diff --git a/dvc/external_repo.py b/dvc/external_repo.py
index 88ec1e1ec..37f02cc40 100644
--- a/dvc/external_repo.py
+++ b/dvc/external_repo.py
@@ -198,6 +198,8 @@ def _clone_default_branch(url, rev, for_write=False):
                     logger.debug("erepo: git pull '%s'", url)
                     git.pull()
         else:
+            from dvc.scm import clone
+
             logger.debug("erepo: git clone '%s' to a temporary dir", url)
             clone_path = tempfile.mkdtemp("dvc-clone")
             if not for_write and rev and not Git.is_sha(rev):
@@ -205,7 +207,7 @@ def _clone_default_branch(url, rev, for_write=False):
                 from dvc.scm.base import CloneError
 
                 try:
-                    git = Git.clone(url, clone_path, shallow_branch=rev)
+                    git = clone(url, clone_path, shallow_branch=rev)
                     shallow = True
                     logger.debug(
                         "erepo: using shallow clone for branch '%s'", rev
@@ -213,7 +215,7 @@ def _clone_default_branch(url, rev, for_write=False):
                 except CloneError:
                     pass
             if not git:
-                git = Git.clone(url, clone_path)
+                git = clone(url, clone_path)
                 shallow = False
             CLONES[url] = (clone_path, shallow)
     finally:
diff --git a/dvc/scm/__init__.py b/dvc/scm/__init__.py
index 9a0b0f4a0..3dccfb298 100644
--- a/dvc/scm/__init__.py
+++ b/dvc/scm/__init__.py
@@ -31,3 +31,13 @@ def SCM(
         return NoSCM(root_dir)
 
     return Git(root_dir, search_parent_directories=search_parent_directories)
+
+
+def clone(url: str, to_path: str, **kwargs):
+    from .exceptions import CloneError as InternalCloneError
+    from .base import CloneError
+
+    try:
+        return Git.clone(url, to_path, **kwargs)
+    except InternalCloneError as exc:
+        raise CloneError(str(exc))
diff --git a/dvc/scm/base.py b/dvc/scm/base.py
index cfcc51d4e..cabb59871 100644
--- a/dvc/scm/base.py
+++ b/dvc/scm/base.py
@@ -10,8 +10,7 @@ class SCMError(DvcException):
 
 
 class CloneError(SCMError):
-    def __init__(self, url, path):
-        super().__init__(f"Failed to clone repo '{url}' to '{path}'")
+    pass
 
 
 class RevError(SCMError):
diff --git a/dvc/scm/exceptions.py b/dvc/scm/exceptions.py
index 2ff9e0f82..cb549e065 100644
--- a/dvc/scm/exceptions.py
+++ b/dvc/scm/exceptions.py
@@ -28,3 +28,10 @@ class AuthError(SCMError):
     def __init__(self, url: str) -> None:
         self.url = url
         super().__init__(f"HTTP Git authentication is not supported: '{url}'")
+
+
+class CloneError(SCMError):
+    def __init__(self, url: str, path: str) -> None:
+        self.url = url
+        self.path = path
+        super().__init__(f"Failed to clone repo '{url}' to '{path}'")
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/dvc/scm/git/backend/gitpython.py b/dvc/scm/git/backend/gitpython.py
index 61715a3a8..658896db8 100644
--- a/dvc/scm/git/backend/gitpython.py
+++ b/dvc/scm/git/backend/gitpython.py
@@ -17,8 +17,8 @@ from typing import (
 from funcy import ignore
 
 from dvc.progress import Tqdm
-from dvc.scm.base import CloneError, RevError, SCMError
-from dvc.scm.exceptions import MergeConflictError
+from dvc.scm.base import RevError, SCMError
+from dvc.scm.exceptions import MergeConflictError, CloneError
 from dvc.utils import fix_env, is_binary, relpath
 
 from ..objects import GitCommit, GitObject