diff --git a/diff.h b/diff.h
index 0083d92438..f774c9ab51 100644
--- a/diff.h
+++ b/diff.h
@@ -110,7 +110,7 @@ struct diff_options {
 	int pickaxe_opts;
 	int rename_score;
 	int rename_limit;
-	int warn_on_too_large_rename;
+	int needed_rename_limit;
 	int dirstat_percent;
 	int setup;
 	int abbrev;
diff --git a/diffcore-rename.c b/diffcore-rename.c
index df41be56de..1943c46b94 100644
--- a/diffcore-rename.c
+++ b/diffcore-rename.c
@@ -493,12 +493,13 @@ void diffcore_rename(struct diff_options *options)
 	 * but handles the potential overflow case specially (and we
 	 * assume at least 32-bit integers)
 	 */
+	options->needed_rename_limit = 0;
 	if (rename_limit <= 0 || rename_limit > 32767)
 		rename_limit = 32767;
 	if ((num_create > rename_limit && num_src > rename_limit) ||
 	    (num_create * num_src > rename_limit * rename_limit)) {
-		if (options->warn_on_too_large_rename)
-			warning("too many files (created: %d deleted: %d), skipping inexact rename detection", num_create, num_src);
+		options->needed_rename_limit =
+			num_src > num_create ? num_src : num_create;
 		goto cleanup;
 	}
 
diff --git a/merge-recursive.c b/merge-recursive.c
index 16c2dbeab9..2ecd456c28 100644
--- a/merge-recursive.c
+++ b/merge-recursive.c
@@ -22,6 +22,11 @@
 #include "dir.h"
 #include "submodule.h"
 
+static const char rename_limit_advice[] =
+"inexact rename detection was skipped because there were too many\n"
+"  files. You may want to set your merge.renamelimit variable to at least\n"
+"  %d and retry this merge.";
+
 static struct tree *shift_tree_object(struct tree *one, struct tree *two,
 				      const char *subtree_shift)
 {
@@ -436,12 +441,13 @@ static struct string_list *get_renames(struct merge_options *o,
 			    o->diff_rename_limit >= 0 ? o->diff_rename_limit :
 			    500;
 	opts.rename_score = o->rename_score;
-	opts.warn_on_too_large_rename = 1;
 	opts.output_format = DIFF_FORMAT_NO_OUTPUT;
 	if (diff_setup_done(&opts) < 0)
 		die("diff setup failed");
 	diff_tree_sha1(o_tree->object.sha1, tree->object.sha1, "", &opts);
 	diffcore_std(&opts);
+	if (opts.needed_rename_limit > o->needed_rename_limit)
+		o->needed_rename_limit = opts.needed_rename_limit;
 	for (i = 0; i < diff_queued_diff.nr; ++i) {
 		struct string_list_item *item;
 		struct rename *re;
@@ -1666,6 +1672,8 @@ int merge_recursive(struct merge_options *o,
 		commit_list_insert(h2, &(*result)->parents->next);
 	}
 	flush_output(o);
+	if (o->needed_rename_limit)
+		warning(rename_limit_advice, o->needed_rename_limit);
 	return clean;
 }
 
diff --git a/merge-recursive.h b/merge-recursive.h
index c8135b0ec7..f0e056652f 100644
--- a/merge-recursive.h
+++ b/merge-recursive.h
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ struct merge_options {
 	int diff_rename_limit;
 	int merge_rename_limit;
 	int rename_score;
+	int needed_rename_limit;
 	int call_depth;
 	struct strbuf obuf;
 	struct string_list current_file_set;