diff --git a/betterproto2/src/betterproto2/__init__.py b/betterproto2/src/betterproto2/__init__.py
index 5c8d1b3..3a977e1 100644
--- a/betterproto2/src/betterproto2/__init__.py
+++ b/betterproto2/src/betterproto2/__init__.py
@@ -606,11 +606,11 @@ def _value_to_dict(
     return value, not bool(value)
 
 
-def _value_from_dict(value: Any, meta: FieldMetadata, field_type: type) -> Any:
+def _value_from_dict(value: Any, meta: FieldMetadata, field_type: type, ignore_unknown_fields: bool) -> Any:
     if meta.proto_type == TYPE_MESSAGE:
         msg_cls = meta.unwrap() if meta.unwrap else field_type
 
-        msg = msg_cls.from_dict(value)
+        msg = msg_cls.from_dict(value, ignore_unknown_fields=ignore_unknown_fields)
 
         if meta.unwrap:
             return msg.to_wrapped()
@@ -1152,9 +1152,9 @@ def _from_dict_init(cls, mapping: Mapping[str, Any] | Any, *, ignore_unknown_fie
 
             if meta.proto_type == TYPE_MESSAGE:
                 if meta.repeated:
-                    value = [_value_from_dict(item, meta, field_cls) for item in value]
+                    value = [_value_from_dict(item, meta, field_cls, ignore_unknown_fields) for item in value]
                 else:
-                    value = _value_from_dict(value, meta, field_cls)
+                    value = _value_from_dict(value, meta, field_cls, ignore_unknown_fields)
 
             elif meta.proto_type == TYPE_MAP:
                 assert meta.map_meta
@@ -1163,15 +1163,17 @@ def _from_dict_init(cls, mapping: Mapping[str, Any] | Any, *, ignore_unknown_fie
                 value_cls = cls._betterproto.cls_by_field[f"{field_name}.value"]
 
                 value = {
-                    _value_from_dict(k, meta.map_meta[0], type(None)): _value_from_dict(v, meta.map_meta[1], value_cls)
+                    _value_from_dict(k, meta.map_meta[0], type(None), ignore_unknown_fields): _value_from_dict(
+                        v, meta.map_meta[1], value_cls, ignore_unknown_fields
+                    )
                     for k, v in value.items()
                 }
 
             elif meta.repeated:
-                value = [_value_from_dict(item, meta, field_cls) for item in value]
+                value = [_value_from_dict(item, meta, field_cls, ignore_unknown_fields) for item in value]
 
             else:
-                value = _value_from_dict(value, meta, field_cls)
+                value = _value_from_dict(value, meta, field_cls, ignore_unknown_fields)
 
             init_kwargs[field_name] = value
         return init_kwargs
diff --git a/betterproto2/tests/test_nested.py b/betterproto2/tests/test_nested.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c5b0109
--- /dev/null
+++ b/betterproto2/tests/test_nested.py
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+def test_nested_from_dict():
+    """
+    Make sure that from_dict() arguments are passed recursively
+    """
+    from tests.outputs.nested.nested import Test
+
+    data = {
+        "nested": {"count": 1},
+        "sibling": {"foo": 2},
+    }
+    Test.from_dict(data)
+
+    data["bar"] = 3
+    Test.from_dict(data, ignore_unknown_fields=True)
+
+    data["nested"]["bar"] = 3
+    Test.from_dict(data, ignore_unknown_fields=True)
+
+    data["sibling"]["bar"] = 4
+    Test.from_dict(data, ignore_unknown_fields=True)