diff --git a/builtin/clone.c b/builtin/clone.c
index 0516181052e..0d817077559 100644
--- a/builtin/clone.c
+++ b/builtin/clone.c
@@ -672,8 +672,7 @@ static void update_remote_refs(const struct ref *refs,
 			       const char *branch_top,
 			       const char *msg,
 			       struct transport *transport,
-			       int check_connectivity,
-			       int check_refs_are_promisor_objects_only)
+			       int check_connectivity)
 {
 	const struct ref *rm = mapped_refs;
 
@@ -682,8 +681,6 @@ static void update_remote_refs(const struct ref *refs,
 
 		opt.transport = transport;
 		opt.progress = transport->progress;
-		opt.check_refs_are_promisor_objects_only =
-			!!check_refs_are_promisor_objects_only;
 
 		if (check_connected(iterate_ref_map, &rm, &opt))
 			die(_("remote did not send all necessary objects"));
@@ -1270,7 +1267,7 @@ int cmd_clone(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 
 	update_remote_refs(refs, mapped_refs, remote_head_points_at,
 			   branch_top.buf, reflog_msg.buf, transport,
-			   !is_local, filter_options.choice);
+			   !is_local);
 
 	update_head(our_head_points_at, remote_head, reflog_msg.buf);
 
diff --git a/builtin/fetch.c b/builtin/fetch.c
index 6fb50320eb6..eb10d4c5325 100644
--- a/builtin/fetch.c
+++ b/builtin/fetch.c
@@ -908,13 +908,6 @@ static int store_updated_refs(const char *raw_url, const char *remote_name,
 	if (!connectivity_checked) {
 		struct check_connected_options opt = CHECK_CONNECTED_INIT;
 
-		if (filter_options.choice)
-			/*
-			 * Since a filter is specified, objects indirectly
-			 * referenced by refs are allowed to be absent.
-			 */
-			opt.check_refs_are_promisor_objects_only = 1;
-
 		rm = ref_map;
 		if (check_connected(iterate_ref_map, &rm, &opt)) {
 			rc = error(_("%s did not send all necessary objects\n"), url);
diff --git a/connected.c b/connected.c
index 7e9bd1bc622..846f2e4eef0 100644
--- a/connected.c
+++ b/connected.c
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ int check_connected(oid_iterate_fn fn, void *cb_data,
 		strbuf_release(&idx_file);
 	}
 
-	if (opt->check_refs_are_promisor_objects_only) {
+	if (has_promisor_remote()) {
 		/*
 		 * For partial clones, we don't want to have to do a regular
 		 * connectivity check because we have to enumerate and exclude
@@ -71,13 +71,18 @@ int check_connected(oid_iterate_fn fn, void *cb_data,
 				if (find_pack_entry_one(oid.hash, p))
 					goto promisor_pack_found;
 			}
-			return 1;
+			/*
+			 * Fallback to rev-list with oid and the rest of the
+			 * object IDs provided by fn.
+			 */
+			goto no_promisor_pack_found;
 promisor_pack_found:
 			;
 		} while (!fn(cb_data, &oid));
 		return 0;
 	}
 
+no_promisor_pack_found:
 	if (opt->shallow_file) {
 		argv_array_push(&rev_list.args, "--shallow-file");
 		argv_array_push(&rev_list.args, opt->shallow_file);
diff --git a/connected.h b/connected.h
index eba5c261bac..8d5a6b3ad6f 100644
--- a/connected.h
+++ b/connected.h
@@ -46,15 +46,6 @@ struct check_connected_options {
 	 * during a fetch.
 	 */
 	unsigned is_deepening_fetch : 1;
-
-	/*
-	 * If non-zero, only check that the top-level objects referenced by the
-	 * wanted refs (passed in as cb_data) are promisor objects. This is
-	 * useful for partial clones, where enumerating and excluding all
-	 * promisor objects is very slow and the commit-walk itself becomes a
-	 * no-op.
-	 */
-	unsigned check_refs_are_promisor_objects_only : 1;
 };
 
 #define CHECK_CONNECTED_INIT { 0 }