diff --git a/builtin/repack.c b/builtin/repack.c
index 632c0c0a79..8c1621d414 100644
--- a/builtin/repack.c
+++ b/builtin/repack.c
@@ -232,6 +232,11 @@ static void repack_promisor_objects(const struct pack_objects_args *args,
 		/*
 		 * pack-objects creates the .pack and .idx files, but not the
 		 * .promisor file. Create the .promisor file, which is empty.
+		 *
+		 * NEEDSWORK: fetch-pack generates non-empty .promisor files,
+		 * but this would not preserve their contents. Maybe
+		 * concatenate the contents of all .promisor files instead of
+		 * just creating a new empty file.
 		 */
 		promisor_name = mkpathdup("%s-%s.promisor", packtmp,
 					  line.buf);
diff --git a/fetch-pack.c b/fetch-pack.c
index 65be043f2a..07029e1bbf 100644
--- a/fetch-pack.c
+++ b/fetch-pack.c
@@ -758,8 +758,33 @@ static int sideband_demux(int in, int out, void *data)
 	return ret;
 }
 
+static void write_promisor_file(const char *keep_name,
+				struct ref **sought, int nr_sought)
+{
+	struct strbuf promisor_name = STRBUF_INIT;
+	int suffix_stripped;
+	FILE *output;
+	int i;
+
+	strbuf_addstr(&promisor_name, keep_name);
+	suffix_stripped = strbuf_strip_suffix(&promisor_name, ".keep");
+	if (!suffix_stripped)
+		BUG("name of pack lockfile should end with .keep (was '%s')",
+		    keep_name);
+	strbuf_addstr(&promisor_name, ".promisor");
+
+	output = xfopen(promisor_name.buf, "w");
+	for (i = 0; i < nr_sought; i++)
+		fprintf(output, "%s %s\n", oid_to_hex(&sought[i]->old_oid),
+			sought[i]->name);
+	fclose(output);
+
+	strbuf_release(&promisor_name);
+}
+
 static int get_pack(struct fetch_pack_args *args,
-		    int xd[2], char **pack_lockfile)
+		    int xd[2], char **pack_lockfile,
+		    struct ref **sought, int nr_sought)
 {
 	struct async demux;
 	int do_keep = args->keep_pack;
@@ -821,7 +846,13 @@ static int get_pack(struct fetch_pack_args *args,
 		}
 		if (args->check_self_contained_and_connected)
 			argv_array_push(&cmd.args, "--check-self-contained-and-connected");
-		if (args->from_promisor)
+		/*
+		 * If we're obtaining the filename of a lockfile, we'll use
+		 * that filename to write a .promisor file with more
+		 * information below. If not, we need index-pack to do it for
+		 * us.
+		 */
+		if (!(do_keep && pack_lockfile) && args->from_promisor)
 			argv_array_push(&cmd.args, "--promisor");
 	}
 	else {
@@ -859,6 +890,8 @@ static int get_pack(struct fetch_pack_args *args,
 		die(_("fetch-pack: unable to fork off %s"), cmd_name);
 	if (do_keep && pack_lockfile) {
 		*pack_lockfile = index_pack_lockfile(cmd.out);
+		if (args->from_promisor)
+			write_promisor_file(*pack_lockfile, sought, nr_sought);
 		close(cmd.out);
 	}
 
@@ -1009,7 +1042,7 @@ static struct ref *do_fetch_pack(struct fetch_pack_args *args,
 		alternate_shallow_file = setup_temporary_shallow(si->shallow);
 	else
 		alternate_shallow_file = NULL;
-	if (get_pack(args, fd, pack_lockfile))
+	if (get_pack(args, fd, pack_lockfile, sought, nr_sought))
 		die(_("git fetch-pack: fetch failed."));
 
  all_done:
@@ -1458,7 +1491,7 @@ static struct ref *do_fetch_pack_v2(struct fetch_pack_args *args,
 
 			/* get the pack */
 			process_section_header(&reader, "packfile", 0);
-			if (get_pack(args, fd, pack_lockfile))
+			if (get_pack(args, fd, pack_lockfile, sought, nr_sought))
 				die(_("git fetch-pack: fetch failed."));
 
 			state = FETCH_DONE;
diff --git a/t/t5616-partial-clone.sh b/t/t5616-partial-clone.sh
index 565254558f..486db27ee0 100755
--- a/t/t5616-partial-clone.sh
+++ b/t/t5616-partial-clone.sh
@@ -46,6 +46,14 @@ test_expect_success 'do partial clone 1' '
 	test "$(git -C pc1 config --local core.partialclonefilter)" = "blob:none"
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'verify that .promisor file contains refs fetched' '
+	ls pc1/.git/objects/pack/pack-*.promisor >promisorlist &&
+	test_line_count = 1 promisorlist &&
+	git -C srv.bare rev-list HEAD >headhash &&
+	grep "$(cat headhash) HEAD" $(cat promisorlist) &&
+	grep "$(cat headhash) refs/heads/master" $(cat promisorlist)
+'
+
 # checkout master to force dynamic object fetch of blobs at HEAD.
 test_expect_success 'verify checkout with dynamic object fetch' '
 	git -C pc1 rev-list --quiet --objects --missing=print HEAD >observed &&
