diff --git a/t/helper/test-read-cache.c b/t/helper/test-read-cache.c
index 2a7990efc3..48255eef31 100644
--- a/t/helper/test-read-cache.c
+++ b/t/helper/test-read-cache.c
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ int cmd_main(int argc, const char **argv)
 	int i, cnt = 1;
 	if (argc == 2)
 		cnt = strtol(argv[1], NULL, 0);
+	setup_git_directory();
 	for (i = 0; i < cnt; i++) {
 		read_cache();
 		discard_cache();