diff --git a/connect.c b/connect.c
index 715a309d215..3c6300a21b9 100644
--- a/connect.c
+++ b/connect.c
@@ -550,7 +550,7 @@ struct child_process *git_connect(int fd[2], const char *url_orig,
 	path = strchr(end, c);
 	if (path && !has_dos_drive_prefix(end)) {
 		if (c == ':') {
-			if (path < strchrnul(host, '/')) {
+			if (host != url || path < strchrnul(host, '/')) {
 				protocol = PROTO_SSH;
 				*path++ = '\0';
 			} else /* '/' in the host part, assume local path */
diff --git a/t/t5601-clone.sh b/t/t5601-clone.sh
index 0629149eddc..a3e3d489ec9 100755
--- a/t/t5601-clone.sh
+++ b/t/t5601-clone.sh
@@ -280,9 +280,53 @@ test_expect_success 'clone checking out a tag' '
 	test_cmp fetch.expected fetch.actual
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'setup ssh wrapper' '
+	write_script "$TRASH_DIRECTORY/ssh-wrapper" <<-\EOF &&
+	echo >>"$TRASH_DIRECTORY/ssh-output" "ssh: $*" &&
+	# throw away all but the last argument, which should be the
+	# command
+	while test $# -gt 1; do shift; done
+	eval "$1"
+	EOF
+
+	GIT_SSH="$TRASH_DIRECTORY/ssh-wrapper" &&
+	export GIT_SSH &&
+	export TRASH_DIRECTORY
+'
+
+clear_ssh () {
+	>"$TRASH_DIRECTORY/ssh-output"
+}
+
+expect_ssh () {
+	{
+		case "$1" in
+		none)
+			;;
+		*)
+			echo "ssh: $1 git-upload-pack '$2'"
+		esac
+	} >"$TRASH_DIRECTORY/ssh-expect" &&
+	(cd "$TRASH_DIRECTORY" && test_cmp ssh-expect ssh-output)
+}
+
+test_expect_success 'cloning myhost:src uses ssh' '
+	clear_ssh &&
+	git clone myhost:src ssh-clone &&
+	expect_ssh myhost src
+'
+
 test_expect_success NOT_MINGW,NOT_CYGWIN 'clone local path foo:bar' '
+	clear_ssh &&
 	cp -R src "foo:bar" &&
-	git clone "./foo:bar" foobar
+	git clone "./foo:bar" foobar &&
+	expect_ssh none
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'bracketed hostnames are still ssh' '
+	clear_ssh &&
+	git clone "[myhost:123]:src" ssh-bracket-clone &&
+	expect_ssh myhost:123 src
 '
 
 test_done