diff --git a/builtin-receive-pack.c b/builtin-receive-pack.c
index 78c0e69cdc..4320c93e70 100644
--- a/builtin-receive-pack.c
+++ b/builtin-receive-pack.c
@@ -204,59 +204,47 @@ static int is_ref_checked_out(const char *ref)
 	return !strcmp(head_name, ref);
 }
 
-static char *warn_unconfigured_deny_msg[] = {
-	"Updating the currently checked out branch may cause confusion,",
-	"as the index and work tree do not reflect changes that are in HEAD.",
-	"As a result, you may see the changes you just pushed into it",
-	"reverted when you run 'git diff' over there, and you may want",
-	"to run 'git reset --hard' before starting to work to recover.",
+static char *refuse_unconfigured_deny_msg[] = {
+	"By default, updating the current branch in a non-bare repository",
+	"is denied, because it will make the index and work tree inconsistent",
+	"with what you pushed, and will require 'git reset --hard' to match",
+	"the work tree to HEAD.",
 	"",
 	"You can set 'receive.denyCurrentBranch' configuration variable to",
-	"'refuse' in the remote repository to forbid pushing into its",
-	"current branch."
+	"'ignore' or 'warn' in the remote repository to allow pushing into",
+	"its current branch; however, this is not recommended unless you",
+	"arranged to update its work tree to match what you pushed in some",
+	"other way.",
 	"",
-	"To allow pushing into the current branch, you can set it to 'ignore';",
-	"but this is not recommended unless you arranged to update its work",
-	"tree to match what you pushed in some other way.",
-	"",
-	"To squelch this message, you can set it to 'warn'.",
-	"",
-	"Note that the default will change in a future version of git",
-	"to refuse updating the current branch unless you have the",
-	"configuration variable set to either 'ignore' or 'warn'."
+	"To squelch this message and still keep the default behaviour, set",
+	"'receive.denyCurrentBranch' configuration variable to 'refuse'."
 };
 
-static void warn_unconfigured_deny(void)
+static void refuse_unconfigured_deny(void)
 {
 	int i;
-	for (i = 0; i < ARRAY_SIZE(warn_unconfigured_deny_msg); i++)
-		warning("%s", warn_unconfigured_deny_msg[i]);
+	for (i = 0; i < ARRAY_SIZE(refuse_unconfigured_deny_msg); i++)
+		error("%s", refuse_unconfigured_deny_msg[i]);
 }
 
-static char *warn_unconfigured_deny_delete_current_msg[] = {
-	"Deleting the current branch can cause confusion by making the next",
-	"'git clone' not check out any file.",
+static char *refuse_unconfigured_deny_delete_current_msg[] = {
+	"By default, deleting the current branch is denied, because the next",
+	"'git clone' won't result in any file checked out, causing confusion.",
 	"",
 	"You can set 'receive.denyDeleteCurrent' configuration variable to",
-	"'refuse' in the remote repository to disallow deleting the current",
-	"branch.",
+	"'warn' or 'ignore' in the remote repository to allow deleting the",
+	"current branch, with or without a warning message.",
 	"",
-	"You can set it to 'ignore' to allow such a delete without a warning.",
-	"",
-	"To make this warning message less loud, you can set it to 'warn'.",
-	"",
-	"Note that the default will change in a future version of git",
-	"to refuse deleting the current branch unless you have the",
-	"configuration variable set to either 'ignore' or 'warn'."
+	"To squelch this message, you can set it to 'refuse'."
 };
 
-static void warn_unconfigured_deny_delete_current(void)
+static void refuse_unconfigured_deny_delete_current(void)
 {
 	int i;
 	for (i = 0;
-	     i < ARRAY_SIZE(warn_unconfigured_deny_delete_current_msg);
+	     i < ARRAY_SIZE(refuse_unconfigured_deny_delete_current_msg);
 	     i++)
-		warning("%s", warn_unconfigured_deny_delete_current_msg[i]);
+		error("%s", refuse_unconfigured_deny_delete_current_msg[i]);
 }
 
 static const char *update(struct command *cmd)
@@ -276,14 +264,14 @@ static const char *update(struct command *cmd)
 		switch (deny_current_branch) {
 		case DENY_IGNORE:
 			break;
-		case DENY_UNCONFIGURED:
 		case DENY_WARN:
 			warning("updating the current branch");
-			if (deny_current_branch == DENY_UNCONFIGURED)
-				warn_unconfigured_deny();
 			break;
 		case DENY_REFUSE:
+		case DENY_UNCONFIGURED:
 			error("refusing to update checked out branch: %s", name);
+			if (deny_current_branch == DENY_UNCONFIGURED)
+				refuse_unconfigured_deny();
 			return "branch is currently checked out";
 		}
 	}
@@ -305,12 +293,12 @@ static const char *update(struct command *cmd)
 			case DENY_IGNORE:
 				break;
 			case DENY_WARN:
-			case DENY_UNCONFIGURED:
-				if (deny_delete_current == DENY_UNCONFIGURED)
-					warn_unconfigured_deny_delete_current();
 				warning("deleting the current branch");
 				break;
 			case DENY_REFUSE:
+			case DENY_UNCONFIGURED:
+				if (deny_delete_current == DENY_UNCONFIGURED)
+					refuse_unconfigured_deny_delete_current();
 				error("refusing to delete the current branch: %s", name);
 				return "deletion of the current branch prohibited";
 			}
diff --git a/t/t5400-send-pack.sh b/t/t5400-send-pack.sh
index f2d5581b12..c718253673 100755
--- a/t/t5400-send-pack.sh
+++ b/t/t5400-send-pack.sh
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ test_expect_success setup '
 	done &&
 	git update-ref HEAD "$commit" &&
 	git clone ./. victim &&
-	( cd victim && git log ) &&
+	( cd victim && git config receive.denyCurrentBranch warn && git log ) &&
 	git update-ref HEAD "$zero" &&
 	parent=$zero &&
 	i=0 &&
@@ -129,6 +129,7 @@ rewound_push_setup() {
 	    cd parent &&
 	    git init &&
 	    echo one >file && git add file && git commit -m one &&
+	    git config receive.denyCurrentBranch warn &&
 	    echo two >file && git commit -a -m two
 	) &&
 	git clone parent child &&
@@ -190,16 +191,11 @@ test_expect_success 'pushing wildcard refspecs respects forcing' '
 	test "$parent_head" = "$child_head"
 '
 
