diff --git a/CHANGES b/CHANGES
index 5ee2aea14..30ca8a5cc 100644
--- a/CHANGES
+++ b/CHANGES
@@ -154,6 +154,8 @@ Bugs fixed
   attributes. Thanks to David Ham.
 * PR#159: Add coverage targets to quickstart generated Makefile and make.bat.
   Thanks to Matthias Troffaes.
+* #1251: When specifying toctree :numbered: option and :tocdepth: metadata,
+  sub section number that is larger depth than `:tocdepth:` is shrinked.
 
 Documentation
 -------------
diff --git a/sphinx/environment.py b/sphinx/environment.py
index 9916887aa..737369571 100644
--- a/sphinx/environment.py
+++ b/sphinx/environment.py
@@ -976,7 +976,6 @@ class BuildEnvironment:
     def build_toc_from(self, docname, document):
         """Build a TOC from the doctree and store it in the inventory."""
         numentries = [0] # nonlocal again...
-        maxdepth = self.metadata[docname].get('tocdepth', 0)
 
         def traverse_in_section(node, cls):
             """Like traverse(), but stay within the same section."""
@@ -1030,8 +1029,7 @@ class BuildEnvironment:
                 para = addnodes.compact_paragraph('', '', reference)
                 item = nodes.list_item('', para)
                 sub_item = build_toc(sectionnode, depth + 1)
-                if maxdepth == 0 or depth < maxdepth:
-                    item += sub_item
+                item += sub_item
                 entries.append(item)
             if entries:
                 return nodes.bullet_list('', *entries)
@@ -1247,6 +1245,8 @@ class BuildEnvironment:
                             continue
                         refdoc = ref
                         toc = self.tocs[ref].deepcopy()
+                        maxdepth = self.metadata[ref].get('tocdepth', 0)
+                        _toctree_prune(toc, 2, maxdepth)
                         self.process_only_nodes(toc, builder, ref)
                         if title and toc.children and len(toc.children) == 1:
                             child = toc.children[0]
diff --git a/tests/roots/test-tocdepth/bar.rst b/tests/roots/test-tocdepth/bar.rst
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..402311fdb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/roots/test-tocdepth/bar.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+:tocdepth: 2
+
+===
+Bar
+===
+
+should be 2
+
+Bar A
+=====
+
+should be 2.1
+
+Bar A1
+------
+
+should be 2.1.1
+
+Bar B
+=====
+
+should be 2.2
+
+Bar B1
+------
+
+should be 2.2.1
+
diff --git a/tests/roots/test-tocdepth/conf.py b/tests/roots/test-tocdepth/conf.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f81c30bc4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/roots/test-tocdepth/conf.py
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+
+master_doc = 'index'
diff --git a/tests/roots/test-tocdepth/foo.rst b/tests/roots/test-tocdepth/foo.rst
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..61fd539ff
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/roots/test-tocdepth/foo.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+===
+Foo
+===
+
+should be 1
+
+Foo A
+=====
+
+should be 1.1
+
+Foo A1
+------
+
+should be 1.1.1
+
+Foo B
+=====
+
+should be 1.2
+
+Foo B1
+------
+
+should be 1.2.1
+
diff --git a/tests/roots/test-tocdepth/index.rst b/tests/roots/test-tocdepth/index.rst
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..0b651d483
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/roots/test-tocdepth/index.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+test-tocdepth
+=============
+
+.. toctree::
+   :numbered:
+
+   foo
+   bar
diff --git a/tests/test_build_html.py b/tests/test_build_html.py
index 5f0a93ce2..a9ee4524c 100644
--- a/tests/test_build_html.py
+++ b/tests/test_build_html.py
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ except ImportError:
     pygments = None
 
 from sphinx import __version__
-from util import test_root, remove_unicode_literals, gen_with_app, with_app
+from util import test_root, test_roots, remove_unicode_literals, gen_with_app, with_app
 from etree13 import ElementTree as ET
 
 
@@ -296,7 +296,7 @@ class NslessParser(ET.XMLParser):
             return name
 
 
-def check_xpath(etree, fname, path, check):
+def check_xpath(etree, fname, path, check, be_found=True):
     nodes = list(etree.findall(path))
     assert nodes != [], ('did not find any node matching xpath '
                          '%r in file %s' % (path, fname))
@@ -308,7 +308,7 @@ def check_xpath(etree, fname, path, check):
     else:
         rex = re.compile(check)
         for node in nodes:
-            if node.text and rex.search(node.text):
+            if node.text and (bool(rex.search(node.text)) ^ (not be_found)):
                 break
         else:
             assert False, ('%r not found in any node matching '
@@ -371,3 +371,44 @@ def test_html_with_globaltoc_and_hidden_toctree(app):
             '\n   :hidden:'
             '\n')
     app.builder.build_all()
+
+
+@gen_with_app(buildername='html', srcdir=(test_roots / 'test-tocdepth'))
+def test_tocdepth(app):
+    # issue #1251
+    app.builder.build_all()
+
+    expects = {
+        'index.html': [
+            (".//li[@class='toctree-l3']/a", '1.1.1. Foo A1', True),
+            (".//li[@class='toctree-l3']/a", '1.2.1. Foo B1', True),
+            (".//li[@class='toctree-l3']/a", '2.1.1. Bar A1', False),
+            (".//li[@class='toctree-l3']/a", '2.2.1. Bar B1', False),
+            ],
+        'foo.html': [
+            (".//h1", '1. Foo', True),
+            (".//h2", '1.1. Foo A', True),
+            (".//h3", '1.1.1. Foo A1', True),
+            (".//h2", '1.2. Foo B', True),
+            (".//h3", '1.2.1. Foo B1', True),
+            ],
+        'bar.html': [
+            (".//h1", '2. Bar', True),
+            (".//h2", '2.1. Bar A', True),
+            (".//h3", '2.1.1. Bar A1', True),
+            (".//h2", '2.2. Bar B', True),
+            (".//h3", '2.2.1. Bar B1', True),
+        ],
+    }
+
+    for fname, paths in iteritems(expects):
+        parser = NslessParser()
+        parser.entity.update(html_entities.entitydefs)
+        fp = open(os.path.join(app.outdir, fname), 'rb')
+        try:
+            etree = ET.parse(fp, parser)
+        finally:
+            fp.close()
+
+        for xpath, check, be_found in paths:
+            yield check_xpath, etree, fname, xpath, check, be_found