diff --git a/CHANGELOG.rst b/CHANGELOG.rst
index 25c6b8a5e..050fa6c3b 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.rst
+++ b/CHANGELOG.rst
@@ -45,6 +45,7 @@ Syntax changes and new commands
 -------------------------------
 -  Range limits in index range expansions like ``$x[$start..$end]`` may be omitted: ``$start`` and ``$end`` default to 1 and -1 (the last item) respectively.
 -  Logical operators ``&&`` and ``||`` can be followed by newlines before their right operand, matching POSIX shells.
+-  When globbing, a segment which is exactly ``**`` may now match zero directories. For example ``**/foo`` may match ``foo`` in the current directory (:issue:`7222`).
 
 Scripting improvements
 ----------------------
diff --git a/doc_src/index.rst b/doc_src/index.rst
index ae82f301d..dd98587a9 100644
--- a/doc_src/index.rst
+++ b/doc_src/index.rst
@@ -498,9 +498,9 @@ Wildcards ("Globbing")
 
 When a parameter includes an :ref:`unquoted <quotes>` ``*`` star (or "asterisk") or a ``?`` question mark, fish uses it as a wildcard to match files.
 
-- ``*`` can match any string of characters not containing ``/``. This includes matching an empty string.
+- ``*`` matches any number of characters (including zero) in a file name, not including ``/``.
 
-- ``**`` matches any string of characters. This includes matching an empty string. The matched string can include the ``/`` character; that is, it goes into subdirectories. If a wildcard string with ``**`` contains a ``/``, that ``/`` still needs to be matched. For example, ``**\/*.fish`` won't match ``.fish`` files directly in the PWD, only in subdirectories. In fish you should type ``**.fish`` to match files in the PWD as well as subdirectories. [#]_
+- ``**`` matches any number of characters (including zero), and also descends into subdirectories. If ``**`` is a segment by itself, that segment may match zero times, for compatibility with other shells.
 
 - ``?`` can match any single character except ``/``. This is deprecated and can be disabled via the ``qmark-noglob`` :ref:`feature flag<featureflags>`, so ``?`` will just be an ordinary character.
 
@@ -541,7 +541,6 @@ Examples::
     end
     # Lists the .foo files, if any.
 
-.. [#] Unlike other shells, notably zsh.
 .. [#] Technically, unix allows filenames with newlines, and this splits the ``find`` output on newlines. If you want to avoid that, use find's ``-print0`` option and :ref:`string split0<cmd-string-split0>`.
 
 .. _expand-command-substitution:
diff --git a/src/wildcard.cpp b/src/wildcard.cpp
index 14c8ffc2c..f3a411b79 100644
--- a/src/wildcard.cpp
+++ b/src/wildcard.cpp
@@ -930,6 +930,20 @@ void wildcard_expander_t::expand(const wcstring &base_dir, const wchar_t *wc,
         }
     } else {
         assert(!wc_segment.empty() && (segment_has_wildcards || is_last_segment));
+
+        if (!is_last_segment && wc_segment == wcstring{ANY_STRING_RECURSIVE}) {
+            // Hack for #7222. This is an intermediate wc segment that is exactly **. The
+            // tail matches in subdirectories as normal, but also the current directory.
+            // That is, '**/bar' may match 'bar' and 'foo/bar'.
+            // Implement this by matching the wildcard tail only, in this directory.
+            // Note if the segment is not exactly ANY_STRING_RECURSIVE then the segment may only
+            // match subdirectories.
+            this->expand(base_dir, wc_remainder, effective_prefix);
+            if (interrupted_or_overflowed()) {
+                return;
+            }
+        }
+
         DIR *dir = open_dir(base_dir);
         if (dir) {
             if (is_last_segment) {
@@ -942,10 +956,9 @@ void wildcard_expander_t::expand(const wcstring &base_dir, const wchar_t *wc,
                                                   effective_prefix + wc_segment + L'/');
             }
 
-            // If we have a recursive wildcard in this segment, we want to recurse into
-            // subdirectories.
             size_t asr_idx = wc_segment.find(ANY_STRING_RECURSIVE);
             if (asr_idx != wcstring::npos) {
+                // Apply the recursive **.
                 // Construct a "head + any" wildcard for matching stuff in this directory, and an
                 // "any + tail" wildcard for matching stuff in subdirectories. Note that the
                 // ANY_STRING_RECURSIVE character is present in both the head and the tail.
diff --git a/tests/checks/glob.fish b/tests/checks/glob.fish
index 560756833..8777b6117 100644
--- a/tests/checks/glob.fish
+++ b/tests/checks/glob.fish
@@ -74,6 +74,16 @@ string join \n **a2/** | sort
 # CHECK: dir_a1/dir_a2/dir_a3
 # CHECK: dir_a1/dir_a2/dir_a3/file_a
 
+rm -Rf *
+
+# Special behavior for #7222.
+# The literal segment ** matches in the same directory.
+mkdir foo
+touch bar foo/bar
+string join \n **/bar | sort
+# CHECK: bar
+# CHECK: foo/bar
+
 # Clean up.
 cd $HOME
 rm -Rf $tmpdir