-test_expect_success 'warn pushing to delete current branch' '
+test_expect_success 'deny pushing to delete current branch' '
 	rewound_push_setup &&
 	(
 	    cd child &&
-	    git send-pack ../parent :refs/heads/master 2>errs
-	) &&
-	grep "warning: to refuse deleting" child/errs &&
-	(
-		cd parent &&
-		test_must_fail git rev-parse --verify master
+	    test_must_fail git send-pack ../parent :refs/heads/master 2>errs
 	)
 '
 
diff --git a/t/t5401-update-hooks.sh b/t/t5401-update-hooks.sh
index 64f66c94f3..325714e529 100755
--- a/t/t5401-update-hooks.sh
+++ b/t/t5401-update-hooks.sh
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ test_expect_success setup '
 	git update-ref refs/heads/master $commit0 &&
 	git update-ref refs/heads/tofail $commit1 &&
 	git clone ./. victim &&
+	GIT_DIR=victim/.git git config receive.denyCurrentBranch warn &&
 	GIT_DIR=victim/.git git update-ref refs/heads/tofail $commit1 &&
 	git update-ref refs/heads/master $commit1 &&
 	git update-ref refs/heads/tofail $commit0
diff --git a/t/t5405-send-pack-rewind.sh b/t/t5405-send-pack-rewind.sh
index cb9aacc7bc..4bda18a662 100755
--- a/t/t5405-send-pack-rewind.sh
+++ b/t/t5405-send-pack-rewind.sh
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ test_expect_success setup '
 
 	>file1 && git add file1 && test_tick &&
 	git commit -m Initial &&
+	git config receive.denyCurrentBranch warn &&
 
 	mkdir another && (
 		cd another &&
diff --git a/t/t5516-fetch-push.sh b/t/t5516-fetch-push.sh
index 6889a53cf9..516127b539 100755
--- a/t/t5516-fetch-push.sh
+++ b/t/t5516-fetch-push.sh
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ mk_empty () {
 	(
 		cd testrepo &&
 		git init &&
+		git config receive.denyCurrentBranch warn &&
 		mv .git/hooks .git/hooks-disabled
 	)
 }
diff --git a/t/t5517-push-mirror.sh b/t/t5517-push-mirror.sh
index ea49dedbf8..e2ad260508 100755
--- a/t/t5517-push-mirror.sh
+++ b/t/t5517-push-mirror.sh
@@ -19,7 +19,8 @@ mk_repo_pair () {
 	mkdir mirror &&
 	(
 		cd mirror &&
-		git init
+		git init &&
+		git config receive.denyCurrentBranch warn
 	) &&
 	mkdir master &&
 	(
diff --git a/t/t5522-pull-symlink.sh b/t/t5522-pull-symlink.sh
index 86bbd7d024..7206817ca1 100755
--- a/t/t5522-pull-symlink.sh
+++ b/t/t5522-pull-symlink.sh
@@ -20,13 +20,19 @@ fi
 #
 # The working directory is subdir-link.
 
-mkdir subdir
-echo file >subdir/file
-git add subdir/file
-git commit -q -m file
-git clone -q . clone-repo
-ln -s clone-repo/subdir/ subdir-link
-
+test_expect_success setup '
+	mkdir subdir &&
+	echo file >subdir/file &&
+	git add subdir/file &&
+	git commit -q -m file &&
+	git clone -q . clone-repo &&
+	ln -s clone-repo/subdir/ subdir-link &&
+	(
+		cd clone-repo &&
+		git config receive.denyCurrentBranch warn
+	) &&
+	git config receive.denyCurrentBranch warn
+'
 
 # Demonstrate that things work if we just avoid the symlink
 #
diff --git a/t/t5701-clone-local.sh b/t/t5701-clone-local.sh
index 19b5c0d552..8b4c356cd2 100755
--- a/t/t5701-clone-local.sh
+++ b/t/t5701-clone-local.sh
@@ -119,7 +119,9 @@ test_expect_success 'bundle clone with nonexistent HEAD' '
 test_expect_success 'clone empty repository' '
 	cd "$D" &&
 	mkdir empty &&
-	(cd empty && git init) &&
+	(cd empty &&
+	 git init &&
+	 git config receive.denyCurrentBranch warn) &&
 	git clone empty empty-clone &&
 	test_tick &&
 	(cd empty-clone