diff --git a/Documentation/git-pull.txt b/Documentation/git-pull.txt
index dfb901f8b8..ba3772de9f 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-pull.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-pull.txt
@@ -133,15 +133,6 @@ unless you have read linkgit:git-rebase[1] carefully.
 --no-rebase::
 	Override earlier --rebase.
 
---autostash::
---no-autostash::
-	Before starting rebase, stash local modifications away (see
-	linkgit:git-stash[1]) if needed, and apply the stash entry when
-	done. `--no-autostash` is useful to override the `rebase.autoStash`
-	configuration variable (see linkgit:git-config[1]).
-+
-This option is only valid when "--rebase" is used.
-
 Options related to fetching
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
diff --git a/Documentation/merge-options.txt b/Documentation/merge-options.txt
index 34493eb58b..ae56cca826 100644
--- a/Documentation/merge-options.txt
+++ b/Documentation/merge-options.txt
@@ -155,6 +155,8 @@ ifndef::git-pull[]
 	Note that not all merge strategies may support progress
 	reporting.
 
+endif::git-pull[]
+
 --autostash::
 --no-autostash::
 	Automatically create a temporary stash entry before the operation
@@ -163,8 +165,6 @@ ifndef::git-pull[]
 	with care: the final stash application after a successful
 	rebase might result in non-trivial conflicts.
 
-endif::git-pull[]
-
 --allow-unrelated-histories::
 	By default, `git merge` command refuses to merge histories
 	that do not share a common ancestor.  This option can be
diff --git a/builtin/pull.c b/builtin/pull.c
index 3e624d1e00..9beb4841d1 100644
--- a/builtin/pull.c
+++ b/builtin/pull.c
@@ -163,7 +163,7 @@ static struct option pull_options[] = {
 		N_("verify that the named commit has a valid GPG signature"),
 		PARSE_OPT_NOARG),
 	OPT_BOOL(0, "autostash", &opt_autostash,
-		N_("automatically stash/stash pop before and after rebase")),
+		N_("automatically stash/stash pop before and after")),
 	OPT_PASSTHRU_ARGV('s', "strategy", &opt_strategies, N_("strategy"),
 		N_("merge strategy to use"),
 		0),
@@ -661,6 +661,10 @@ static int run_merge(void)
 	argv_array_pushv(&args, opt_strategy_opts.argv);
 	if (opt_gpg_sign)
 		argv_array_push(&args, opt_gpg_sign);
+	if (opt_autostash == 0)
+		argv_array_push(&args, "--no-autostash");
+	else if (opt_autostash == 1)
+		argv_array_push(&args, "--autostash");
 	if (opt_allow_unrelated_histories > 0)
 		argv_array_push(&args, "--allow-unrelated-histories");
 
@@ -908,9 +912,6 @@ int cmd_pull(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	if (get_oid("HEAD", &orig_head))
 		oidclr(&orig_head);
 
-	if (!opt_rebase && opt_autostash != -1)
-		die(_("--[no-]autostash option is only valid with --rebase."));
-
 	autostash = config_autostash;
 	if (opt_rebase) {
 		if (opt_autostash != -1)
diff --git a/t/t5520-pull.sh b/t/t5520-pull.sh
index f610dc14de..37535d63a9 100755
--- a/t/t5520-pull.sh
+++ b/t/t5520-pull.sh
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ test_pull_autostash_fail () {
 	echo dirty >new_file &&
 	git add new_file &&
 	test_must_fail git pull "$@" . copy 2>err &&
-	test_i18ngrep "uncommitted changes." err
+	test_i18ngrep "\(uncommitted changes.\)\|\(overwritten by merge:\)" err
 }
 
 test_expect_success setup '
@@ -404,13 +404,40 @@ test_expect_success 'pull --rebase --no-autostash & rebase.autostash unset' '
 	test_pull_autostash_fail --rebase --no-autostash
 '
 
-for i in --autostash --no-autostash
-do
-	test_expect_success "pull $i (without --rebase) is illegal" '
-		test_must_fail git pull $i . copy 2>err &&
-		test_i18ngrep "only valid with --rebase" err
-	'
-done
+test_expect_success 'pull succeeds with dirty working directory and merge.autostash set' '
+	test_config merge.autostash true &&
+	test_pull_autostash 2
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'pull --autostash & merge.autostash=true' '
+	test_config merge.autostash true &&
+	test_pull_autostash 2 --autostash
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'pull --autostash & merge.autostash=false' '
+	test_config merge.autostash false &&
+	test_pull_autostash 2 --autostash
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'pull --autostash & merge.autostash unset' '
+	test_unconfig merge.autostash &&
+	test_pull_autostash 2 --autostash
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'pull --no-autostash & merge.autostash=true' '
+	test_config merge.autostash true &&
+	test_pull_autostash_fail --no-autostash
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'pull --no-autostash & merge.autostash=false' '
+	test_config merge.autostash false &&
+	test_pull_autostash_fail --no-autostash
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'pull --no-autostash & merge.autostash unset' '
+	test_unconfig merge.autostash &&
+	test_pull_autostash_fail --no-autostash
+'
 
 test_expect_success 'pull.rebase' '
 	git reset --hard before-rebase &&
