diff --git a/repo_launcher b/repo_launcher
index 7b6673a73..a4eb43fde 100755
--- a/repo_launcher
+++ b/repo_launcher
@@ -149,7 +149,7 @@ if not REPO_REV:
 BUG_URL = 'https://bugs.chromium.org/p/gerrit/issues/entry?template=Repo+tool+issue'
 
 # increment this whenever we make important changes to this script
-VERSION = (2, 21)
+VERSION = (2, 29)
 
 # increment this if the MAINTAINER_KEYS block is modified
 KEYRING_VERSION = (2, 3)
@@ -316,6 +316,9 @@ def InitParser(parser, gitc_init=False):
                    help='download the manifest as a static file '
                         'rather then create a git checkout of '
                         'the manifest repo')
+  group.add_option('--manifest-depth', type='int', default=1, metavar='DEPTH',
+                   help='create a shallow clone of the manifest repo with '
+                        'given depth; see git clone (default: %default)')
 
   # Options that only affect manifest project, and not any of the projects
   # specified in the manifest itself.
@@ -325,9 +328,9 @@ def InitParser(parser, gitc_init=False):
   # want -c, so try to satisfy both as best we can.
   if not gitc_init:
     cbr_opts += ['-c']
-  group.add_option(*cbr_opts,
+  group.add_option(*cbr_opts, default=True,
                    dest='current_branch_only', action='store_true',
-                   help='fetch only current manifest branch from server')
+                   help='fetch only current manifest branch from server (default)')
   group.add_option('--no-current-branch',
                    dest='current_branch_only', action='store_false',
                    help='fetch all manifest branches from server')
@@ -612,15 +615,20 @@ def _Init(args, gitc_init=False):
   try:
     if not opt.quiet:
       print('Downloading Repo source from', url)
-    dst = os.path.abspath(os.path.join(repodir, S_repo))
+    dst_final = os.path.abspath(os.path.join(repodir, S_repo))
+    dst = dst_final + '.tmp'
+    shutil.rmtree(dst, ignore_errors=True)
     _Clone(url, dst, opt.clone_bundle, opt.quiet, opt.verbose)
 
     remote_ref, rev = check_repo_rev(dst, rev, opt.repo_verify, quiet=opt.quiet)
     _Checkout(dst, remote_ref, rev, opt.quiet)
 
     if not os.path.isfile(os.path.join(dst, 'repo')):
-      print("warning: '%s' does not look like a git-repo repository, is "
-            "REPO_URL set correctly?" % url, file=sys.stderr)
+      print("fatal: '%s' does not look like a git-repo repository, is "
+            "--repo-url set correctly?" % url, file=sys.stderr)
+      raise CloneFailure()
+
+    os.rename(dst, dst_final)
 
   except CloneFailure:
     print('fatal: double check your --repo-rev setting.', file=sys.stderr)
@@ -1317,6 +1325,7 @@ def main(orig_args):
         print("fatal: cloning the git-repo repository failed, will remove "
               "'%s' " % path, file=sys.stderr)
         shutil.rmtree(path, ignore_errors=True)
+        shutil.rmtree(path + '.tmp', ignore_errors=True)
         sys.exit(1)
       repo_main, rel_repo_dir = _FindRepo()
     else: