diff --git a/Documentation/git-commit-graph.txt b/Documentation/git-commit-graph.txt
index 28d1fee505..8d61ba9f56 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-commit-graph.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-commit-graph.txt
@@ -57,11 +57,19 @@ or `--stdin-packs`.)
 With the `--append` option, include all commits that are present in the
 existing commit-graph file.
 +
-With the `--split` option, write the commit-graph as a chain of multiple
-commit-graph files stored in `<dir>/info/commit-graphs`. The new commits
-not already in the commit-graph are added in a new "tip" file. This file
-is merged with the existing file if the following merge conditions are
-met:
+With the `--split[=<strategy>]` option, write the commit-graph as a
+chain of multiple commit-graph files stored in
+`<dir>/info/commit-graphs`. Commit-graph layers are merged based on the
+strategy and other splitting options. The new commits not already in the
+commit-graph are added in a new "tip" file. This file is merged with the
+existing file if the following merge conditions are met:
+* If `--split=merge-always` is specified, then a merge is always
+conducted, and the remaining options are ignored. Conversely, if
+`--split=no-merge` is specified, a merge is never performed, and the
+remaining options are ignored. A bare `--split` defers to the remaining
+options. (Note that merging a chain of commit graphs replaces the
+existing chain with a length-1 chain where the first and only
+incremental holds the entire graph).
 +
 * If `--size-multiple=<X>` is not specified, let `X` equal 2. If the new
 tip file would have `N` commits and the previous tip has `M` commits and
diff --git a/builtin/commit-graph.c b/builtin/commit-graph.c
index de321c71ad..f03b46d627 100644
--- a/builtin/commit-graph.c
+++ b/builtin/commit-graph.c
@@ -9,7 +9,9 @@
 
 static char const * const builtin_commit_graph_usage[] = {
 	N_("git commit-graph verify [--object-dir <objdir>] [--shallow] [--[no-]progress]"),
-	N_("git commit-graph write [--object-dir <objdir>] [--append|--split] [--reachable|--stdin-packs|--stdin-commits] [--[no-]progress] <split options>"),
+	N_("git commit-graph write [--object-dir <objdir>] [--append] "
+	   "[--split[=<strategy>]] [--reachable|--stdin-packs|--stdin-commits] "
+	   "[--[no-]progress] <split options>"),
 	NULL
 };
 
@@ -19,7 +21,9 @@ static const char * const builtin_commit_graph_verify_usage[] = {
 };
 
 static const char * const builtin_commit_graph_write_usage[] = {
-	N_("git commit-graph write [--object-dir <objdir>] [--append|--split] [--reachable|--stdin-packs|--stdin-commits] [--[no-]progress] <split options>"),
+	N_("git commit-graph write [--object-dir <objdir>] [--append] "
+	   "[--split[=<strategy>]] [--reachable|--stdin-packs|--stdin-commits] "
+	   "[--[no-]progress] <split options>"),
 	NULL
 };
 
@@ -101,6 +105,25 @@ static int graph_verify(int argc, const char **argv)
 extern int read_replace_refs;
 static struct split_commit_graph_opts split_opts;
 
+static int write_option_parse_split(const struct option *opt, const char *arg,
+				    int unset)
+{
+	enum commit_graph_split_flags *flags = opt->value;
+
+	opts.split = 1;
+	if (!arg)
+		return 0;
+
+	if (!strcmp(arg, "merge-all"))
+		*flags = COMMIT_GRAPH_SPLIT_MERGE_REQUIRED;
+	else if (!strcmp(arg, "no-merge"))
+		*flags = COMMIT_GRAPH_SPLIT_MERGE_PROHIBITED;
+	else
+		die(_("unrecognized --split argument, %s"), arg);
+
+	return 0;
+}
+
 static int graph_write(int argc, const char **argv)
 {
 	struct string_list *pack_indexes = NULL;
@@ -123,8 +146,10 @@ static int graph_write(int argc, const char **argv)
 		OPT_BOOL(0, "append", &opts.append,
 			N_("include all commits already in the commit-graph file")),
 		OPT_BOOL(0, "progress", &opts.progress, N_("force progress reporting")),
-		OPT_BOOL(0, "split", &opts.split,
-			N_("allow writing an incremental commit-graph file")),
+		OPT_CALLBACK_F(0, "split", &split_opts.flags, NULL,
+			N_("allow writing an incremental commit-graph file"),
+			PARSE_OPT_OPTARG | PARSE_OPT_NONEG,
+			write_option_parse_split),
 		OPT_INTEGER(0, "max-commits", &split_opts.max_commits,
 			N_("maximum number of commits in a non-base split commit-graph")),
 		OPT_INTEGER(0, "size-multiple", &split_opts.size_multiple,
diff --git a/commit-graph.c b/commit-graph.c
index 6d34829f57..02e6ad9d1f 100644
--- a/commit-graph.c
+++ b/commit-graph.c
@@ -1565,15 +1565,18 @@ static void split_graph_merge_strategy(struct write_commit_graph_context *ctx)
 	num_commits = ctx->commits.nr;
 	ctx->num_commit_graphs_after = ctx->num_commit_graphs_before + 1;
 
