diff --git a/Annex.hs b/Annex.hs
index d642885bc8..efb3cc6a4b 100644
--- a/Annex.hs
+++ b/Annex.hs
@@ -118,7 +118,7 @@ data AnnexState = AnnexState
 	, catfilehandles :: M.Map FilePath CatFileHandle
 	, hashobjecthandle :: Maybe HashObjectHandle
 	, checkattrhandle :: Maybe CheckAttrHandle
-	, checkignorehandle :: Maybe (Maybe CheckIgnoreHandle)
+	, checkignorehandle :: Maybe CheckIgnoreHandle
 	, forcebackend :: Maybe String
 	, globalnumcopies :: Maybe NumCopies
 	, forcenumcopies :: Maybe NumCopies
diff --git a/Annex/CheckIgnore.hs b/Annex/CheckIgnore.hs
index c8cd08c7d4..4745470687 100644
--- a/Annex/CheckIgnore.hs
+++ b/Annex/CheckIgnore.hs
@@ -19,23 +19,19 @@ import qualified Annex
 checkIgnored :: FilePath -> Annex Bool
 checkIgnored file = go =<< checkIgnoreHandle
   where
-	go Nothing = return False
-	go (Just h) = liftIO $ Git.checkIgnored h file
+	go h = liftIO $ Git.checkIgnored h file
 
-checkIgnoreHandle :: Annex (Maybe Git.CheckIgnoreHandle)
+checkIgnoreHandle :: Annex Git.CheckIgnoreHandle
 checkIgnoreHandle = maybe startup return =<< Annex.getState Annex.checkignorehandle
   where
 	startup = do
-		v <- inRepo Git.checkIgnoreStart
-		when (isNothing v) $
-			warning "The installed version of git is too old for .gitignores to be honored by git-annex."
-		Annex.changeState $ \s -> s { Annex.checkignorehandle = Just v }
-		return v
+		h <- inRepo Git.checkIgnoreStart
+		Annex.changeState $ \s -> s { Annex.checkignorehandle = Just h }
+		return h
 
 checkIgnoreStop :: Annex ()
 checkIgnoreStop = maybe noop stop =<< Annex.getState Annex.checkignorehandle
   where
-	stop (Just h) = do
+	stop h = do
 		liftIO $ Git.checkIgnoreStop h
 		Annex.changeState $ \s -> s { Annex.checkignorehandle = Nothing }
-	stop Nothing = noop
diff --git a/Annex/Fixup.hs b/Annex/Fixup.hs
index 449c28491c..d167086b09 100644
--- a/Annex/Fixup.hs
+++ b/Annex/Fixup.hs
@@ -12,7 +12,6 @@ import Git.Config
 import Types.GitConfig
 import Config.Files
 import qualified Git
-import qualified Git.BuildVersion
 import Utility.Path
 import Utility.SafeCommand
 import Utility.Directory
@@ -42,10 +41,8 @@ fixupRepo r c = do
 {- Disable git's built-in wildcard expansion, which is not wanted
  - when using it as plumbing by git-annex. -}
 disableWildcardExpansion :: Repo -> Repo
-disableWildcardExpansion r
-	| Git.BuildVersion.older "1.8.1" = r
-	| otherwise = r
-		{ gitGlobalOpts = gitGlobalOpts r ++ [Param "--literal-pathspecs"] }
+disableWildcardExpansion r = r
+	{ gitGlobalOpts = gitGlobalOpts r ++ [Param "--literal-pathspecs"] }
 
 {- Direct mode repos have core.bare=true, but are not really bare.
  - Fix up the Repo to be a non-bare repo, and arrange for git commands
diff --git a/Build/Configure.hs b/Build/Configure.hs
index 3edb0f28e8..6efd593c33 100644
--- a/Build/Configure.hs
+++ b/Build/Configure.hs
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ getGitVersion = go =<< getEnv "FORCE_GIT_VERSION"
 	go (Just s) = return $ Config "gitversion" $ StringConfig s
 	go Nothing = do
 		v <- Git.Version.installed
-		let oldestallowed = Git.Version.normalize "1.7.1.0"
+		let oldestallowed = Git.Version.normalize "2.1"
 		when (v < oldestallowed) $
 			error $ "installed git version " ++ show v ++ " is too old! (Need " ++ show oldestallowed ++ " or newer)"
 		return $ Config "gitversion" $ StringConfig $ show v
diff --git a/CHANGELOG b/CHANGELOG
index f5b192982f..68d7d5d503 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG
+++ b/CHANGELOG
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ git-annex (7.20190826) UNRELEASED; urgency=medium
   * init: Catch more exceptions when testing locking.
   * init: Fix a reversion that broke initialization on systems that
     need to use pid locking.
+  * Removed support for git versions older than 2.1.
 
  -- Joey Hess <id@joeyh.name>  Sat, 24 Aug 2019 12:54:35 -0400
 
diff --git a/Git/Branch.hs b/Git/Branch.hs
index 9fc4f0996e..2de6f9e0fd 100644
--- a/Git/Branch.hs
+++ b/Git/Branch.hs
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@ import Git.Sha
 import Git.Command
 import qualified Git.Config
 import qualified Git.Ref
-import qualified Git.BuildVersion
 
 {- The currently checked out branch.
  -
@@ -125,8 +124,7 @@ data CommitMode = ManualCommit | AutomaticCommit
 {- Prevent signing automatic commits. -}
 applyCommitMode :: CommitMode -> [CommandParam] -> [CommandParam]
 applyCommitMode commitmode ps
-	| commitmode == AutomaticCommit && not (Git.BuildVersion.older "2.0.0") =
-		Param "--no-gpg-sign" : ps
+	| commitmode == AutomaticCommit = Param "--no-gpg-sign" : ps
 	| otherwise = ps
 
 {- Some versions of git commit-tree honor commit.gpgsign themselves,
diff --git a/Git/CheckAttr.hs b/Git/CheckAttr.hs
index cfac5b12f0..defa675d46 100644
--- a/Git/CheckAttr.hs
+++ b/Git/CheckAttr.hs
@@ -10,12 +10,11 @@ module Git.CheckAttr where
 import Common
 import Git
 import Git.Command
-import qualified Git.Version
 import qualified Utility.CoProcess as CoProcess
 
 import System.IO.Error
 
-type CheckAttrHandle = (CoProcess.CoProcessHandle, [Attr], Bool, String)
+type CheckAttrHandle = (CoProcess.CoProcessHandle, [Attr], String)
 
 type Attr = String
 
@@ -25,8 +24,7 @@ checkAttrStart :: [Attr] -> Repo -> IO CheckAttrHandle
 checkAttrStart attrs repo = do
 	currdir <- getCurrentDirectory
 	h <- gitCoProcessStart True params repo
-	oldgit <- Git.Version.older "1.7.7"
-	return (h, attrs, oldgit, currdir)
+	return (h, attrs, currdir)
   where
 	params =
 		[ Param "check-attr" 
@@ -36,12 +34,12 @@ checkAttrStart attrs repo = do
 		[ Param "--" ]
 
 checkAttrStop :: CheckAttrHandle -> IO ()
-checkAttrStop (h, _, _, _) = CoProcess.stop h
+checkAttrStop (h, _, _) = CoProcess.stop h
 
 {- Gets an attribute of a file. When the attribute is not specified,
  - returns "" -}
 checkAttr :: CheckAttrHandle -> Attr -> FilePath -> IO String
-checkAttr (h, attrs, oldgit, currdir) want file = do
+checkAttr (h, attrs, currdir) want file = do
 	pairs <- CoProcess.query h send (receive "")
 	let vals = map snd $ filter (\(attr, _) -> attr == want) pairs
 	case vals of
@@ -78,16 +76,9 @@ checkAttr (h, attrs, oldgit, currdir) want file = do
 			else Nothing -- line incomplete
 	numattrs = length attrs
 
