diff --git a/Ghidra/Features/Base/src/main/java/ghidra/app/util/headless/HeadlessAnalyzer.java b/Ghidra/Features/Base/src/main/java/ghidra/app/util/headless/HeadlessAnalyzer.java
index ef1d1177c1..f13bab0445 100644
--- a/Ghidra/Features/Base/src/main/java/ghidra/app/util/headless/HeadlessAnalyzer.java
+++ b/Ghidra/Features/Base/src/main/java/ghidra/app/util/headless/HeadlessAnalyzer.java
@@ -1656,10 +1656,13 @@ public class HeadlessAnalyzer {
 			messageLog, TaskMonitor.DUMMY);
 	}
 
-	private void processWithImport(FSRL fsrl, String folderPath, int depth, boolean isFirstTime)
+	private void processWithImport(FSRL fsrl, String folderPath, Integer depth, boolean isFirstTime)
 			throws IOException {
 		try (RefdFile refdFile = fsService.getRefdFile(fsrl, TaskMonitor.DUMMY)) {
 			GFile file = refdFile.file;
+			if (depth == null && isFirstTime) {
+				depth = file.isDirectory() ? 0 : 1; // set default depth
+			}
 			if ((options.recursive || isFirstTime) && file.isDirectory()) {
 				processFS(file.getFilesystem(), file, folderPath, depth);
 				return;
diff --git a/Ghidra/Features/Base/src/main/java/ghidra/app/util/headless/HeadlessOptions.java b/Ghidra/Features/Base/src/main/java/ghidra/app/util/headless/HeadlessOptions.java
index 04d8cc0232..bfeb35e8fb 100644
--- a/Ghidra/Features/Base/src/main/java/ghidra/app/util/headless/HeadlessOptions.java
+++ b/Ghidra/Features/Base/src/main/java/ghidra/app/util/headless/HeadlessOptions.java
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ public class HeadlessOptions {
 
 	// -recursive
 	boolean recursive;
-	int recursiveDepth;
+	Integer recursiveDepth; // 'null' means use default depth, which is different for files vs dirs
 
 	// -readOnly
 	boolean readOnly;
@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@ public class HeadlessOptions {
 		propertiesFilePaths = new ArrayList<>();
 		overwrite = false;
 		recursive = false;
-		recursiveDepth = 0;
+		recursiveDepth = null;
 		readOnly = false;
 		deleteProject = false;
 		analyze = true;
@@ -343,9 +343,7 @@ public class HeadlessOptions {
 	 */
 	public void enableRecursiveProcessing(boolean enabled, Integer depth) {
 		this.recursive = enabled;
-		if (depth != null) {
-			this.recursiveDepth = depth;
-		}
+		this.recursiveDepth = depth;
 	}
 
 	/**
diff --git a/Ghidra/RuntimeScripts/Common/support/analyzeHeadlessREADME.html b/Ghidra/RuntimeScripts/Common/support/analyzeHeadlessREADME.html
index 737482a746..fee4b0070a 100644
--- a/Ghidra/RuntimeScripts/Common/support/analyzeHeadlessREADME.html
+++ b/Ghidra/RuntimeScripts/Common/support/analyzeHeadlessREADME.html
@@ -404,9 +404,10 @@ The Headless Analyzer uses the command-line parameters discussed below. See <a h
     Specifying a positive integer value for the optional <typewriter>&lt;depth&gt;</typewriter>
     argument enables recursive descent into supported container files (e.g., zip, tar, .a, etc).
     The depth value only applies to nested container files. Intermediate directories found within 
-    each nested container file are not affected by the specified depth value.  Specifying a depth 
-    value of 0 has the same effect as not specifying any depth value (i.e., container files will not be recursed into).
-   </LI>
+    each nested container file are not affected by the specified depth value.  If a depth value is
+    not specified, it will default to 0 if importing a directory, and 1 if importing a file.  A
+    depth of 0 will prevent recursing into any container files.
+    </LI>
 
     <br><br>