diff --git a/attr.c b/attr.c
index 7c380c1731..33473bdce0 100644
--- a/attr.c
+++ b/attr.c
@@ -1222,13 +1222,6 @@ static void compute_default_attr_source(struct object_id *attr_source)
 		ignore_bad_attr_tree = 1;
 	}
 
-	if (!default_attr_source_tree_object_name &&
-	    startup_info->have_repository &&
-	    is_bare_repository()) {
-		default_attr_source_tree_object_name = "HEAD";
-		ignore_bad_attr_tree = 1;
-	}
-
 	if (!default_attr_source_tree_object_name || !is_null_oid(attr_source))
 		return;
 
diff --git a/t/t0003-attributes.sh b/t/t0003-attributes.sh
index b007f76fd6..71f082836a 100755
--- a/t/t0003-attributes.sh
+++ b/t/t0003-attributes.sh
@@ -398,13 +398,19 @@ test_expect_success 'bad attr source defaults to reading .gitattributes file' '
 	)
 '
 
-test_expect_success 'bare repo defaults to reading .gitattributes from HEAD' '
+test_expect_success 'bare repo no longer defaults to reading .gitattributes from HEAD' '
 	test_when_finished rm -rf test bare_with_gitattribute &&
 	git init test &&
 	test_commit -C test gitattributes .gitattributes "f/path test=val" &&
 	git clone --bare test bare_with_gitattribute &&
-	echo "f/path: test: val" >expect &&
+
+	echo "f/path: test: unspecified" >expect &&
 	git -C bare_with_gitattribute check-attr test -- f/path >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual &&
+
+	echo "f/path: test: val" >expect &&
+	git -C bare_with_gitattribute -c attr.tree=HEAD \
+		check-attr test -- f/path >actual &&
 	test_cmp expect actual
 '
 
diff --git a/t/t5001-archive-attr.sh b/t/t5001-archive-attr.sh
index eaf959d8f6..7310774af5 100755
--- a/t/t5001-archive-attr.sh
+++ b/t/t5001-archive-attr.sh
@@ -133,7 +133,8 @@ test_expect_success 'git archive vs. bare' '
 '
 
 test_expect_success 'git archive with worktree attributes, bare' '
-	(cd bare && git archive --worktree-attributes HEAD) >bare-worktree.tar &&
+	(cd bare &&
+	git -c attr.tree=HEAD archive --worktree-attributes HEAD) >bare-worktree.tar &&
 	(mkdir bare-worktree && cd bare-worktree && "$TAR" xf -) <bare-worktree.tar
 '