diff --git a/builtin/checkout.c b/builtin/checkout.c
index 5dfdbda1a6..8c5276cf44 100644
--- a/builtin/checkout.c
+++ b/builtin/checkout.c
@@ -1364,6 +1364,9 @@ int cmd_checkout(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	if (opts.new_worktree_mode)
 		opts.new_worktree = NULL;
 
+	if (!opts.new_worktree)
+		setup_work_tree();
+
 	if (conflict_style) {
 		opts.merge = 1; /* implied */
 		git_xmerge_config("merge.conflictstyle", conflict_style, NULL);
diff --git a/git.c b/git.c
index 18fbf79430..160896a943 100644
--- a/git.c
+++ b/git.c
@@ -383,7 +383,7 @@ static struct cmd_struct commands[] = {
 	{ "check-ignore", cmd_check_ignore, RUN_SETUP | NEED_WORK_TREE },
 	{ "check-mailmap", cmd_check_mailmap, RUN_SETUP },
 	{ "check-ref-format", cmd_check_ref_format },
-	{ "checkout", cmd_checkout, RUN_SETUP | NEED_WORK_TREE },
+	{ "checkout", cmd_checkout, RUN_SETUP },
 	{ "checkout-index", cmd_checkout_index,
 		RUN_SETUP | NEED_WORK_TREE},
 	{ "cherry", cmd_cherry, RUN_SETUP },
diff --git a/t/t2025-checkout-to.sh b/t/t2025-checkout-to.sh
index e2db07859b..4bd1df4899 100755
--- a/t/t2025-checkout-to.sh
+++ b/t/t2025-checkout-to.sh
@@ -81,4 +81,19 @@ test_expect_success 'not die on re-checking out current branch' '
 	)
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'checkout --to from a bare repo' '
+	(
+		git clone --bare . bare &&
+		cd bare &&
+		git checkout --to ../there2 -b bare-master master
+	)
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'checkout from a bare repo without --to' '
+	(
+		cd bare &&
+		test_must_fail git checkout master
+	)
+'
+
 test_done