-	{- Before git 1.7.7, git check-attr worked best with
-	 - absolute filenames; using them worked around some bugs
-	 - with relative filenames.
-	 - 
-	 - With newer git, git check-attr chokes on some absolute
-	 - filenames, and the bugs that necessitated them were fixed,
-	 - so use relative filenames. -}
-	file'
-		| oldgit = absPathFrom currdir file
-		| otherwise = relPathDirToFileAbs currdir $ absPathFrom currdir file
+	{- git check-attr chokes on some absolute filenames,
+	 - so make sure the filename is relative. -}
+	file' = relPathDirToFileAbs currdir $ absPathFrom currdir file
 	oldattrvalue attr l = end bits !! 0
 	  where
 		bits = split sep l
diff --git a/Git/CheckIgnore.hs b/Git/CheckIgnore.hs
index 3ecbd93a65..67eef7abe1 100644
--- a/Git/CheckIgnore.hs
+++ b/Git/CheckIgnore.hs
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@ module Git.CheckIgnore (
 import Common
 import Git
 import Git.Command
-import qualified Git.Version
 import qualified Utility.CoProcess as CoProcess
 
 import System.IO.Error
@@ -29,17 +28,11 @@ type CheckIgnoreHandle = CoProcess.CoProcessHandle
  - GIT_FLUSH behavior flushing the output buffer when git check-ignore
  - is piping to us.
  -
- - The first version of git to support what we need is 1.8.4.
- - Nothing is returned if an older git is installed.
- -
  - check-ignore does not support --literal-pathspecs, so remove that
  - from the gitGlobalOpts if set.
  -}
-checkIgnoreStart :: Repo -> IO (Maybe CheckIgnoreHandle)
-checkIgnoreStart repo = ifM supportedGitVersion
-	( Just <$> gitCoProcessStart True params repo'
-	, return Nothing
-	)
+checkIgnoreStart :: Repo -> IO CheckIgnoreHandle
+checkIgnoreStart repo = gitCoProcessStart True params repo'
   where
 	params =
 		[ Param "check-ignore" 
@@ -52,11 +45,6 @@ checkIgnoreStart repo = ifM supportedGitVersion
 	pathspecs (Param "--literal-pathspecs") = True
 	pathspecs _ = False
 
-supportedGitVersion :: IO Bool
-supportedGitVersion = do
-	v <- Git.Version.installed
-	return $ v >= Git.Version.normalize "1.8.4"
-
 {- For some reason, check-ignore --batch always exits nonzero, 
  - so ignore any error. -}
 checkIgnoreStop :: CheckIgnoreHandle -> IO ()
diff --git a/Git/Fsck.hs b/Git/Fsck.hs
index 9897c54cc2..6f33e11991 100644
--- a/Git/Fsck.hs
+++ b/Git/Fsck.hs
@@ -22,7 +22,6 @@ import Git
 import Git.Command
 import Git.Sha
 import Utility.Batch
-import qualified Git.Version
 
 import qualified Data.Set as S
 import Control.Concurrent.Async
@@ -73,9 +72,7 @@ instance Monoid FsckOutput where
  -}
 findBroken :: Bool -> Repo -> IO FsckResults
 findBroken batchmode r = do
-	supportsNoDangling <- (>= Git.Version.normalize "1.7.10")
-		<$> Git.Version.installed
-	let (command, params) = ("git", fsckParams supportsNoDangling r)
+	let (command, params) = ("git", fsckParams r)
 	(command', params') <- if batchmode
 		then toBatchCommand (command, params)
 		else return (command, params)
@@ -86,8 +83,8 @@ findBroken batchmode r = do
 			, std_err = CreatePipe
 			}
 	(o1, o2) <- concurrently
-		(parseFsckOutput maxobjs r supportsNoDangling (stdoutHandle p))
-		(parseFsckOutput maxobjs r supportsNoDangling (stderrHandle p))
+		(parseFsckOutput maxobjs r (stdoutHandle p))
+		(parseFsckOutput maxobjs r (stderrHandle p))
 	fsckok <- checkSuccessProcess pid
 	case mappend o1 o2 of
 		FsckOutput badobjs truncated
@@ -120,15 +117,15 @@ knownMissing (FsckFoundMissing s _) = s
 findMissing :: [Sha] -> Repo -> IO MissingObjects
 findMissing objs r = S.fromList <$> filterM (`isMissing` r) objs
 
