diff --git a/llvm/lib/DebugInfo/DWARF/DWARFDie.cpp b/llvm/lib/DebugInfo/DWARF/DWARFDie.cpp
index c4bb2259244b..1b8b46385af0 100644
--- a/llvm/lib/DebugInfo/DWARF/DWARFDie.cpp
+++ b/llvm/lib/DebugInfo/DWARF/DWARFDie.cpp
@@ -488,7 +488,7 @@ void DWARFDie::dump(raw_ostream &OS, unsigned Indent,
         }
 
         DWARFDie child = getFirstChild();
-        if (DumpOpts.RecurseDepth > 0 && child) {
+        if (DumpOpts.ShowChildren && DumpOpts.RecurseDepth > 0 && child) {
           DumpOpts.RecurseDepth--;
           while (child) {
             child.dump(OS, Indent + 2, DumpOpts);
diff --git a/llvm/test/tools/llvm-dwarfdump/X86/name.test b/llvm/test/tools/llvm-dwarfdump/X86/name.test
index 66483179b5ab..e8e90abc0cbf 100644
--- a/llvm/test/tools/llvm-dwarfdump/X86/name.test
+++ b/llvm/test/tools/llvm-dwarfdump/X86/name.test
@@ -61,3 +61,9 @@ RUN:   | FileCheck %s --check-prefix=MULTI
 RUN: llvm-dwarfdump %S/../../dsymutil/Inputs/libfat-test.a \
 RUN:   -x -name=.*86.*_var \
 RUN:   | FileCheck %s --check-prefix=MULTI
+
+Test the -show-children behavior.
+RUN: llvm-mc %S/brief.s -filetype obj -triple x86_64-apple-darwin -o - \
+RUN:   | llvm-dwarfdump -name="brief.c" - | FileCheck %s -check-prefix=NOCHILDREN
+NOCHILDREN: DW_AT_name ("brief.c")
+NOCHILDREN-NOT: DW_TAG
diff --git a/llvm/tools/llvm-dwarfdump/llvm-dwarfdump.cpp b/llvm/tools/llvm-dwarfdump/llvm-dwarfdump.cpp
index 04371b7da841..40a90e1662d8 100644
--- a/llvm/tools/llvm-dwarfdump/llvm-dwarfdump.cpp
+++ b/llvm/tools/llvm-dwarfdump/llvm-dwarfdump.cpp
@@ -536,14 +536,17 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv) {
   }
 
   raw_ostream &OS = OutputFile ? OutputFile->os() : outs();
+  bool OffsetRequested = false;
 
   // Defaults to dumping all sections, unless brief mode is specified in which
   // case only the .debug_info section in dumped.
 #define HANDLE_DWARF_SECTION(ENUM_NAME, ELF_NAME, CMDLINE_NAME)                \
   if (Dump##ENUM_NAME.IsRequested) {                                           \
     DumpType |= DIDT_##ENUM_NAME;                                              \
-    if (Dump##ENUM_NAME.HasValue)                                              \
+    if (Dump##ENUM_NAME.HasValue) {                                            \
       DumpOffsets[DIDT_ID_##ENUM_NAME] = Dump##ENUM_NAME.Val;                  \
+      OffsetRequested = true;                                                  \
+    }                                                                          \
   }
 #include "llvm/BinaryFormat/Dwarf.def"
 #undef HANDLE_DWARF_SECTION
@@ -558,6 +561,10 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv) {
       DumpType = DIDT_DebugInfo;
   }
 
+  // Unless dumping a specific DIE, default to --show-children.
+  if (!ShowChildren && !Verify && !OffsetRequested && Name.empty() && Find.empty())
+    ShowChildren = true;
+
   // Defaults to a.out if no filenames specified.
   if (InputFilenames.size() == 0)
     InputFilenames.push_back("a.out");