diff --git a/commit.c b/commit.c
index 00c99c7..9e49c22 100644
--- a/commit.c
+++ b/commit.c
@@ -196,6 +196,9 @@ static void prepare_commit_graft(void)
 
 	if (commit_graft_prepared)
 		return;
+	if (!startup_info->have_repository)
+		return;
+
 	graft_file = get_graft_file();
 	read_graft_file(graft_file);
 	/* make sure shallows are read */
diff --git a/t/t5300-pack-object.sh b/t/t5300-pack-object.sh
index 9c68b99..88ec5d7 100755
--- a/t/t5300-pack-object.sh
+++ b/t/t5300-pack-object.sh
@@ -421,6 +421,12 @@
 	test_path_is_file foo.idx
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'index-pack --strict <pack> works in non-repo' '
+	rm -f foo.idx &&
+	nongit git index-pack --strict ../foo.pack &&
+	test_path_is_file foo.idx
+'
+
 test_expect_success !PTHREADS,C_LOCALE_OUTPUT 'index-pack --threads=N or pack.threads=N warns when no pthreads' '
 	test_must_fail git index-pack --threads=2 2>err &&
 	grep ^warning: err >warnings &&