-	while (g && (g->num_commits <= size_mult * num_commits ||
-		    (max_commits && num_commits > max_commits))) {
-		if (g->odb != ctx->odb)
-			break;
+	if (ctx->split_opts->flags != COMMIT_GRAPH_SPLIT_MERGE_PROHIBITED) {
+		while (g && (g->num_commits <= size_mult * num_commits ||
+			    (max_commits && num_commits > max_commits) ||
+			    (ctx->split_opts->flags == COMMIT_GRAPH_SPLIT_MERGE_REQUIRED))) {
+			if (g->odb != ctx->odb)
+				break;
 
-		num_commits += g->num_commits;
-		g = g->base_graph;
+			num_commits += g->num_commits;
+			g = g->base_graph;
 
-		ctx->num_commit_graphs_after--;
+			ctx->num_commit_graphs_after--;
+		}
 	}
 
 	ctx->new_base_graph = g;
@@ -1881,7 +1884,7 @@ int write_commit_graph(struct object_directory *odb,
 		goto cleanup;
 	}
 
-	if (!ctx->commits.nr)
+	if (!ctx->commits.nr && (!ctx->split || ctx->split_opts->flags != COMMIT_GRAPH_SPLIT_MERGE_REQUIRED))
 		goto cleanup;
 
 	if (ctx->split) {
diff --git a/commit-graph.h b/commit-graph.h
index 7d9fc9c16a..dadcc03808 100644
--- a/commit-graph.h
+++ b/commit-graph.h
@@ -84,10 +84,17 @@ enum commit_graph_write_flags {
 	COMMIT_GRAPH_WRITE_CHECK_OIDS = (1 << 3)
 };
 
+enum commit_graph_split_flags {
+	COMMIT_GRAPH_SPLIT_UNSPECIFIED      = 0,
+	COMMIT_GRAPH_SPLIT_MERGE_REQUIRED   = 1,
+	COMMIT_GRAPH_SPLIT_MERGE_PROHIBITED = 2
+};
+
 struct split_commit_graph_opts {
 	int size_multiple;
 	int max_commits;
 	timestamp_t expire_time;
+	enum commit_graph_split_flags flags;
 };
 
 /*
diff --git a/t/t5324-split-commit-graph.sh b/t/t5324-split-commit-graph.sh
index c24823431f..a165b48afe 100755
--- a/t/t5324-split-commit-graph.sh
+++ b/t/t5324-split-commit-graph.sh
@@ -344,4 +344,29 @@ test_expect_success 'split across alternate where alternate is not split' '
 	test_cmp commit-graph .git/objects/info/commit-graph
 '
 
+test_expect_success '--split=merge-all always merges incrementals' '
+	test_when_finished rm -rf a b c &&
+	rm -rf $graphdir $infodir/commit-graph &&
+	git reset --hard commits/10 &&
+	git rev-list -3 HEAD~4 >a &&
+	git rev-list -2 HEAD~2 >b &&
+	git rev-list -2 HEAD >c &&
+	git commit-graph write --split=no-merge --stdin-commits <a &&
+	git commit-graph write --split=no-merge --stdin-commits <b &&
+	test_line_count = 2 $graphdir/commit-graph-chain &&
+	git commit-graph write --split=merge-all --stdin-commits <c &&
+	test_line_count = 1 $graphdir/commit-graph-chain
+'
+
+test_expect_success '--split=no-merge always writes an incremental' '
+	test_when_finished rm -rf a b &&
+	rm -rf $graphdir &&
+	git reset --hard commits/2 &&
+	git rev-list HEAD~1 >a &&
+	git rev-list HEAD >b &&
+	git commit-graph write --split --stdin-commits <a &&
+	git commit-graph write --split=no-merge --stdin-commits <b &&
+	test_line_count = 2 $graphdir/commit-graph-chain
+'
+
 test_done
