diff --git a/Documentation/gitremote-helpers.txt b/Documentation/gitremote-helpers.txt
index fcb633e..d0be008 100644
--- a/Documentation/gitremote-helpers.txt
+++ b/Documentation/gitremote-helpers.txt
@@ -542,13 +542,10 @@
 	transaction.  If successful, all refs will be updated, or none will.  If the
 	remote side does not support this capability, the push will fail.
 
-'option object-format' {'true'|algorithm}::
-	If 'true', indicate that the caller wants hash algorithm information
+'option object-format true'::
+	Indicate that the caller wants hash algorithm information
 	to be passed back from the remote.  This mode is used when fetching
 	refs.
-+
-If set to an algorithm, indicate that the caller wants to interact with
-the remote side using that algorithm.
 
 SEE ALSO
 --------
diff --git a/remote-curl.c b/remote-curl.c
index 1161dc7..31b02b8 100644
--- a/remote-curl.c
+++ b/remote-curl.c
@@ -211,14 +211,9 @@ static int set_option(const char *name, const char *value)
 		options.filter = xstrdup(value);
 		return 0;
 	} else if (!strcmp(name, "object-format")) {
-		int algo;
 		options.object_format = 1;
-		if (strcmp(value, "true")) {
-			algo = hash_algo_by_name(value);
-			if (algo == GIT_HASH_UNKNOWN)
-				die("unknown object format '%s'", value);
-			options.hash_algo = &hash_algos[algo];
-		}
+		if (strcmp(value, "true"))
+			die(_("unknown value for object-format: %s"), value);
 		return 0;
 	} else {
 		return 1 /* unsupported */;
diff --git a/t/t5801/git-remote-testgit b/t/t5801/git-remote-testgit
index bcfb358..c5b10f5 100755
--- a/t/t5801/git-remote-testgit
+++ b/t/t5801/git-remote-testgit
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@
 export GIT_DIR
 
 force=
+object_format=
 
 mkdir -p "$dir"
 
@@ -61,7 +62,8 @@
 		echo
 		;;
 	list)
-		echo ":object-format $(git rev-parse --show-object-format=storage)"
+		test -n "$object_format" &&
+			echo ":object-format $(git rev-parse --show-object-format=storage)"
 		git for-each-ref --format='? %(refname)' 'refs/heads/' 'refs/tags/'
 		head=$(git symbolic-ref HEAD)
 		echo "@$head HEAD"
diff --git a/transport-helper.c b/transport-helper.c
index b660b79..8d284b2 100644
--- a/transport-helper.c
+++ b/transport-helper.c
@@ -1210,16 +1210,13 @@ static struct ref *get_refs_list_using_list(struct transport *transport,
 	data->get_refs_list_called = 1;
 	helper = get_helper(transport);
 
-	if (data->object_format) {
-		write_str_in_full(helper->in, "option object-format\n");
-		if (recvline(data, &buf) || strcmp(buf.buf, "ok"))
-			exit(128);
-	}
+	if (data->object_format)
+		set_helper_option(transport, "object-format", "true");
 
 	if (data->push && for_push)
-		write_str_in_full(helper->in, "list for-push\n");
+		write_constant(helper->in, "list for-push\n");
 	else
-		write_str_in_full(helper->in, "list\n");
+		write_constant(helper->in, "list\n");
 
 	while (1) {
 		char *eov, *eon;