diff --git a/bench/app.py b/bench/app.py
index f675f3a3..90c096ed 100644
--- a/bench/app.py
+++ b/bench/app.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import os
-from .utils import exec_cmd, get_frappe
+from .utils import exec_cmd, get_frappe, check_git_for_shallow_clone, get_config
 
 import logging
 
@@ -21,7 +21,8 @@ def add_to_appstxt(app, bench='.'):
 
 def get_app(app, git_url, bench='.'):
 	logger.info('getting app {}'.format(app))
-	exec_cmd("git clone {} --origin upstream {}".format(git_url, app), cwd=os.path.join(bench, 'apps'))
+	shallow_clone = '--depth 1' if check_git_for_shallow_clone() and get_config().get('shallow_clone') else ''
+	exec_cmd("git clone {git_url} {shallow_clone} --origin upstream {app}".format(git_url=git_url, app=app, shallow_clone=shallow_clone), cwd=os.path.join(bench, 'apps'))
 	install_app(app, bench=bench)
 
 def new_app(app, bench='.'):
diff --git a/bench/utils.py b/bench/utils.py
index 2bde4d9d..a9b19d13 100644
--- a/bench/utils.py
+++ b/bench/utils.py
@@ -11,7 +11,8 @@ logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 default_config = {
 	'restart_supervisor_on_update': True,
 	'auto_update': True,
-	'update_bench_on_update': True
+	'update_bench_on_update': True,
+	'shallow_clone': True
 }
 
 def get_frappe(bench='.'):
@@ -117,7 +118,7 @@ def get_config(bench='.'):
 
 def put_config(config, bench='.'):
 	with open(os.path.join(bench, 'config.json'), 'w') as f:
-		return json.dump(config, f)
+		return json.dump(config, f, indent=1)
 
 def update_config(new_config, bench='.'):
 	config = get_config(bench=bench)
@@ -145,3 +146,20 @@ def check_cmd(cmd, cwd='.'):
 		return True
 	except subprocess.CalledProcessError, e:
 		return False
+
+def get_git_version():
+	version = get_cmd_output("git --version")
+	return version.strip().split()[-1]
+
+def check_git_for_shallow_clone():
+	git_version = get_git_version()
+	if '1.9' in git_version or '2.0' in git_version:
+		return True
+	return False
+
+def get_cmd_output(cmd, cwd='.'):
+	try:
+		return subprocess.check_output(cmd, cwd=cwd, shell=True)
+	except subprocess.CalledProcessError, e:
+		print "Error:", e.output
+		raise