diff --git a/builtin/pull.c b/builtin/pull.c
index e0157d013f..54c58618e9 100644
--- a/builtin/pull.c
+++ b/builtin/pull.c
@@ -112,6 +112,24 @@ static int opt_show_forced_updates = -1;
 static char *set_upstream;
 static struct strvec opt_fetch = STRVEC_INIT;
 
+static int parse_opt_ff_only(const struct option *opt, const char *arg, int unset)
+{
+	char **value = opt->value;
+	opt_rebase = REBASE_DEFAULT;
+	free(*value);
+	*value = xstrdup_or_null("--ff-only");
+	return 0;
+}
+
+static int parse_opt_merge(const struct option *opt, const char *arg, int unset)
+{
+	enum rebase_type *value = opt->value;
+	free(opt_ff);
+	opt_ff = NULL;
+	*value = REBASE_FALSE;
+	return 0;
+}
+
 static struct option pull_options[] = {
 	/* Shared options */
 	OPT__VERBOSITY(&opt_verbosity),
@@ -129,8 +147,9 @@ static struct option pull_options[] = {
 		"(false|true|merges|preserve|interactive)",
 		N_("incorporate changes by rebasing rather than merging"),
 		PARSE_OPT_OPTARG, parse_opt_rebase),
-	OPT_SET_INT('m', "merge", &opt_rebase,
-		N_("incorporate changes by merging"), REBASE_FALSE),
+	OPT_CALLBACK_F('m', "merge", &opt_rebase, NULL,
+		N_("incorporate changes by merging"),
+		PARSE_OPT_NOARG | PARSE_OPT_NONEG, parse_opt_merge),
 	OPT_PASSTHRU('n', NULL, &opt_diffstat, NULL,
 		N_("do not show a diffstat at the end of the merge"),
 		PARSE_OPT_NOARG | PARSE_OPT_NONEG),
@@ -159,9 +178,9 @@ static struct option pull_options[] = {
 	OPT_PASSTHRU(0, "ff", &opt_ff, NULL,
 		N_("allow fast-forward"),
 		PARSE_OPT_NOARG),
-	OPT_PASSTHRU(0, "ff-only", &opt_ff, NULL,
+	OPT_CALLBACK_F(0, "ff-only", &opt_ff, NULL,
 		N_("abort if fast-forward is not possible"),
-		PARSE_OPT_NOARG | PARSE_OPT_NONEG),
+		PARSE_OPT_NOARG | PARSE_OPT_NONEG, parse_opt_ff_only),
 	OPT_PASSTHRU(0, "verify-signatures", &opt_verify_signatures, NULL,
 		N_("verify that the named commit has a valid GPG signature"),
 		PARSE_OPT_NOARG),
@@ -1008,20 +1027,25 @@ int cmd_pull(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 
 	can_ff = get_can_ff(&orig_head, &merge_heads.oid[0]);
 
-	if (!opt_rebase && !can_ff && opt_verbosity >= 0 && (!opt_ff || !strcmp(opt_ff, "--ff"))) {
-		advise(_("Pulling without specifying how to reconcile divergent branches is discouraged;\n"
-			"you need to specify if you want a merge, a rebase, or a fast-forward.\n"
-			"You can squelch this message by running one of the following commands:\n"
-			"\n"
-			"  git config pull.rebase false  # merge (the default strategy)\n"
-			"  git config pull.rebase true   # rebase\n"
-			"  git config pull.ff only       # fast-forward only\n"
-			"\n"
-			"You can replace \"git config\" with \"git config --global\" to set a default\n"
-			"preference for all repositories.\n"
-			"If unsure, run \"git pull --merge\".\n"
-			"Read \"git pull --help\" for more information."
-			));
+	if (!can_ff && !opt_rebase) {
+		if (opt_ff && !strcmp(opt_ff, "--ff-only"))
+			die(_("The pull was not fast-forward, please either merge or rebase."));
+
+		if (opt_verbosity >= 0 && (!opt_ff || !strcmp(opt_ff, "--ff"))) {
+			advise(_("Pulling without specifying how to reconcile divergent branches is discouraged;\n"
+				"you need to specify if you want a merge, a rebase, or a fast-forward.\n"
+				"You can squelch this message by running one of the following commands:\n"
+				"\n"
+				"  git config pull.rebase false  # merge (the default strategy)\n"
+				"  git config pull.rebase true   # rebase\n"
+				"  git config pull.ff only       # fast-forward only\n"
+				"\n"
+				"You can replace \"git config\" with \"git config --global\" to set a default\n"
+				"preference for all repositories.\n"
+				"If unsure, run \"git pull --merge\".\n"
+				"Read \"git pull --help\" for more information."
+				));
+		}
 	}
 
 	if (opt_rebase >= REBASE_TRUE) {
diff --git a/t/t5520-pull.sh b/t/t5520-pull.sh
index 9fae07cdfa..0cdac4010b 100755
--- a/t/t5520-pull.sh
+++ b/t/t5520-pull.sh
@@ -819,4 +819,89 @@ test_expect_success 'git pull --rebase against local branch' '
 	test_cmp expect file2
 '
 
+setup_other () {
+	test_when_finished "git checkout master && git branch -D other test" &&
+	git checkout -b other $1 &&
+	>new &&
+	git add new &&
+	git commit -m new &&
+	git checkout -b test -t other &&
+	git reset --hard master
+}
+
+setup_ff () {
+	setup_other master
+}
+
+setup_non_ff () {
+	setup_other master^
+}
+
+test_expect_success 'fast-forward (ff-only)' '
+	test_config pull.ff only &&
+	setup_ff &&
+	git pull
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'non-fast-forward (ff-only)' '
+	test_config pull.ff only &&
+	setup_non_ff &&
+	test_must_fail git pull
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'non-fast-forward with merge (ff-only)' '
+	test_config pull.ff only &&
+	setup_non_ff &&
+	git pull --merge
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'non-fast-forward with rebase (ff-only)' '
+	test_config pull.ff only &&
+	setup_non_ff &&
+	git pull --rebase
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'non-fast-forward error message (ff-only)' '
+	test_config pull.ff only &&
+	setup_non_ff &&
+	test_must_fail git pull 2> error &&
+	cat error &&
+	grep -q "The pull was not fast-forward" error
+'
+
+test_expect_success '--merge overrides --ff-only' '
+	setup_non_ff &&
+	git pull --ff-only --merge
+'
+
+test_expect_success '--rebase overrides --ff-only' '
+	setup_non_ff &&
+	git pull --ff-only --rebase
+'
+
+test_expect_success '--ff-only overrides --merge' '
+	setup_non_ff &&
+	test_must_fail git pull --merge --ff-only
+'
+
+test_expect_success '--ff-only overrides pull.rebase=false' '
+	test_config pull.rebase false &&
+	setup_non_ff &&
+	test_must_fail git pull --ff-only
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'pull.rebase=true overrides pull.ff=only' '
+	test_config pull.ff only &&
+	test_config pull.rebase true &&
+	setup_non_ff &&
+	git pull
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'pull.rebase=false overrides pull.ff=only' '
+	test_config pull.ff only &&
+	test_config pull.rebase false &&
+	setup_non_ff &&
+	test_must_fail git pull
+'
+
 test_done
