diff --git a/t/t1092-sparse-checkout-compatibility.sh b/t/t1092-sparse-checkout-compatibility.sh
index 2269f44e03..375b0d3556 100755
--- a/t/t1092-sparse-checkout-compatibility.sh
+++ b/t/t1092-sparse-checkout-compatibility.sh
@@ -218,6 +218,14 @@ test_expect_success 'status with options' '
 	test_all_match git status --porcelain=v2 -uno
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'status reports sparse-checkout' '
+	init_repos &&
+	git -C sparse-checkout status >full &&
+	git -C sparse-index status >sparse &&
+	test_i18ngrep "You are in a sparse checkout with " full &&
+	test_i18ngrep "You are in a sparse checkout." sparse
+'
+
 test_expect_success 'add, commit, checkout' '
 	init_repos &&
 
diff --git a/wt-status.c b/wt-status.c
index 42b6735716..96db3e7496 100644
--- a/wt-status.c
+++ b/wt-status.c
@@ -1493,9 +1493,12 @@ static void show_sparse_checkout_in_use(struct wt_status *s,
 	if (s->state.sparse_checkout_percentage == SPARSE_CHECKOUT_DISABLED)
 		return;
 
-	status_printf_ln(s, color,
-			 _("You are in a sparse checkout with %d%% of tracked files present."),
-			 s->state.sparse_checkout_percentage);
+	if (s->state.sparse_checkout_percentage == SPARSE_CHECKOUT_SPARSE_INDEX)
+		status_printf_ln(s, color, _("You are in a sparse checkout."));
+	else
+		status_printf_ln(s, color,
+				_("You are in a sparse checkout with %d%% of tracked files present."),
+				s->state.sparse_checkout_percentage);
 	wt_longstatus_print_trailer(s);
 }
 
@@ -1653,6 +1656,11 @@ static void wt_status_check_sparse_checkout(struct repository *r,
 		return;
 	}
 
+	if (r->index->sparse_index) {
+		state->sparse_checkout_percentage = SPARSE_CHECKOUT_SPARSE_INDEX;
+		return;
+	}
+
 	for (i = 0; i < r->index->cache_nr; i++) {
 		struct cache_entry *ce = r->index->cache[i];
 		if (ce_skip_worktree(ce))
diff --git a/wt-status.h b/wt-status.h
index 0d32799b28..ab9cc9d8f0 100644
--- a/wt-status.h
+++ b/wt-status.h
@@ -78,6 +78,7 @@ enum wt_status_format {
 };
 
 #define SPARSE_CHECKOUT_DISABLED -1
+#define SPARSE_CHECKOUT_SPARSE_INDEX -2
 
 struct wt_status_state {
 	int merge_in_progress;