diff --git a/Documentation/config/branch.txt b/Documentation/config/branch.txt
index 8df10d0712..445341a906 100644
--- a/Documentation/config/branch.txt
+++ b/Documentation/config/branch.txt
@@ -40,8 +40,9 @@ branch.<name>.remote::
 	may be overridden with `remote.pushDefault` (for all branches).
 	The remote to push to, for the current branch, may be further
 	overridden by `branch.<name>.pushRemote`.  If no remote is
-	configured, or if you are not on any branch, it defaults to
-	`origin` for fetching and `remote.pushDefault` for pushing.
+	configured, or if you are not on any branch and there is more than
+	one remote defined in the repository, it defaults to `origin` for
+	fetching and `remote.pushDefault` for pushing.
 	Additionally, `.` (a period) is the current local repository
 	(a dot-repository), see `branch.<name>.merge`'s final note below.
 
diff --git a/remote.c b/remote.c
index 42a4e7106e..930fdc9c2f 100644
--- a/remote.c
+++ b/remote.c
@@ -543,6 +543,8 @@ static const char *remotes_remote_for_branch(struct remote_state *remote_state,
 	}
 	if (explicit)
 		*explicit = 0;
+	if (remote_state->remotes_nr == 1)
+		return remote_state->remotes[0]->name;
 	return "origin";
 }
 
diff --git a/t/t5512-ls-remote.sh b/t/t5512-ls-remote.sh
index f53f58895a..20d063fb9a 100755
--- a/t/t5512-ls-remote.sh
+++ b/t/t5512-ls-remote.sh
@@ -15,6 +15,10 @@ generate_references () {
 	done
 }
 
+test_expect_success 'dies when no remote found' '
+	test_must_fail git ls-remote
+'
+
 test_expect_success setup '
 	>file &&
 	git add file &&
@@ -30,7 +34,8 @@ test_expect_success setup '
 	git show-ref -d	>refs &&
 	sed -e "s/ /	/" refs >>expected.all &&
 
-	git remote add self "$(pwd)/.git"
+	git remote add self "$(pwd)/.git" &&
+	git remote add self2 "."
 '
 
 test_expect_success 'ls-remote --tags .git' '
@@ -83,11 +88,17 @@ test_expect_success 'ls-remote --sort="-refname" --tags self' '
 	test_cmp expect actual
 '
 
-test_expect_success 'dies when no remote specified and no default remotes found' '
+test_expect_success 'dies when no remote specified, multiple remotes found, and no default specified' '
 	test_must_fail git ls-remote
 '
 
-test_expect_success 'use "origin" when no remote specified' '
+test_expect_success 'succeeds when no remote specified but only one found' '
+	test_when_finished git remote add self2 "." &&
+	git remote remove self2 &&
+	git ls-remote
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'use "origin" when no remote specified and multiple found' '
 	URL="$(pwd)/.git" &&
 	echo "From $URL" >exp_err &&
 
diff --git a/t/t5528-push-default.sh b/t/t5528-push-default.sh
index f280e00eb7..0d6c9869ed 100755
--- a/t/t5528-push-default.sh
+++ b/t/t5528-push-default.sh
@@ -94,13 +94,74 @@ test_expect_success '"upstream" does not push when remotes do not match' '
 	test_must_fail git push parent2
 '
 
-test_expect_success 'push from/to new branch with upstream, matching and simple' '
+test_expect_success '"current" does not push when multiple remotes and none origin' '
+	git checkout main &&
+	test_config push.default current &&
+	test_commit current-multi &&
+	test_must_fail git push
+'
+
+test_expect_success '"current" pushes when remote explicitly specified' '
+	git checkout main &&
+	test_config push.default current &&
+	test_commit current-specified &&
+	git push parent1
+'
+
+test_expect_success '"current" pushes to origin when no remote specified among multiple' '
+	git checkout main &&
+	test_config remote.origin.url repo1 &&
+	test_config remote.origin.fetch "+refs/heads/*:refs/remotes/origin/*" &&
+	test_commit current-origin &&
+	test_push_success current main
+'
+
+test_expect_success '"current" pushes to single remote even when not specified' '
+	git checkout main &&
+	test_when_finished git remote add parent1 repo1 &&
+	git remote remove parent1 &&
+	test_commit current-implied &&
+	test_push_success current main repo2
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'push from/to new branch with non-defaulted remote fails with upstream, matching, current and simple ' '
 	git checkout -b new-branch &&
 	test_push_failure simple &&
 	test_push_failure matching &&
+	test_push_failure upstream &&
+	test_push_failure current
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'push from/to new branch fails with upstream and simple ' '
+	git checkout -b new-branch-1 &&
+	test_config branch.new-branch-1.remote parent1 &&
+	test_push_failure simple &&
 	test_push_failure upstream
 '
 
+# The behavior here is surprising but not entirely wrong:
+#  - the current branch is used to determine the target remote
+#  - the "matching" push default pushes matching branches, *ignoring* the
+#       current new branch as it does not have upstream tracking
+#  - the default push succeeds
+#
+# A previous test expected this to fail, but for the wrong reasons:
+# it expected a fail becaause the branch is new and cannot be pushed, but
+# in fact it was failing because of an ambiguous remote
+#
+test_expect_failure 'push from/to new branch fails with matching ' '
+	git checkout -b new-branch-2 &&
+	test_config branch.new-branch-2.remote parent1 &&
+	test_push_failure matching
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'push from/to branch with tracking fails with nothing ' '
+	git checkout -b tracked-branch &&
+	test_config branch.tracked-branch.remote parent1 &&
+	test_config branch.tracked-branch.merge refs/heads/tracked-branch &&
+	test_push_failure nothing
+'
+
 test_expect_success '"matching" fails if none match' '
 	git init --bare empty &&
 	test_must_fail git push empty : 2>actual &&