diff --git a/builtin/checkout.c b/builtin/checkout.c
index b52c490c8f..656ac043b8 100644
--- a/builtin/checkout.c
+++ b/builtin/checkout.c
@@ -1660,6 +1660,8 @@ static int checkout_main(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix,
 		die(_("--pathspec-file-nul requires --pathspec-from-file"));
 	}
 
+	opts->pathspec.recursive = 1;
+
 	if (opts->pathspec.nr) {
 		if (1 < !!opts->writeout_stage + !!opts->force + !!opts->merge)
 			die(_("git checkout: --ours/--theirs, --force and --merge are incompatible when\n"
diff --git a/t/t2025-checkout-no-overlay.sh b/t/t2025-checkout-no-overlay.sh
index 76330cb5ab..fa9e098706 100755
--- a/t/t2025-checkout-no-overlay.sh
+++ b/t/t2025-checkout-no-overlay.sh
@@ -44,4 +44,16 @@ test_expect_success '--no-overlay --theirs with D/F conflict deletes file' '
 	test_path_is_missing file1
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'wildcard pathspec matches file in subdirectory' '
+	git reset --hard &&
+	mkdir subdir &&
+	test_commit file3-1 subdir/file3 &&
+	test_commit file3-2 subdir/file3 &&
+
+	git checkout --no-overlay file3-1 "*file3" &&
+	echo file3-1 >expect &&
+	test_path_is_file subdir/file3 &&
+	test_cmp expect subdir/file3
+'
+
 test_done
diff --git a/t/t2072-restore-pathspec-file.sh b/t/t2072-restore-pathspec-file.sh
index db58e83735..5468f7a7b3 100755
--- a/t/t2072-restore-pathspec-file.sh
+++ b/t/t2072-restore-pathspec-file.sh
@@ -9,18 +9,21 @@ test_tick
 test_expect_success setup '
 	test_commit file0 &&
 
+	mkdir dir1 &&
+	echo 1 >dir1/file &&
 	echo 1 >fileA.t &&
 	echo 1 >fileB.t &&
 	echo 1 >fileC.t &&
 	echo 1 >fileD.t &&
-	git add fileA.t fileB.t fileC.t fileD.t &&
+	git add dir1 fileA.t fileB.t fileC.t fileD.t &&
 	git commit -m "files 1" &&
 
+	echo 2 >dir1/file &&
 	echo 2 >fileA.t &&
 	echo 2 >fileB.t &&
 	echo 2 >fileC.t &&
 	echo 2 >fileD.t &&
-	git add fileA.t fileB.t fileC.t fileD.t &&
+	git add dir1 fileA.t fileB.t fileC.t fileD.t &&
 	git commit -m "files 2" &&
 
 	git tag checkpoint
@@ -31,7 +34,7 @@ restore_checkpoint () {
 }
 
 verify_expect () {
-	git status --porcelain --untracked-files=no -- fileA.t fileB.t fileC.t fileD.t >actual &&
+	git status --porcelain --untracked-files=no -- dir1 fileA.t fileB.t fileC.t fileD.t >actual &&
 	test_cmp expect actual
 }
 
@@ -136,4 +139,14 @@ test_expect_success 'only touches what was listed' '
 	verify_expect
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'wildcard pathspec matches file in subdirectory' '
+	restore_checkpoint &&
+
+	echo "*file" | git restore --pathspec-from-file=- --source=HEAD^1 &&
+	cat >expect <<-\EOF &&
+	 M dir1/file
+	EOF
+	verify_expect
+'
+
 test_done