diff --git a/remote.c b/remote.c
index bf1bf23091..9f83fe2c4c 100644
--- a/remote.c
+++ b/remote.c
@@ -693,7 +693,7 @@ static struct remote *remote_get_1(const char *name,
 		name = get_default(current_branch, &name_given);
 
 	ret = make_remote(name, 0);
-	if (valid_remote_nick(name)) {
+	if (valid_remote_nick(name) && have_git_dir()) {
 		if (!valid_remote(ret))
 			read_remotes_file(ret);
 		if (!valid_remote(ret))
diff --git a/t/t5512-ls-remote.sh b/t/t5512-ls-remote.sh
index 55fc83fc06..94fc9be9ce 100755
--- a/t/t5512-ls-remote.sh
+++ b/t/t5512-ls-remote.sh
@@ -248,4 +248,13 @@ test_expect_success PIPE,JGIT,GIT_DAEMON 'indicate no refs in standards-complian
 	test_expect_code 2 git ls-remote --exit-code git://localhost:$JGIT_DAEMON_PORT/empty.git
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'ls-remote works outside repository' '
+	# It is important for this repo to be inside the nongit
+	# area, as we want a repo name that does not include
+	# slashes (because those inhibit some of our configuration
+	# lookups).
+	nongit git init --bare dst.git &&
+	nongit git ls-remote dst.git
+'
+
 test_done
diff --git a/t/t5550-http-fetch-dumb.sh b/t/t5550-http-fetch-dumb.sh
index aeb3a63f7c..b69ece1d66 100755
--- a/t/t5550-http-fetch-dumb.sh
+++ b/t/t5550-http-fetch-dumb.sh
@@ -34,6 +34,15 @@ test_expect_success 'clone http repository' '
 	test_cmp file clone/file
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'list refs from outside any repository' '
+	cat >expect <<-EOF &&
+	$(git rev-parse master)	HEAD
+	$(git rev-parse master)	refs/heads/master
+	EOF
+	nongit git ls-remote "$HTTPD_URL/dumb/repo.git" >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
 test_expect_success 'create password-protected repository' '
 	mkdir -p "$HTTPD_DOCUMENT_ROOT_PATH/auth/dumb/" &&
 	cp -Rf "$HTTPD_DOCUMENT_ROOT_PATH/repo.git" \
diff --git a/transport-helper.c b/transport-helper.c
index 1258d6aedd..dc90a1fb76 100644
--- a/transport-helper.c
+++ b/transport-helper.c
@@ -124,8 +124,9 @@ static struct child_process *get_helper(struct transport *transport)
 	helper->git_cmd = 0;
 	helper->silent_exec_failure = 1;
 
-	argv_array_pushf(&helper->env_array, "%s=%s", GIT_DIR_ENVIRONMENT,
-			 get_git_dir());
+	if (have_git_dir())
+		argv_array_pushf(&helper->env_array, "%s=%s",
+				 GIT_DIR_ENVIRONMENT, get_git_dir());
 
 	code = start_command(helper);
 	if (code < 0 && errno == ENOENT)