diff --git a/builtin/bundle.c b/builtin/bundle.c
index d5d41a8f67..86d0ed7049 100644
--- a/builtin/bundle.c
+++ b/builtin/bundle.c
@@ -207,12 +207,13 @@ static int cmd_bundle_unbundle(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 			builtin_bundle_unbundle_usage, options, &bundle_file);
 	/* bundle internals use argv[1] as further parameters */
 
+	if (!startup_info->have_repository)
+		die(_("Need a repository to unbundle."));
+
 	if ((bundle_fd = open_bundle(bundle_file, &header, NULL)) < 0) {
 		ret = 1;
 		goto cleanup;
 	}
-	if (!startup_info->have_repository)
-		die(_("Need a repository to unbundle."));
 	if (progress)
 		strvec_pushl(&extra_index_pack_args, "-v", "--progress-title",
 			     _("Unbundling objects"), NULL);
diff --git a/t/t6020-bundle-misc.sh b/t/t6020-bundle-misc.sh
index fe75a06572..703434b472 100755
--- a/t/t6020-bundle-misc.sh
+++ b/t/t6020-bundle-misc.sh
@@ -652,4 +652,11 @@ test_expect_success 'send a bundle to standard output' '
 	test_cmp expect actual
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'unbundle outside of a repository' '
+	git bundle create some.bundle HEAD &&
+	echo "fatal: Need a repository to unbundle." >expect &&
+	nongit test_must_fail git bundle unbundle "$(pwd)/some.bundle" 2>err &&
+	test_cmp expect err
+'
+
 test_done