diff --git a/pathspec.c b/pathspec.c
index 166d255642..8243e06eab 100644
--- a/pathspec.c
+++ b/pathspec.c
@@ -438,9 +438,13 @@ static void init_pathspec_item(struct pathspec_item *item, unsigned flags,
 	} else {
 		match = prefix_path_gently(prefix, prefixlen,
 					   &prefixlen, copyfrom);
-		if (!match)
+		if (!match) {
+			const char *hint_path = get_git_work_tree();
+			if (!hint_path)
+				hint_path = get_git_dir();
 			die(_("%s: '%s' is outside repository at '%s'"), elt,
-			    copyfrom, absolute_path(get_git_work_tree()));
+			    copyfrom, absolute_path(hint_path));
+		}
 	}
 
 	item->match = match;
diff --git a/setup.c b/setup.c
index 17814a080b..f4897287f7 100644
--- a/setup.c
+++ b/setup.c
@@ -120,9 +120,13 @@ char *prefix_path_gently(const char *prefix, int len,
 char *prefix_path(const char *prefix, int len, const char *path)
 {
 	char *r = prefix_path_gently(prefix, len, NULL, path);
-	if (!r)
+	if (!r) {
+		const char *hint_path = get_git_work_tree();
+		if (!hint_path)
+			hint_path = get_git_dir();
 		die(_("'%s' is outside repository at '%s'"), path,
-		    absolute_path(get_git_work_tree()));
+		    absolute_path(hint_path));
+	}
 	return r;
 }
 
diff --git a/t/t6136-pathspec-in-bare.sh b/t/t6136-pathspec-in-bare.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..b117251366
--- /dev/null
+++ b/t/t6136-pathspec-in-bare.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+test_description='diagnosing out-of-scope pathspec'
+
+. ./test-lib.sh
+
+test_expect_success 'setup a bare and non-bare repository' '
+	test_commit file1 &&
+	git clone --bare . bare
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'log and ls-files in a bare repository' '
+	(
+		cd bare &&
+		test_must_fail git log -- .. >out 2>err &&
+		test_must_be_empty out &&
+		test_i18ngrep "outside repository" err &&
+
+		test_must_fail git ls-files -- .. >out 2>err &&
+		test_must_be_empty out &&
+		test_i18ngrep "outside repository" err
+	)
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'log and ls-files in .git directory' '
+	(
+		cd .git &&
+		test_must_fail git log -- .. >out 2>err &&
+		test_must_be_empty out &&
+		test_i18ngrep "outside repository" err &&
+
+		test_must_fail git ls-files -- .. >out 2>err &&
+		test_must_be_empty out &&
+		test_i18ngrep "outside repository" err
+	)
+'
+
+test_done