diff --git a/src/libfetchers/git-utils.cc b/src/libfetchers/git-utils.cc
index f554dcc5f..19eae0e1d 100644
--- a/src/libfetchers/git-utils.cc
+++ b/src/libfetchers/git-utils.cc
@@ -381,7 +381,9 @@ struct GitRepoImpl : GitRepo, std::enable_shared_from_this<GitRepoImpl>
         };
 
         git_fetch_options opts = GIT_FETCH_OPTIONS_INIT;
-        opts.depth = shallow ? 1 : GIT_FETCH_DEPTH_FULL;
+        // FIXME: for some reason, shallow fetching over ssh barfs
+        // with "could not read from remote repository".
+        opts.depth = shallow && parseURL(url).scheme != "ssh" ? 1 : GIT_FETCH_DEPTH_FULL;
         opts.callbacks.payload = &act;
         opts.callbacks.sideband_progress = sidebandProgressCallback;
         opts.callbacks.transfer_progress = transferProgressCallback;