diff --git a/builtin/cat-file.c b/builtin/cat-file.c
index 18fe58d6b8..1afdfb5cba 100644
--- a/builtin/cat-file.c
+++ b/builtin/cat-file.c
@@ -1047,6 +1047,9 @@ int cmd_cat_file(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	if (batch.buffer_output < 0)
 		batch.buffer_output = batch.all_objects;
 
+	prepare_repo_settings(the_repository);
+	the_repository->settings.command_requires_full_index = 0;
+
 	/* Return early if we're in batch mode? */
 	if (batch.enabled) {
 		if (opt_cw)
diff --git a/t/t1092-sparse-checkout-compatibility.sh b/t/t1092-sparse-checkout-compatibility.sh
index 6fa7f5e958..eb32da2a7f 100755
--- a/t/t1092-sparse-checkout-compatibility.sh
+++ b/t/t1092-sparse-checkout-compatibility.sh
@@ -179,22 +179,26 @@ init_repos_as_submodules () {
 }
 
 run_on_sparse () {
+	cat >run-on-sparse-input &&
+
 	(
 		cd sparse-checkout &&
 		GIT_PROGRESS_DELAY=100000 "$@" >../sparse-checkout-out 2>../sparse-checkout-err
-	) &&
+	) <run-on-sparse-input &&
 	(
 		cd sparse-index &&
 		GIT_PROGRESS_DELAY=100000 "$@" >../sparse-index-out 2>../sparse-index-err
-	)
+	) <run-on-sparse-input
 }
 
 run_on_all () {
+	cat >run-on-all-input &&
+
 	(
 		cd full-checkout &&
 		GIT_PROGRESS_DELAY=100000 "$@" >../full-checkout-out 2>../full-checkout-err
-	) &&
-	run_on_sparse "$@"
+	) <run-on-all-input &&
+	run_on_sparse "$@" <run-on-all-input
 }
 
 test_all_match () {
@@ -221,7 +225,7 @@ test_sparse_unstaged () {
 	done
 }
 
-# Usage: test_sprase_checkout_set "<c1> ... <cN>" "<s1> ... <sM>"
+# Usage: test_sparse_checkout_set "<c1> ... <cN>" "<s1> ... <sM>"
 # Verifies that "git sparse-checkout set <c1> ... <cN>" succeeds and
 # leaves the sparse index in a state where <s1> ... <sM> are sparse
 # directories (and <c1> ... <cN> are not).
@@ -2354,4 +2358,40 @@ test_expect_success 'advice.sparseIndexExpanded' '
 	grep "The sparse index is expanding to a full index" err
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'cat-file -p' '
+	init_repos &&
+	echo "new content" >>full-checkout/deep/a &&
+	echo "new content" >>sparse-checkout/deep/a &&
+	echo "new content" >>sparse-index/deep/a &&
+	run_on_all git add deep/a &&
+
+	test_all_match git cat-file -p :deep/a &&
+	ensure_not_expanded cat-file -p :deep/a &&
+	test_all_match git cat-file -p :folder1/a &&
+	ensure_expanded cat-file -p :folder1/a
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'cat-file --batch' '
+	init_repos &&
+	echo "new content" >>full-checkout/deep/a &&
+	echo "new content" >>sparse-checkout/deep/a &&
+	echo "new content" >>sparse-index/deep/a &&
+	run_on_all git add deep/a &&
+
+	echo ":deep/a" >in &&
+	test_all_match git cat-file --batch <in &&
+	ensure_not_expanded cat-file --batch <in &&
+
+	echo ":folder1/a" >in &&
+	test_all_match git cat-file --batch <in &&
+	ensure_expanded cat-file --batch <in &&
+
+	cat >in <<-\EOF &&
+	:deep/a
+	:folder1/a
+	EOF
+	test_all_match git cat-file --batch <in &&
+	ensure_expanded cat-file --batch <in
+'
+
 test_done