diff --git a/serve.c b/serve.c
index 1a7c8a118f..db5ecfed2d 100644
--- a/serve.c
+++ b/serve.c
@@ -220,7 +220,7 @@ static int parse_command(const char *key, struct protocol_capability **command)
 		if (*command)
 			die("command '%s' requested after already requesting command '%s'",
 			    out, (*command)->name);
-		if (!cmd || !cmd->advertise(the_repository, NULL) || !cmd->command)
+		if (!cmd || !cmd->advertise(the_repository, NULL) || !cmd->command || value)
 			die("invalid command '%s'", out);
 
 		*command = cmd;
diff --git a/t/t5701-git-serve.sh b/t/t5701-git-serve.sh
index 520672f842..2e51886def 100755
--- a/t/t5701-git-serve.sh
+++ b/t/t5701-git-serve.sh
@@ -72,6 +72,16 @@ test_expect_success 'request invalid command' '
 	test_i18ngrep "invalid command" err
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'requested command is command=value' '
+	test-tool pkt-line pack >in <<-EOF &&
+	command=ls-refs=whatever
+	object-format=$(test_oid algo)
+	0000
+	EOF
+	test_must_fail test-tool serve-v2 --stateless-rpc 2>err <in &&
+	grep invalid.command.*ls-refs=whatever err
+'
+
 test_expect_success 'wrong object-format' '
 	test-tool pkt-line pack >in <<-EOF &&
 	command=fetch