diff --git a/news/5444.feature.rst b/news/5444.feature.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..19780e694ec
--- /dev/null
+++ b/news/5444.feature.rst
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Use the much faster 'bzr co --lightweight' to obtain a copy of a Bazaar tree.
diff --git a/src/pip/_internal/vcs/bazaar.py b/src/pip/_internal/vcs/bazaar.py
index a7b16e2e052..06c80e48a39 100644
--- a/src/pip/_internal/vcs/bazaar.py
+++ b/src/pip/_internal/vcs/bazaar.py
@@ -49,14 +49,25 @@ def fetch_new(
             flag = ""
         else:
             flag = f"-{'v'*verbosity}"
-        cmd_args = make_command("branch", flag, rev_options.to_args(), url, dest)
+        cmd_args = make_command(
+            "checkout", "--lightweight", flag, rev_options.to_args(), url, dest
+        )
         self.run_command(cmd_args)
 
     def switch(self, dest: str, url: HiddenText, rev_options: RevOptions) -> None:
         self.run_command(make_command("switch", url), cwd=dest)
 
     def update(self, dest: str, url: HiddenText, rev_options: RevOptions) -> None:
-        cmd_args = make_command("pull", "-q", rev_options.to_args())
+        output = self.run_command(
+            make_command("info"), show_stdout=False, stdout_only=True, cwd=dest
+        )
+        if output.startswith("Standalone "):
+            # Older versions of pip used to create standalone branches.
+            # Convert the standalone branch to a checkout by calling "bzr bind".
+            cmd_args = make_command("bind", "-q", url)
+            self.run_command(cmd_args, cwd=dest)
+
+        cmd_args = make_command("update", "-q", rev_options.to_args())
         self.run_command(cmd_args, cwd=dest)
 
     @classmethod