diff --git a/include/git2/remote.h b/include/git2/remote.h
index 2aa384a54..3f43916b5 100644
--- a/include/git2/remote.h
+++ b/include/git2/remote.h
@@ -426,10 +426,9 @@ GIT_EXTERN(int) git_remote_set_callbacks(git_remote *remote, git_remote_callback
 GIT_EXTERN(const git_transfer_progress *) git_remote_stats(git_remote *remote);
 
 typedef enum {
-	GIT_REMOTE_DOWNLOAD_TAGS_UNSET,
-	GIT_REMOTE_DOWNLOAD_TAGS_NONE,
-	GIT_REMOTE_DOWNLOAD_TAGS_AUTO,
-	GIT_REMOTE_DOWNLOAD_TAGS_ALL
+	GIT_REMOTE_DOWNLOAD_TAGS_AUTO = 0,
+	GIT_REMOTE_DOWNLOAD_TAGS_NONE = 1,
+	GIT_REMOTE_DOWNLOAD_TAGS_ALL = 2
 } git_remote_autotag_option_t;
 
 /**
diff --git a/src/clone.c b/src/clone.c
index 7ebdb5765..4f763268b 100644
--- a/src/clone.c
+++ b/src/clone.c
@@ -422,7 +422,6 @@ static void normalize_options(git_clone_options *dst, const git_clone_options *s
 
 	/* Provide defaults for null pointers */
 	if (!dst->remote_name) dst->remote_name = "origin";
-	if (!dst->remote_autotag) dst->remote_autotag = GIT_REMOTE_DOWNLOAD_TAGS_AUTO;
 }
 
 int git_clone(
diff --git a/src/remote.c b/src/remote.c
index 7a64622a5..4c1b39818 100644
--- a/src/remote.c
+++ b/src/remote.c
@@ -48,11 +48,7 @@ static int download_tags_value(git_remote *remote, git_config *cfg)
 	git_buf buf = GIT_BUF_INIT;
 	int error;
 
-	if (remote->download_tags != GIT_REMOTE_DOWNLOAD_TAGS_UNSET)
-		return 0;
-
-	/* This is the default, let's see if we need to change it */
-	remote->download_tags = GIT_REMOTE_DOWNLOAD_TAGS_AUTO;
+	/* The 0 value is the default (auto), let's see if we need to change it */
 	if (git_buf_printf(&buf, "remote.%s.tagopt", remote->name) < 0)
 		return -1;
 
@@ -117,10 +113,9 @@ static int create_internal(git_remote **out, git_repository *repo, const char *n
 			goto on_error;
 	}
 
-	/* A remote without a name doesn't download tags */
-	if (!name) {
+	if (!name)
+		/* A remote without a name doesn't download tags */
 		remote->download_tags = GIT_REMOTE_DOWNLOAD_TAGS_NONE;
-	}
 
 	*out = remote;
 	git_buf_free(&fetchbuf);
@@ -246,7 +241,6 @@ int git_remote_load(git_remote **out, git_repository *repo, const char *name)
 	git_config *config;
 	struct refspec_cb_data data;
 
-
 	assert(out && repo && name);
 
 	if ((error = ensure_remote_name_is_valid(name)) < 0)
diff --git a/tests-clar/network/remote/remotes.c b/tests-clar/network/remote/remotes.c
index 34f1c055c..3c4fa96fa 100644
--- a/tests-clar/network/remote/remotes.c
+++ b/tests-clar/network/remote/remotes.c
@@ -286,11 +286,14 @@ void test_network_remote_remotes__add(void)
 	_remote = NULL;
 
 	cl_git_pass(git_remote_create(&_remote, _repo, "addtest", "http://github.com/libgit2/libgit2"));
+	cl_assert_equal_i(GIT_REMOTE_DOWNLOAD_TAGS_AUTO, git_remote_autotag(_remote));
 
 	git_remote_free(_remote);
 	_remote = NULL;
 
 	cl_git_pass(git_remote_load(&_remote, _repo, "addtest"));
+	cl_assert_equal_i(GIT_REMOTE_DOWNLOAD_TAGS_AUTO, git_remote_autotag(_remote));
+
 	_refspec = git_vector_get(&_remote->refspecs, 0);
 	cl_assert_equal_s("refs/heads/*", git_refspec_src(_refspec));
 	cl_assert(git_refspec_force(_refspec) == 1);