diff --git a/builtin/rev-list.c b/builtin/rev-list.c
index b8dc2e1fba..74dbfad73d 100644
--- a/builtin/rev-list.c
+++ b/builtin/rev-list.c
@@ -471,12 +471,6 @@ int cmd_rev_list(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 			parse_list_objects_filter(&filter_options, arg);
 			if (filter_options.choice && !revs.blob_objects)
 				die(_("object filtering requires --objects"));
-			if (filter_options.choice == LOFC_SPARSE_OID &&
-			    !filter_options.sparse_oid_value)
-				die(
-					_("invalid sparse value '%s'"),
-					list_objects_filter_spec(
-						&filter_options));
 			continue;
 		}
 		if (!strcmp(arg, ("--no-" CL_ARG__FILTER))) {
diff --git a/list-objects-filter-options.c b/list-objects-filter-options.c
index 4d88bfe64a..256bcfbdfe 100644
--- a/list-objects-filter-options.c
+++ b/list-objects-filter-options.c
@@ -62,17 +62,7 @@ static int gently_parse_list_objects_filter(
 		return 0;
 
 	} else if (skip_prefix(arg, "sparse:oid=", &v0)) {
-		struct object_context oc;
-		struct object_id sparse_oid;
-
-		/*
-		 * Try to parse <oid-expression> into an OID for the current
-		 * command, but DO NOT complain if we don't have the blob or
-		 * ref locally.
-		 */
-		if (!get_oid_with_context(the_repository, v0, GET_OID_BLOB,
-					  &sparse_oid, &oc))
-			filter_options->sparse_oid_value = oiddup(&sparse_oid);
+		filter_options->sparse_oid_name = xstrdup(v0);
 		filter_options->choice = LOFC_SPARSE_OID;
 		return 0;
 
@@ -320,7 +310,7 @@ void list_objects_filter_release(
 	if (!filter_options)
 		return;
 	string_list_clear(&filter_options->filter_spec, /*free_util=*/0);
-	free(filter_options->sparse_oid_value);
+	free(filter_options->sparse_oid_name);
 	for (sub = 0; sub < filter_options->sub_nr; sub++)
 		list_objects_filter_release(&filter_options->sub[sub]);
 	free(filter_options->sub);
diff --git a/list-objects-filter-options.h b/list-objects-filter-options.h
index b63c5ee1a3..2ffb39222c 100644
--- a/list-objects-filter-options.h
+++ b/list-objects-filter-options.h
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ struct list_objects_filter_options {
 	 * some values will be defined for any given choice.
 	 */
 
-	struct object_id *sparse_oid_value;
+	char *sparse_oid_name;
 	unsigned long blob_limit_value;
 	unsigned long tree_exclude_depth;
 
diff --git a/list-objects-filter.c b/list-objects-filter.c
index d624f1c898..1e8d4e763d 100644
--- a/list-objects-filter.c
+++ b/list-objects-filter.c
@@ -483,9 +483,17 @@ static void filter_sparse_oid__init(
 	struct filter *filter)
 {
 	struct filter_sparse_data *d = xcalloc(1, sizeof(*d));
-	if (add_patterns_from_blob_to_list(filter_options->sparse_oid_value,
-					   NULL, 0, &d->pl) < 0)
-		die("could not load filter specification");
+	struct object_context oc;
+	struct object_id sparse_oid;
+
+	if (get_oid_with_context(the_repository,
+				 filter_options->sparse_oid_name,
+				 GET_OID_BLOB, &sparse_oid, &oc))
+		die(_("unable to access sparse blob in '%s'"),
+		    filter_options->sparse_oid_name);
+	if (add_patterns_from_blob_to_list(&sparse_oid, "", 0, &d->pl) < 0)
+		die(_("unable to parse sparse filter data in %s"),
+		    oid_to_hex(&sparse_oid));
 
 	ALLOC_GROW(d->array_frame, d->nr + 1, d->alloc);
 	d->array_frame[d->nr].default_match = 0; /* default to include */
diff --git a/t/t5616-partial-clone.sh b/t/t5616-partial-clone.sh
index fc634a56b2..79f7b65f8c 100755
--- a/t/t5616-partial-clone.sh
+++ b/t/t5616-partial-clone.sh
@@ -260,6 +260,42 @@ test_expect_success 'fetch what is specified on CLI even if already promised' '
 	! grep "?$(cat blob)" missing_after
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'setup src repo for sparse filter' '
+	git init sparse-src &&
+	git -C sparse-src config --local uploadpack.allowfilter 1 &&
+	git -C sparse-src config --local uploadpack.allowanysha1inwant 1 &&
+	test_commit -C sparse-src one &&
+	test_commit -C sparse-src two &&
+	echo /one.t >sparse-src/only-one &&
+	git -C sparse-src add . &&
+	git -C sparse-src commit -m "add sparse checkout files"
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'partial clone with sparse filter succeeds' '
+	rm -rf dst.git &&
+	git clone --no-local --bare \
+		  --filter=sparse:oid=master:only-one \
+		  sparse-src dst.git &&
+	(
+		cd dst.git &&
+		git rev-list --objects --missing=print HEAD >out &&
+		grep "^$(git rev-parse HEAD:one.t)" out &&
+		grep "^?$(git rev-parse HEAD:two.t)" out
+	)
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'partial clone with unresolvable sparse filter fails cleanly' '
+	rm -rf dst.git &&
+	test_must_fail git clone --no-local --bare \
+				 --filter=sparse:oid=master:no-such-name \
+				 sparse-src dst.git 2>err &&
+	test_i18ngrep "unable to access sparse blob in .master:no-such-name" err &&
+	test_must_fail git clone --no-local --bare \
+				 --filter=sparse:oid=master \
+				 sparse-src dst.git 2>err &&
+	test_i18ngrep "unable to parse sparse filter data in" err
+'
+
 . "$TEST_DIRECTORY"/lib-httpd.sh
 start_httpd