diff --git a/Config/Smudge.hs b/Config/Smudge.hs
index 26ac8c2062..0b129240b6 100644
--- a/Config/Smudge.hs
+++ b/Config/Smudge.hs
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ import qualified Git.Command
 import Config
 
 configureSmudgeFilter :: Annex ()
-configureSmudgeFilter = do
+configureSmudgeFilter = unlessM (fromRepo Git.repoIsLocalBare) $
 	-- If this is run in a newly cloned repository, git may not have
 	-- cached file information in the index yet, and so after
 	-- configuring the clean filter, the next git status would want to