sure it works. Git will not fetch anything from the
+	# promisor remote other than for the big blob (because it needs to
+	# resolve the delta).
+	GIT_TRACE_PACKET="$(pwd)/trace" git -C client \
+		fetch "file://$(pwd)/server" master &&
+
+	# Verify that protocol version 2 was used.
+	grep "fetch< version 2" trace &&
+
+	# Verify the assumption that the client needed to fetch the delta base
+	# to resolve the delta.
+	git hash-object big-blob.txt >hash &&
+	grep "want $(cat hash)" trace
+'
+
 . "$TEST_DIRECTORY"/lib-httpd.sh
 start_httpd