-parseFsckOutput :: Int -> Repo -> Bool -> Handle -> IO FsckOutput
-parseFsckOutput maxobjs r supportsNoDangling h = do
+parseFsckOutput :: Int -> Repo -> Handle -> IO FsckOutput
+parseFsckOutput maxobjs r h = do
 	ls <- lines <$> hGetContents h
 	if null ls
 		then return NoFsckOutput
 		else if all ("duplicateEntries" `isInfixOf`) ls
 			then return AllDuplicateEntriesWarning
 			else do
-				let shas = findShas supportsNoDangling ls
+				let shas = findShas ls
 				let !truncated = length shas > maxobjs
 				missingobjs <- findMissing (take maxobjs shas) r
 				return $ FsckOutput missingobjs truncated
@@ -141,18 +138,14 @@ isMissing s r = either (const True) (const False) <$> tryIO dump
 		, Param (fromRef s)
 		] r
 
-findShas :: Bool -> [String] -> [Sha]
-findShas supportsNoDangling = catMaybes . map extractSha . concat . map words . filter wanted
+findShas :: [String] -> [Sha]
+findShas = catMaybes . map extractSha . concat . map words . filter wanted
   where
-	wanted l
-		| supportsNoDangling = True
-		| otherwise = not ("dangling " `isPrefixOf` l)
+	wanted l = not ("dangling " `isPrefixOf` l)
 
-fsckParams :: Bool -> Repo -> [CommandParam]
-fsckParams supportsNoDangling = gitCommandLine $ map Param $ catMaybes
-	[ Just "fsck"
-	, if supportsNoDangling
-		then Just "--no-dangling"
-		else Nothing
-	, Just "--no-reflogs"
+fsckParams :: Repo -> [CommandParam]
+fsckParams = gitCommandLine $ map Param
+	[ "fsck"
+	, "--no-dangling"
+	, "--no-reflogs"
 	]
diff --git a/Git/Merge.hs b/Git/Merge.hs
index a2c04d7139..510f53b667 100644
--- a/Git/Merge.hs
+++ b/Git/Merge.hs
@@ -17,7 +17,6 @@ module Git.Merge (
 import Common
 import Git
 import Git.Command
-import qualified Git.BuildVersion
 import qualified Git.Version
 import Git.Branch (CommitMode(..))
 
@@ -33,7 +32,7 @@ merge = merge' []
 
 merge' :: [CommandParam] -> Ref -> [MergeConfig] -> CommitMode -> Repo -> IO Bool
 merge' extraparams branch mergeconfig commitmode r
-	| MergeNonInteractive `notElem` mergeconfig || Git.BuildVersion.older "1.7.7.6" =
+	| MergeNonInteractive `notElem` mergeconfig =
 		go [Param $ fromRef branch]
 	| otherwise = go [Param "--no-edit", Param $ fromRef branch]
   where
diff --git a/Git/Remote/Remove.hs b/Git/Remote/Remove.hs
index ae09d8b382..147e59999f 100644
--- a/Git/Remote/Remove.hs
+++ b/Git/Remote/Remove.hs
@@ -13,17 +13,10 @@ import Common
 import Git
 import Git.Types
 import qualified Git.Command
-import qualified Git.Version
 
 remove :: RemoteName -> Repo -> IO ()
-remove remotename r = do
-	old <- Git.Version.older "1.8.0"
-	Git.Command.run
-		[ Param "remote"
-		-- name of this subcommand changed
-		, Param $
-			if old
-				then "rm"
-				else "remove"
-		, Param remotename
-		] r
+remove remotename = Git.Command.run
+	[ Param "remote"
+	, Param "remove"
+	, Param remotename
+	]
diff --git a/debian/control b/debian/control
index 6b2e3cb405..f1808631f7 100644
--- a/debian/control
+++ b/debian/control
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ Build-Depends:
 	lsof [linux-any],
 	ikiwiki,
 	libimage-magick-perl,
-	git (>= 1:1.8.1),
+	git (>= 1:2.1),
 	rsync,
 	curl,
 	openssh-client,