diff --git a/dvc/dependency/repo.py b/dvc/dependency/repo.py
index 0963e1061d..595b836dc5 100644
--- a/dvc/dependency/repo.py
+++ b/dvc/dependency/repo.py
@@ -6,7 +6,9 @@
 from funcy import merge
 
 from .local import DependencyLOCAL
+from dvc.external_repo import cached_clone
 from dvc.external_repo import external_repo
+from dvc.exceptions import NotDvcRepoError
 from dvc.exceptions import OutputNotFoundError
 from dvc.exceptions import PathMissingError
 from dvc.utils.fs import fs_copy
@@ -75,27 +77,35 @@ def fetch(self):
         return out
 
     @staticmethod
-    def _is_git_file(repo, path):
-        if not os.path.isabs(path):
-            try:
-                output = repo.find_out_by_relpath(path)
-                if not output.use_cache:
-                    return True
-            except OutputNotFoundError:
-                return True
-        return False
+    def _is_git_file(repo_dir, path):
+        from dvc.repo import Repo
+
+        if os.path.isabs(path):
+            return False
+
+        try:
+            repo = Repo(repo_dir)
+        except NotDvcRepoError:
+            return True
+
+        try:
+            output = repo.find_out_by_relpath(path)
+            return not output.use_cache
+        except OutputNotFoundError:
+            return True
+        finally:
+            repo.close()
 
     def _copy_if_git_file(self, to_path):
         src_path = self.def_path
-        with self._make_repo(
-            cache_dir=self.repo.cache.local.cache_dir
-        ) as repo:
-            if not self._is_git_file(repo, src_path):
-                return False
+        repo_dir = cached_clone(**self.def_repo)
+
+        if not self._is_git_file(repo_dir, src_path):
+            return False
 
-            src_full_path = os.path.join(repo.root_dir, src_path)
-            dst_full_path = os.path.abspath(to_path)
-            fs_copy(src_full_path, dst_full_path)
+        src_full_path = os.path.join(repo_dir, src_path)
+        dst_full_path = os.path.abspath(to_path)
+        fs_copy(src_full_path, dst_full_path)
         return True
 
     def download(self, to):
diff --git a/dvc/external_repo.py b/dvc/external_repo.py
index cf5ecacdd1..9ff2f2a413 100644
--- a/dvc/external_repo.py
+++ b/dvc/external_repo.py
@@ -33,18 +33,20 @@ def external_repo(url=None, rev=None, rev_lock=None, cache_dir=None):
     repo.close()
 
 
-def _external_repo(url=None, rev=None, cache_dir=None):
-    from dvc.config import Config
-    from dvc.cache import CacheConfig
-    from dvc.repo import Repo
+def cached_clone(url, rev=None, **_ignored_kwargs):
+    """Clone an external git repo to a temporary directory.
 
-    key = (url, rev, cache_dir)
-    if key in REPO_CACHE:
-        return REPO_CACHE[key]
+    Returns the path to a local temporary directory with the specified
+    revision checked out.
+
+    Uses the REPO_CACHE to avoid accessing the remote server again if
+    cloning from the same URL twice in the same session.
+
+    """
 
     new_path = tempfile.mkdtemp("dvc-erepo")
 
-    # Copy and adjust existing clone
+    # Copy and adjust existing clean clone
     if (url, None, None) in REPO_CACHE:
         old_path = REPO_CACHE[url, None, None]
 
@@ -59,13 +61,24 @@ def _external_repo(url=None, rev=None, cache_dir=None):
         copy_tree(new_path, clean_clone_path)
         REPO_CACHE[url, None, None] = clean_clone_path
 
-    # Adjust new clone/copy to fit rev and cache_dir
-
-    # Checkout needs to be done first because current branch might not be
-    # DVC repository
+    # Check out the specified revision
     if rev is not None:
         _git_checkout(new_path, rev)
 
+    return new_path
+
+
+def _external_repo(url=None, rev=None, cache_dir=None):
+    from dvc.config import Config
+    from dvc.cache import CacheConfig
+    from dvc.repo import Repo
+
+    key = (url, rev, cache_dir)
+    if key in REPO_CACHE:
+        return REPO_CACHE[key]
+
+    new_path = cached_clone(url, rev=rev)
+
     repo = Repo(new_path)
     try:
         # check if the URL is local and no default remote is present
diff --git a/tests/func/test_import.py b/tests/func/test_import.py
index 99da2df896..19ef1edd1b 100644
--- a/tests/func/test_import.py
+++ b/tests/func/test_import.py
@@ -29,7 +29,12 @@ def test_import(tmp_dir, scm, dvc, erepo_dir, monkeypatch):
     assert scm.repo.git.check_ignore("foo_imported")
 
 
-def test_import_git_file(erepo_dir, tmp_dir, dvc, scm):
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("src_is_dvc", [True, False])
+def test_import_git_file(erepo_dir, tmp_dir, dvc, scm, src_is_dvc):
+    if not src_is_dvc:
+        erepo_dir.dvc.scm.repo.index.remove([".dvc"], r=True)
+        erepo_dir.dvc.scm.commit("remove .dvc")
+
     src = "some_file"
     dst = "some_file_imported"
 
@@ -44,7 +49,12 @@ def test_import_git_file(erepo_dir, tmp_dir, dvc, scm):
     assert tmp_dir.scm.repo.git.check_ignore(fspath(tmp_dir / dst))
 
 
-def test_import_git_dir(erepo_dir, tmp_dir, dvc, scm):
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("src_is_dvc", [True, False])
+def test_import_git_dir(erepo_dir, tmp_dir, dvc, scm, src_is_dvc):
+    if not src_is_dvc:
+        erepo_dir.dvc.scm.repo.index.remove([".dvc"], r=True)
+        erepo_dir.dvc.scm.commit("remove .dvc")
+
     src = "some_directory"
     dst = "some_directory_imported"