diff --git a/CHANGELOG b/CHANGELOG
index 249ed77549..a4a43e6fd6 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG
+++ b/CHANGELOG
@@ -21,6 +21,8 @@ git-annex (10.20241032) UNRELEASED; urgency=medium
     uses the same hostname as remote.name.url, which is itself a http(s)
     url, they are assumed to share a username and password. This avoids
     unnecessary duplicate password prompts.
+  * git-remote-annex: Require git version 2.31 or newer, since old
+    ones had a buggy git bundle command.
 
  -- Joey Hess <id@joeyh.name>  Mon, 11 Nov 2024 12:26:00 -0400
 
diff --git a/CmdLine/GitRemoteAnnex.hs b/CmdLine/GitRemoteAnnex.hs
index 89ded7191c..0b5505c52c 100644
--- a/CmdLine/GitRemoteAnnex.hs
+++ b/CmdLine/GitRemoteAnnex.hs
@@ -70,6 +70,8 @@ import qualified Data.Set as S
 
 run :: [String] -> IO ()
 run (remotename:url:[]) = do
+	unlessM Git.Bundle.versionSupported $
+		giveup "git-remote-annex needs a newer version of git"
 	repo <- getRepo
 	state <- Annex.new repo
 	Annex.eval state $
diff --git a/Git/Bundle.hs b/Git/Bundle.hs
index caa4d12ec9..651484d3f5 100644
--- a/Git/Bundle.hs
+++ b/Git/Bundle.hs
@@ -12,10 +12,16 @@ module Git.Bundle where
 import Common
 import Git
 import Git.Command
+import qualified Git.Version
 
 import Data.Char (ord)
 import qualified Data.ByteString.Char8 as S8
 
+-- Older versions of git had a git bundle command that sometimes omitted
+-- refs, and that did not properly support --stdin.
+versionSupported :: IO Bool
+versionSupported = not <$> Git.Version.older "2.31"
+
 listHeads :: FilePath -> Repo -> IO [(Sha, Ref)]
 listHeads bundle repo = map gen . S8.lines <$>
 	pipeReadStrict [Param "bundle", Param "list-heads", File bundle] repo
diff --git a/Test.hs b/Test.hs
index 722558b70f..9796608365 100644
--- a/Test.hs
+++ b/Test.hs
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ import qualified Git.Types
 import qualified Git.Ref
 import qualified Git.LsTree
 import qualified Git.FilePath
+import qualified Git.Bundle
 import qualified Annex.Locations
 #ifndef mingw32_HOST_OS
 import qualified Types.GitConfig
@@ -427,29 +428,30 @@ test_git_remote_annex :: Bool -> Assertion
 test_git_remote_annex exporttree
 #ifndef mingw32_HOST_OS
 	| exporttree = 
-		testspecialremote ["importtree=yes", "exporttree=yes"] $
+		runtest ["importtree=yes", "exporttree=yes"] $
 			git_annex "export" ["master", "--to=foo"] "export"
 	| otherwise = 
-		testspecialremote [] $ 
+		runtest [] $ 
 			git_annex "copy" ["--to=foo"] "copy"
 #else
 	-- git-remote-annex is not currently installed on Windows
 	return ()
 #endif
   where
-	testspecialremote cfg populate = intmpclonerepo $ do
-		let cfg' = ["type=directory", "encryption=none", "directory=dir"] ++ cfg
-		createDirectory "dir"
-		git_annex "initremote" ("foo":("uuid=" ++ diruuid):cfg') "initremote"
-		git_annex "get" [] "get failed"
-		() <- populate
-		git "config" ["remote.foo.url", "annex::"] "git config"
-		git "push" ["foo", "master"] "git push"
-		git "push" ["foo", "git-annex"] "git push"
-		git "clone" ["annex::"++diruuid++"?"++intercalate "&" cfg', "clonedir"]
-			"git clone from special remote"
-		inpath "clonedir" $
-			git_annex "get" [annexedfile] "get from origin special remote"
+	runtest cfg populate = whenM Git.Bundle.versionSupported $ 
+		intmpclonerepo $ do
+			let cfg' = ["type=directory", "encryption=none", "directory=dir"] ++ cfg
+			createDirectory "dir"
+			git_annex "initremote" ("foo":("uuid=" ++ diruuid):cfg') "initremote"
+			git_annex "get" [] "get failed"
+			() <- populate
+			git "config" ["remote.foo.url", "annex::"] "git config"
+			git "push" ["foo", "master"] "git push"
+			git "push" ["foo", "git-annex"] "git push"
+			git "clone" ["annex::"++diruuid++"?"++intercalate "&" cfg', "clonedir"]
+				"git clone from special remote"
+			inpath "clonedir" $
+				git_annex "get" [annexedfile] "get from origin special remote"
 	diruuid="89ddefa4-a04c-11ef-87b5-e880882a4f98"
 
 test_add_moved :: Assertion