diff --git a/builtin/init-db.c b/builtin/init-db.c
index dcc45bef51..f82efe4aff 100644
--- a/builtin/init-db.c
+++ b/builtin/init-db.c
@@ -212,6 +212,7 @@ static int create_default_files(const char *template_path,
 	int reinit;
 	int filemode;
 	struct strbuf err = STRBUF_INIT;
+	const char *work_tree = get_git_work_tree();
 
 	/* Just look for `init.templatedir` */
 	init_db_template_dir = NULL; /* re-set in case it was set before */
@@ -235,7 +236,7 @@ static int create_default_files(const char *template_path,
 	 * We must make sure command-line options continue to override any
 	 * values we might have just re-read from the config.
 	 */
-	is_bare_repository_cfg = init_is_bare_repository;
+	is_bare_repository_cfg = init_is_bare_repository || !work_tree;
 	if (init_shared_repository != -1)
 		set_shared_repository(init_shared_repository);
 
@@ -299,7 +300,6 @@ static int create_default_files(const char *template_path,
 	if (is_bare_repository())
 		git_config_set("core.bare", "true");
 	else {
-		const char *work_tree = get_git_work_tree();
 		git_config_set("core.bare", "false");
 		/* allow template config file to override the default */
 		if (log_all_ref_updates == LOG_REFS_UNSET)
diff --git a/t/t5606-clone-options.sh b/t/t5606-clone-options.sh
index 1da6ddb2c5..428b0aac93 100755
--- a/t/t5606-clone-options.sh
+++ b/t/t5606-clone-options.sh
@@ -104,6 +104,14 @@ test_expect_success 'redirected clone -v does show progress' '
 
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'clone does not segfault with --bare and core.bare=false' '
+	test_config_global core.bare false &&
+	git clone --bare parent clone-bare &&
+	echo true >expect &&
+	git -C clone-bare rev-parse --is-bare-repository >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
 test_expect_success 'chooses correct default initial branch name' '
 	GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_INITIAL_BRANCH_NAME= \
 	git -c init.defaultBranch=foo init --bare empty &&