diff --git a/t/t7524-serialized-status.sh b/t/t7524-serialized-status.sh
index d157fa98d0464e..2cf982d138c89d 100755
--- a/t/t7524-serialized-status.sh
+++ b/t/t7524-serialized-status.sh
@@ -333,4 +333,59 @@ test_expect_success 'renames' '
 	test_i18ncmp output.1 output.2
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'hint message when cached with u=complete' '
+	git init hint &&
+	echo xxx >hint/xxx &&
+	git -C hint add xxx &&
+	git -C hint commit -m xxx &&
+
+	cat >expect.clean <<EOF &&
+On branch master
+nothing to commit, working tree clean
+EOF
+
+	cat >expect.use_u <<EOF &&
+On branch master
+nothing to commit (use -u to show untracked files)
+EOF
+
+	# Capture long format output from "no", "normal", and "all"
+	# (without using status cache) and verify it matches expected
+	# output.
+
+	git -C hint status --untracked-files=normal >hint.output_normal &&
+	test_i18ncmp expect.clean hint.output_normal &&
+
+	git -C hint status --untracked-files=all >hint.output_all &&
+	test_i18ncmp expect.clean hint.output_all &&
+
+	git -C hint status --untracked-files=no >hint.output_no &&
+	test_i18ncmp expect.use_u hint.output_no &&
+
+	# Create long format output for "complete" and create status cache.
+
+	git -C hint status --untracked-files=complete --ignored=matching --serialize=../hint.dat >hint.output_complete &&
+	test_i18ncmp expect.clean hint.output_complete &&
+
+	# Capture long format output using the status cache and verify
+	# that the output matches the non-cached version.  There are 2
+	# ways to specify untracked-files, so do them both.
+
+	git -C hint status --deserialize=../hint.dat -unormal >hint.d1_normal &&
+	test_i18ncmp expect.clean hint.d1_normal &&
+	git -C hint -c status.showuntrackedfiles=normal status --deserialize=../hint.dat >hint.d2_normal &&
+	test_i18ncmp expect.clean hint.d2_normal &&
+
+	git -C hint status --deserialize=../hint.dat -uall >hint.d1_all &&
+	test_i18ncmp expect.clean hint.d1_all &&
+	git -C hint -c status.showuntrackedfiles=all status --deserialize=../hint.dat >hint.d2_all &&
+	test_i18ncmp expect.clean hint.d2_all &&
+
+	git -C hint status --deserialize=../hint.dat -uno >hint.d1_no &&
+	test_i18ncmp expect.use_u hint.d1_no &&
+	git -C hint -c status.showuntrackedfiles=no status --deserialize=../hint.dat >hint.d2_no &&
+	test_i18ncmp expect.use_u hint.d2_no
+
+'
+
 test_done
diff --git a/wt-status-deserialize.c b/wt-status-deserialize.c
index e1f7298bc758c5..ed71a0ccd60348 100644
--- a/wt-status-deserialize.c
+++ b/wt-status-deserialize.c
@@ -442,20 +442,24 @@ static int wt_deserialize_v1_ignored_items(struct wt_status *s,
 }
 
 static int validate_untracked_files_arg(enum untracked_status_type cmd,
-					enum untracked_status_type des,
+					enum untracked_status_type *des,
 					enum deserialize_parse_strategy *strategy)
 {
 	*strategy = DESERIALIZE_STRATEGY_AS_IS;
 
-	if (cmd == des) {
+	if (cmd == *des) {
 		*strategy = DESERIALIZE_STRATEGY_AS_IS;
 	} else if (cmd == SHOW_NO_UNTRACKED_FILES) {
 		*strategy = DESERIALIZE_STRATEGY_SKIP;
-	} else if (des == SHOW_COMPLETE_UNTRACKED_FILES) {
-		if (cmd == SHOW_ALL_UNTRACKED_FILES)
+		*des = cmd;
+	} else if (*des == SHOW_COMPLETE_UNTRACKED_FILES) {
+		if (cmd == SHOW_ALL_UNTRACKED_FILES) {
 			*strategy = DESERIALIZE_STRATEGY_ALL;
-		else if (cmd == SHOW_NORMAL_UNTRACKED_FILES)
+			*des = cmd;
+		} else if (cmd == SHOW_NORMAL_UNTRACKED_FILES) {
 			*strategy = DESERIALIZE_STRATEGY_NORMAL;
+			*des = cmd;
+		}
 	} else {
 		return DESERIALIZE_ERR;
 	}
@@ -497,7 +501,7 @@ static int wt_deserialize_v1(const struct wt_status *cmd_s, struct wt_status *s,
 	 * We now have the header parsed. Look at the command args (as passed in), and see how to parse
 	 * the serialized data
 	*/
-	if (validate_untracked_files_arg(cmd_s->show_untracked_files, s->show_untracked_files, &untracked_strategy)) {
+	if (validate_untracked_files_arg(cmd_s->show_untracked_files, &s->show_untracked_files, &untracked_strategy)) {
 		set_deserialize_reject_reason("args/untracked-files");
 		trace_printf_key(&trace_deserialize, "reject: show_untracked_file: command: %d, serialized : %d",
 				cmd_s->show_untracked_files,