diff --git a/setup.c b/setup.c
index 863ddfd938..82c0cc2a13 100644
--- a/setup.c
+++ b/setup.c
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 
 static int inside_git_dir = -1;
 static int inside_work_tree = -1;
+static int work_tree_config_is_bogus;
 
 /*
  * The input parameter must contain an absolute path, and it must already be
@@ -327,6 +328,10 @@ void setup_work_tree(void)
 
 	if (initialized)
 		return;
+
+	if (work_tree_config_is_bogus)
+		die("unable to set up work tree using invalid config");
+
 	work_tree = get_git_work_tree();
 	git_dir = get_git_dir();
 	if (!is_absolute_path(git_dir))
@@ -495,8 +500,11 @@ static const char *setup_explicit_git_dir(const char *gitdirenv,
 	if (work_tree_env)
 		set_git_work_tree(work_tree_env);
 	else if (is_bare_repository_cfg > 0) {
-		if (git_work_tree_cfg) /* #22.2, #30 */
-			die("core.bare and core.worktree do not make sense");
+		if (git_work_tree_cfg) {
+			/* #22.2, #30 */
+			warning("core.bare and core.worktree do not make sense");
+			work_tree_config_is_bogus = 1;
+		}
 
 		/* #18, #26 */
 		set_git_dir(gitdirenv);
diff --git a/t/t1510-repo-setup.sh b/t/t1510-repo-setup.sh
index 33c1a587b3..13ae12dfa7 100755
--- a/t/t1510-repo-setup.sh
+++ b/t/t1510-repo-setup.sh
@@ -599,11 +599,20 @@ test_expect_success '#20b/c: core.worktree and core.bare conflict' '
 	mkdir -p 20b/.git/wt/sub &&
 	(
 		cd 20b/.git &&
-		test_must_fail git symbolic-ref HEAD >/dev/null
+		test_must_fail git status >/dev/null
 	) 2>message &&
 	grep "core.bare and core.worktree" message
 '
 
+test_expect_success '#20d: core.worktree and core.bare OK when working tree not needed' '
+	setup_repo 20d non-existent "" true &&
+	mkdir -p 20d/.git/wt/sub &&
+	(
+		cd 20d/.git &&
+		git config foo.bar value
+	)
+'
+
 # Case #21: core.worktree/GIT_WORK_TREE overrides core.bare' '
 test_expect_success '#21: setup, core.worktree warns before overriding core.bare' '
 	setup_repo 21 non-existent "" unset &&
@@ -612,7 +621,7 @@ test_expect_success '#21: setup, core.worktree warns before overriding core.bare
 		cd 21/.git &&
 		GIT_WORK_TREE="$here/21" &&
 		export GIT_WORK_TREE &&
-		git symbolic-ref HEAD >/dev/null
+		git status >/dev/null
 	) 2>message &&
 	! test -s message
 
@@ -701,13 +710,13 @@ test_expect_success '#22.2: core.worktree and core.bare conflict' '
 		cd 22/.git &&
 		GIT_DIR=. &&
 		export GIT_DIR &&
-		test_must_fail git symbolic-ref HEAD 2>result
+		test_must_fail git status 2>result
 	) &&
 	(
 		cd 22 &&
 		GIT_DIR=.git &&
 		export GIT_DIR &&
-		test_must_fail git symbolic-ref HEAD 2>result
+		test_must_fail git status 2>result
 	) &&
 	grep "core.bare and core.worktree" 22/.git/result &&
 	grep "core.bare and core.worktree" 22/result
@@ -753,9 +762,8 @@ test_expect_success '#28: core.worktree and core.bare conflict (gitfile case)' '
 	setup_repo 28 "$here/28" gitfile true &&
 	(
 		cd 28 &&
-		test_must_fail git symbolic-ref HEAD
+		test_must_fail git status
 	) 2>message &&
-	! grep "^warning:" message &&
 	grep "core.bare and core.worktree" message
 '
 
@@ -767,7 +775,7 @@ test_expect_success '#29: setup' '
 		cd 29 &&
 		GIT_WORK_TREE="$here/29" &&
 		export GIT_WORK_TREE &&
-		git symbolic-ref HEAD >/dev/null
+		git status
 	) 2>message &&
 	! test -s message
 '
@@ -778,7 +786,7 @@ test_expect_success '#30: core.worktree and core.bare conflict (gitfile version)
 	setup_repo 30 "$here/30" gitfile true &&
 	(
 		cd 30 &&
-		test_must_fail env GIT_DIR=.git git symbolic-ref HEAD 2>result
+		test_must_fail env GIT_DIR=.git git status 2>result
 	) &&
 	grep "core.bare and core.worktree" 30/result
 '