diff --git a/packages/docusaurus/bin/docusaurus.mjs b/packages/docusaurus/bin/docusaurus.mjs
index cd53d42d5952..7429f4f4156e 100755
--- a/packages/docusaurus/bin/docusaurus.mjs
+++ b/packages/docusaurus/bin/docusaurus.mjs
@@ -115,6 +115,10 @@ cli
     '--skip-build',
     'skip building website before deploy it (default: false)',
   )
+  .option(
+    '--target-dir <dir>',
+    'path to the target directory to deploy to (default: `.`)',
+  )
   .action(deploy);
 
 /**
diff --git a/packages/docusaurus/src/commands/deploy.ts b/packages/docusaurus/src/commands/deploy.ts
index e16f4881552b..2e23a8e3efb1 100644
--- a/packages/docusaurus/src/commands/deploy.ts
+++ b/packages/docusaurus/src/commands/deploy.ts
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ export type DeployCLIOptions = Pick<
   'config' | 'locale' | 'outDir'
 > & {
   skipBuild?: boolean;
+  targetDir?: string;
 };
 
 // GIT_PASS env variable should not appear in logs
@@ -185,32 +186,33 @@ You can also set the deploymentBranch property in docusaurus.config.js .`);
   const currentCommit = shellExecLog('git rev-parse HEAD').stdout.trim();
 
   const runDeploy = async (outputDirectory: string) => {
+    const targetDirectory = cliOptions.targetDir ?? '.';
     const fromPath = outputDirectory;
     const toPath = await fs.mkdtemp(
       path.join(os.tmpdir(), `${projectName}-${deploymentBranch}`),
     );
     shell.cd(toPath);
 
-    // Check out deployment branch when cloning repository, and then remove all
-    // the files in the directory. If the 'clone' command fails, assume that
-    // the deployment branch doesn't exist, and initialize git in an empty
-    // directory, check out a clean deployment branch and add remote.
+    // Clones the repo into the temp folder and checks out the target branch.
+    // If the branch doesn't exist, it creates a new one based on the
+    // repository default branch.
     if (
       shellExecLog(
         `git clone --depth 1 --branch ${deploymentBranch} ${deploymentRepoURL} "${toPath}"`,
-      ).code === 0
+      ).code !== 0
     ) {
-      shellExecLog('git rm -rf .');
-    } else {
-      shellExecLog('git init');
+      shellExecLog(`git clone --depth 1 ${deploymentRepoURL} "${toPath}"`);
       shellExecLog(`git checkout -b ${deploymentBranch}`);
-      shellExecLog(`git remote add origin ${deploymentRepoURL}`);
     }
 
+    // Clear out any existing contents in the target directory
+    shellExecLog(`git rm -rf ${targetDirectory}`);
+
+    const targetPath = path.join(toPath, targetDirectory);
     try {
-      await fs.copy(fromPath, toPath);
+      await fs.copy(fromPath, targetPath);
     } catch (err) {
-      logger.error`Copying build assets from path=${fromPath} to path=${toPath} failed.`;
+      logger.error`Copying build assets from path=${fromPath} to path=${targetPath} failed.`;
       throw err;
     }
     shellExecLog('git add --all');
@@ -254,7 +256,8 @@ You can also set the deploymentBranch property in docusaurus.config.js .`);
   if (!cliOptions.skipBuild) {
     // Build site, then push to deploymentBranch branch of specified repo.
     try {
-      await build(siteDir, cliOptions, false).then(() => runDeploy(outDir));
+      await build(siteDir, cliOptions, false);
+      await runDeploy(outDir);
     } catch (err) {
       logger.error('Deployment of the build output failed.');
       throw err;
diff --git a/website/docs/cli.mdx b/website/docs/cli.mdx
index 369779788afa..5be24e5191b5 100644
--- a/website/docs/cli.mdx
+++ b/website/docs/cli.mdx
@@ -144,6 +144,7 @@ Deploys your site with [GitHub Pages](https://pages.github.com/). Check out the
 | `--locale` |  | Deploy the site in the specified locale. If not specified, all known locales are deployed. |
 | `--out-dir` | `build` | The full path for the new output directory, relative to the current workspace. |
 | `--skip-build` | `false` | Deploy website without building it. This may be useful when using a custom deploy script. |
+| `--target-dir` | `.` | Path to the target directory to deploy to. |
 | `--config` | `undefined` | Path to Docusaurus config file, default to `[siteDir]/docusaurus.config.js` |
 
 ### `docusaurus serve [siteDir]` {#docusaurus-serve-sitedir}