diff --git a/spacy/cli/_util.py b/spacy/cli/_util.py
index b03f3eb69..4694fddbb 100644
--- a/spacy/cli/_util.py
+++ b/spacy/cli/_util.py
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-from typing import Dict, Any, Union, List, Optional, TYPE_CHECKING
+from typing import Dict, Any, Union, List, Optional, Tuple, TYPE_CHECKING
 import sys
 import shutil
 from pathlib import Path
@@ -321,41 +321,62 @@ def git_sparse_checkout(repo: str, subpath: str, dest: Path, *, branch: str = "m
     # *that* we can do by path.
     # We're using Git and sparse checkout to only clone the files we need
     with make_tempdir() as tmp_dir:
+        git_version = get_git_version()
+        supports_sparse = git_version >= (2, 22)
         # This is the "clone, but don't download anything" part.
-        cmd = (
-            f"git clone {repo} {tmp_dir} --no-checkout --depth 1 "
-            f"--filter=blob:none "  # <-- The key bit
-            f"-b {branch}"
-        )
+        cmd = f"git clone {repo} {tmp_dir} --no-checkout --depth 1 " f"-b {branch} "
+        if supports_sparse:
+            cmd += f"--filter=blob:none"  # <-- The key bit
+        else:
+            msg.warn(
+                f"You're running an old version of Git (v{git_version[0]}.{git_version[1]}) "
+                f"that doesn't fully support sparse checkout yet. This means that "
+                f"more files than necessary may be cloned. To only download the "
+                f"files needed, upgrade to Git v2.22 or above."
+            )
         _attempt_run_command(cmd)
         # Now we need to find the missing filenames for the subpath we want.
         # Looking for this 'rev-list' command in the git --help? Hah.
-        cmd = f"git -C {tmp_dir} rev-list --objects --all --missing=print -- {subpath}"
+        cmd = f"git -C {tmp_dir} rev-list --objects --all {'--missing=print ' if supports_sparse else ''} -- {subpath}"
         ret = _attempt_run_command(cmd)
         git_repo = _from_http_to_git(repo)
         # Now pass those missings into another bit of git internals
         missings = " ".join([x[1:] for x in ret.stdout.split() if x.startswith("?")])
-        if not missings:
-           err = f"Could not find any relevant files for '{subpath}'. " \
-                 f"Did you specify a correct and complete path within repo '{repo}' " \
-                 f"and branch {branch}?"
-           msg.fail(err, exits=1)
-        cmd = f"git -C {tmp_dir} fetch-pack {git_repo} {missings}"
-        _attempt_run_command(cmd)
+        if supports_sparse and not missings:
+            err = (
+                f"Could not find any relevant files for '{subpath}'. "
+                f"Did you specify a correct and complete path within repo '{repo}' "
+                f"and branch {branch}?"
+            )
+            msg.fail(err, exits=1)
+        if supports_sparse:
+            cmd = f"git -C {tmp_dir} fetch-pack {git_repo} {missings}"
+            _attempt_run_command(cmd)
         # And finally, we can checkout our subpath
         cmd = f"git -C {tmp_dir} checkout {branch} {subpath}"
         _attempt_run_command(cmd)
         # We need Path(name) to make sure we also support subdirectories
         shutil.move(str(tmp_dir / Path(subpath)), str(dest))
 
-def _attempt_run_command(cmd):
+
+def get_git_version() -> Tuple[int, int]:
+    ret = _attempt_run_command(["git", "--version"])
+    # TODO: this seems kinda brittle?
+    version = ret.stdout[11:].strip().split(".")
+    return (int(version[0]), int(version[1]))
+
+
+def _attempt_run_command(cmd: Union[str, List[str]]):
     try:
         return run_command(cmd, capture=True)
     except subprocess.CalledProcessError as e:
-        err = f"Could not run command: {cmd}."
-        msg.fail(err, exits=1)
+        err = f"Could not run command"
+        msg.fail(err)
+        print(cmd)
+        sys.exit(1)
 
-def _from_http_to_git(repo):
+
+def _from_http_to_git(repo: str) -> str:
     if repo.startswith("http://"):
         repo = repo.replace(r"http://", r"https://")
     if repo.startswith(r"https://"):
diff --git a/spacy/cli/project/clone.py b/spacy/cli/project/clone.py
index 427df490f..ab617e4ba 100644
--- a/spacy/cli/project/clone.py
+++ b/spacy/cli/project/clone.py
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ def project_clone_cli(
     DOCS: https://nightly.spacy.io/api/cli#project-clone
     """
     if dest is None:
-        dest = Path.cwd() / name
+        dest = Path.cwd() / Path(name).parts[-1]
     project_clone(name, dest, repo=repo, branch=branch)
 
 
diff --git a/spacy/util.py b/spacy/util.py
index bd567ddc7..d8df04554 100644
--- a/spacy/util.py
+++ b/spacy/util.py
@@ -648,7 +648,7 @@ def join_command(command: List[str]) -> str:
     return " ".join(shlex.quote(cmd) for cmd in command)
 
 
-def run_command(command: Union[str, List[str]], *, capture=False, stdin=None) -> None:
+def run_command(command: Union[str, List[str]], *, capture=False, stdin=None):
     """Run a command on the command line as a subprocess. If the subprocess
     returns a non-zero exit code, a system exit is performed.