diff --git a/org.eclipse.jgit.pgm/resources/org/eclipse/jgit/pgm/internal/CLIText.properties b/org.eclipse.jgit.pgm/resources/org/eclipse/jgit/pgm/internal/CLIText.properties
index ca32479ad..53c1b3520 100644
--- a/org.eclipse.jgit.pgm/resources/org/eclipse/jgit/pgm/internal/CLIText.properties
+++ b/org.eclipse.jgit.pgm/resources/org/eclipse/jgit/pgm/internal/CLIText.properties
@@ -293,6 +293,7 @@ usage_mergeRef=Ref to be merged
 usage_mergeStrategy=Use the given merge strategy. Can be supplied more than once to specify them in the order they should be tried. If there is no -s option, the recursive strategy is used. Currently the following strategies are supported: ours, theirs, simple-two-way-in-core, resolve, recursive
 usage_moveRenameABranch=move/rename a branch
 usage_nameStatus=show only name and status of files
+usage_noCheckoutAfterClone=no checkout of HEAD is performed after the clone is complete
 usage_noCommit=Don't commit after a successful merge
 usage_noPrefix=do not show any source or destination prefix
 usage_noRenames=disable rename detection
diff --git a/org.eclipse.jgit.pgm/src/org/eclipse/jgit/pgm/Clone.java b/org.eclipse.jgit.pgm/src/org/eclipse/jgit/pgm/Clone.java
index 888f54da2..d9a877cd6 100644
--- a/org.eclipse.jgit.pgm/src/org/eclipse/jgit/pgm/Clone.java
+++ b/org.eclipse.jgit.pgm/src/org/eclipse/jgit/pgm/Clone.java
@@ -79,6 +79,9 @@ class Clone extends AbstractFetchCommand {
 	@Option(name = "--branch", aliases = { "-b" }, metaVar = "metaVar_branchName", usage = "usage_checkoutBranchAfterClone")
 	private String branch;
 
+	@Option(name = "--no-checkout", aliases = { "-n" }, usage = "usage_noCheckoutAfterClone")
+	private boolean noCheckout;
+
 	@Argument(index = 0, required = true, metaVar = "metaVar_uriish")
 	private String sourceUri;
 
@@ -122,16 +125,19 @@ protected void run() throws Exception {
 
 		saveRemote(uri);
 		final FetchResult r = runFetch();
-		final Ref checkoutRef;
-		if (branch == null)
-			checkoutRef = guessHEAD(r);
-		else {
-			checkoutRef = r.getAdvertisedRef(Constants.R_HEADS + branch);
-			if (checkoutRef == null)
-				throw die(MessageFormat.format(CLIText.get().noSuchRemoteRef,
-						branch));
+
+		if (!noCheckout) {
+			final Ref checkoutRef;
+			if (branch == null)
+				checkoutRef = guessHEAD(r);
+			else {
+				checkoutRef = r.getAdvertisedRef(Constants.R_HEADS + branch);
+				if (checkoutRef == null)
+					throw die(MessageFormat.format(
+							CLIText.get().noSuchRemoteRef, branch));
+			}
+			doCheckout(checkoutRef);
 		}
-		doCheckout(checkoutRef);
 	}
 
 	private void saveRemote(final URIish uri) throws URISyntaxException,