diff --git a/spacy/cli/_util.py b/spacy/cli/_util.py
index db7320745..e66420024 100644
--- a/spacy/cli/_util.py
+++ b/spacy/cli/_util.py
@@ -372,7 +372,11 @@ def git_checkout(
         cmd = f"git -C {tmp_dir} clone {repo} . -b {branch}"
         run_command(cmd, capture=True)
         # We need Path(name) to make sure we also support subdirectories
-        shutil.copytree(str(tmp_dir / Path(subpath)), str(dest))
+        try:
+            shutil.copytree(str(tmp_dir / Path(subpath)), str(dest))
+        except FileNotFoundError:
+            err = f"Can't clone {subpath}. Make sure the directory exists in the repo (branch '{branch}')"
+            msg.fail(err, repo, exits=1)
 
 
 def git_sparse_checkout(repo, subpath, dest, branch):
diff --git a/spacy/cli/project/clone.py b/spacy/cli/project/clone.py
index e4edd4a73..72d4004f8 100644
--- a/spacy/cli/project/clone.py
+++ b/spacy/cli/project/clone.py
@@ -9,14 +9,18 @@ from ...util import ensure_path
 from .._util import project_cli, Arg, Opt, COMMAND, PROJECT_FILE
 from .._util import git_checkout, get_git_version
 
+DEFAULT_REPO = about.__projects__
+DEFAULT_PROJECTS_BRANCH = about.__projects_branch__
+DEFAULT_BRANCH = "master"
+
 
 @project_cli.command("clone")
 def project_clone_cli(
     # fmt: off
     name: str = Arg(..., help="The name of the template to clone"),
     dest: Optional[Path] = Arg(None, help="Where to clone the project. Defaults to current working directory", exists=False),
-    repo: str = Opt(about.__projects__, "--repo", "-r", help="The repository to clone from"),
-    branch: str = Opt(about.__projects_branch__, "--branch", "-b", help="The branch to clone from"),
+    repo: str = Opt(DEFAULT_REPO, "--repo", "-r", help="The repository to clone from"),
+    branch: Optional[str] = Opt(None, "--branch", "-b", help="The branch to clone from"),
     sparse_checkout: bool = Opt(False, "--sparse", "-S", help="Use sparse Git checkout to only check out and clone the files needed. Requires Git v22.2+.")
     # fmt: on
 ):
@@ -29,6 +33,9 @@ def project_clone_cli(
     """
     if dest is None:
         dest = Path.cwd() / Path(name).parts[-1]
+    if branch is None:
+        # If it's a user repo, we want to default to other branch
+        branch = DEFAULT_PROJECTS_BRANCH if repo == DEFAULT_REPO else DEFAULT_BRANCH
     project_clone(name, dest, repo=repo, branch=branch, sparse_checkout=sparse_checkout)